Air quality in the small town of Ridder worse than in some regional centers of Kazakhstan, 26 November 2025

The small town of Ridder, with a population of around 50,000 people, has promising polymetallic ore deposits. However, the city-forming enterprises engaged in ore processing and enrichment cause significant environmental damage. In 4 out of the last 10 years, the city recorded a “high” level of air pollution, and over the past two years, more than 9,200 cases of exceeding the maximum permissible concentrations of harmful substances have been registered...

The city is a center of mining and metallurgical industry (zinc, lead, precious metals). The surrounding areas contain deposits of polymetallic ores (mainly lead-zinc ores with gold, silver, cadmium, antimony, arsenic, tin, iron, sulfur, and other elements), as well as raw materials for construction materials production (clay, sand-gravel mixtures, and sand). The area is rich in water and forest resources.

The city-forming enterprise is the Ridder Mining and Processing Complex LLP “KazZinc”, which includes three mines, lead and zinc plants, a processing plant, and a repair and mechanical plant...