Kazakhstan’s Mining Boom Faces a Growing Water Crisis

Kazakhstan’s mining sector is booming just as the country’s water supply is coming under increasing stress from climate change, antiquated infrastructure, and a growing population. Water supply will be vital to the sector’s long-term success, yet the issue is all too often overlooked by governments and investors, experts say. “Water scarcity in Central Asia is discussed almost entirely as an agricultural problem … it rarely appears in mining company risk registers,” Vlad Paddack, an analyst at Nightingale Int.,…