Stock image by Serghei V.
China’s Zijin Mining, one of the world’s largest gold producers, plans to start building a $500 million processing plant in Kazakhstan this year, following its 2025 acquisition of RG Gold, a Kazakh gold mining company, for $1.2 billion.
As part of its production expansion, RG Gold is implementing a comprehensive environmental protection program. As of November 2025, the company has planted more than 100,000 Scots pine trees near the Rygorodok deposit in Kazakhstan to capture dust particles generated by open pit mining operations.
The Sustainable Kazakhstan Research Institute (SKRI), an environmental research center at Narxuz University in Almaty, has partnered with RG Gold to help spread the innovative “plant capture” technology.
The initiative relies on a method to capture fine airborne dust particles through vegetation. This technology, developed by SKRI, identifies the most suitable tree species and determines optimal planting distances to maximize dust capture efficiency through advanced advanced computer modeling based on big data, including regional wind rose patterns.
Narxuz University, backed by Kazakh businessman and philanthropist Bulat Utemuratov through his investment group Verni Capital, has emerged as a regional leader in sustainability research, ranking as the best private university in Kazakhstan in the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings in 2022. Its research arm, the Kazakhstan Sustainable Research Institute (SKRI), has developed plant capture technologies. Plant barriers have been planted using this technology at several gold mining operations in the country, including RG Gold in 2024. After joining Zijin Mining Group, the company has continued this practice as part of its environmental initiatives.
For the current phase, Scots pine seedlings were selected to create a vegetative buffer across more than 20 hectares, complemented by a continuous grass cover to stabilize the soil and enhance the retention of airborne dust particles. The plant capture approach developed by SKRI has been recognized as best practice under the UNECE Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents.
Scientific rigor and computer modeling have made it possible to create a multi-layered barrier system — not just landscaping — using native plant species that reduces particle concentrations by more than 40%, according to Arman Markashov, general counsel for RG Gold. RG Gold and SKRI are working together to implement a carefully designed environmental project aligned with ESG criteria and the Sustainable Development Goals.
In line with mine expansion plans, a protective forest belt has been created approximately 1.7 kilometers downwind of the current operations.
“Once pollution sources approach the forest boundary, this farm will be able to capture nearly a third of dust emissions, turning long-term land restoration efforts into a powerful front-line environmental protection system for neighboring communities,” said Brendan Dupree, SKRI director.
