Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has ordered the moratorium for development of new deposits passed in 2008 to be lifted.
New licenses have only been granted to partner companies of Tau-Ken Samruk, a branch of Samruk Kazyn.
Nazarbayev met heads of regions in Astana.
Less than 15% of metal deposits discovered in Kazakhstan are being developed. 75 out of 282 gold deposits and 19 out of 55 non-iron deposits are being developed.
