Kazakhgold is a gold mining

Gold mining

Gold mining is the removal of gold from the ground. There are several techniques and processes by which gold may be extracted from the earth.-History:...

 company based in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...

. It has gold mines at Aksu

Aksu, Kazakhstan

Aksu , formerly known as Yermak , is a city in Kazakhstan, in Pavlodar Province, located 50 km to the south of Pavlodar on the left bank of the Irtysh River. The municipality borders Aktogay District in the north, Bayanaul District, May District, Lebyazhin District in the south, Pavlodar...

, Bestobe and Zholymbet and is one of Kazakhstan's largest mining companies.

Polyus

Kazakhgold had originally been founded by the Assaubayev family. In 2009 they sold a 50.1% stake to Polyus Gold

Polyus Gold

Polyus Gold is a Russian mining and metallurgy company primarily concerned with the production of gold. Polyus is the largest gold producer in Russia. Polyus is controlled by Russian businessman Mikhail Prokhorov's ONEXIM Group conglomerate and Suleiman Kerimov.In 1990 Polyus was restructured as...

, a Russian mining company; the stake subsequently increased to 65% and a reverse takeover

Reverse takeover

A reverse takeover or reverse merger is the acquisition of a public company by a private company so that the private company can bypass the lengthy and complex process of going public...

was planned. Polyus subsequently alleged that the Assaubayevs had misled Polyus or tried to siphon off money from Kazakhgold; Kazahkgold's offices were raided by the Kazakh authorities. In December 2010, Polyus agreed to sell its stake back to the Assaubayev family and dropped its legal action; Polyus' share price soared.