Nizami Najaf ogly Jafarov

Doctor of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, Academician of the International Engineering Academy (IEA) and the National Engineering Academy of the Republic of Kazakhstan (NEA RK), Honorary Prospector of the Subsoil of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Honorary Citizen of the Zhitikara District of the Kostanay Region, General Director of «Asbestovoe GRP» LLP, editor-in-chief of the Mining and Geological Journal.

Nizami Jafarov was born on June 2, 1957 in the village of Tazakend, Ismayilli District of Azerbaijan SSR, in a family of collective farmers. He was the seventh or eighth child, as he has a twin brother, Fizuli.

In 1964, he entered first grade of the school. However, due to economic difficulties, his parents were forced to send the twins, Nizami and Fizuli, to a boarding school in a neighboring district, where they studied through fourth grade. After graduating from high school in his village with honors, in 1974, Nizami entered the first year of the Faculty of Geology and Geography at the S.M. Kirov Azerbaijan State University in Baku.

In 1979, he graduated with honors from the university in the specialty “Geological Survey, Prospecting and Exploration of Mineral Deposits” in his native language and then came to Northern Kazakhstan, where he began his career in the Asbest geological exploration party, the “Tsentrgeolnerud” expedition of the USSR Ministry of Industrial Construction Materials in the city of Zhitikara, Kostanay region, worked as a geologist, senior and chief geologist, and in 1982 was appointed head of the geological exploration party.

He combined work in production with scientific activity. In 1981, he entered graduate school at the Sverdlovsk Mining Institute (now Yekaterinburg) and in 1985 defended his PhD dissertation on “Geological conditions of the location of chrysotile asbestos deposits of the Dzhetygarinskoye deposit and the methods of their exploration”.

In 1988-89 he was sent to the Yemen Arab Republic as the technical director of the “Contract for exploration of cement raw materials deposits”.

From 1996 to the present, he is the General Director of “Asbestos Geological Exploration Enterprise” LLP.

In 1999 he defended his doctoral dissertation on the topic “Chrysotile asbestos in Kazakhstan”.

In 2001, in Moscow, he was elected as an academician of the International Engineering Academy (IEA), and in 2003, in Almaty, he was elected as a full member of the National Engineering Academy of the Republic of Kazakhstan (NEA RK).

All scientific and industrial activities of N. N. Jafarov are aimed at carrying out work on various issues of studying, forming and preserving mineral deposits, on the integrated and rational use of subsoil resources, etc.

Based on modern mobilism theory, he developed a geological and genetic model for the formation and preservation of chrysotile asbestos deposits, compiled a mineralogical zoning map of Kazakhstan, and determined the mineral resource potential of chrysotile asbestos in Kazakhstan. His scientific model for the formation of asbestos deposits was included in the Genesis Atlas of Mineral Deposits in Kazakhstan and was presented at the 2004 World Geological Congress in Italy.

Under his leadership, geological exploration work is being carried out to study many deposits of gold, cobalt-nickel, rare earths, kaolins, building materials and other deposits in the Southern Urals in Kazakhstan and Russia, including the largest chrysotile asbestos deposits in the Southern Urals (Dzhetygarinsky and Kiembaevsky), a special exploration methodology was developed and an assessment was carried out of the only jade deposit of its kind in Kazakhstan – Zhitikara jade deposit.

Nizami Najaf oglu is the author of two monographs, over 100 published scientific papers, as well as 50 projects, reports, and methodological manuals, most of which were approved at various times by the State Commission on Reserves of the USSR and the Republic of Kazakhstan.

In 2000, his monograph “Chrysotile Asbestos in Kazakhstan” was published. This book, for the first time, summarizes data on all chrysotile asbestos deposits in Kazakhstan, identifying their geological and industrial types.

The monograph “Minerals of the Zhitikara ore region (Kostanay Trans-Urals)”, written jointly with his twin brother Fizuli, published in 2002, summarizes the results of almost a century of geological study of the Dzhetygara ore region.

N. N. Jafarov is the initiator of the publication and the editor-in-chief of the Republican scientific and technical “Mining and Geological Journal”, which has been published since 2003. The journal has great international authority, and its pages feature prominent scientists, experienced industrialists, and young specialists from Kazakhstan, Russia, Azerbaijan, China, Uzbekistan, Germany, Kyrgyzstan, etc.

Jafarov N. N. is an independent expert of the State Committee on Reserves of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a full member of the PONEN RK, a member of the Australian Institute of Geologists and Geophysicists (AIG), a full member of the Community of Independent Geoscientists (CIG).

He is a member of the Union of Journalists of the Republic of Kazakhstan. In 2017, his collection of short stories, “Who does not happen to… (stories from life)” was published in Moscow. In 2024, his book, “Ömürlərə köçmüş yüz il…” (A Century in the Fate of People), was published in Baku in Azerbaijani language by Qanun Publishing House. It is dedicated to his native region, where he was born and raised, the school where he attended, and is timed to coincide with his mother’s centenary. Also in 2024, another book of short stories and novellas, “Stranger things happen…” was published in Moscow.

By the Decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, he was awarded the Order of “Kurmet”, the medal “Eren enbegy ushyn” (For Labor Merit), jubilee medals for the 10th, 20th, 25th and 30th anniversaries of Independence of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as medals for the 20th and 25th years of the Maslikhat of Kazakhstan, “90th Anniversary of Zhitikarinsky District”, for his contribution to the socio-economic development of the district, the “Belsendy kyzmety ushyn” breast badge, the industry medal “For Loyalty to the Profession”, and certificate of honor of the Akim of Kostanay region.

In 2005, N. N. Jafarov was awarded the title of “Honored Prospector of the Subsoil of the Republic of Kazakhstan”. He is the winner of the national “Geologist of the Year” competition, and the recipient of the 2019 “Golden Hephaestus” award. In 2020, he was awarded the title of “Honorary Citizen of the Zhitikara District of the Kostanay Region” In 2024, he was awarded the “Honored Geologist of Kazakhstan” badge and the 2008 “Altyn Kanat” award.

Speaks several languages