These funds would be used to finance a project that has already received a promise of $1.6 billion in government support.
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Strategic raw material in the spotlight
Tungsten is a metal of critical importance to U.S. national security. It is used in drilling tools, anti-tank missiles and the so-called kinetic bullets. Currently, China controls nearly 80 percent. world supplies, and from the beginning of 2025 they are gradually tightening export restrictions.
The result of this pressure is a sharp jump in prices – from about $350. per metric ton at the beginning of last year to a staggering $3,100. Currently. The Cove Kaz mine in central Kazakhstan is described by investors as “the largest tungsten project outside China.”
Trump family connections under the microscope
The ownership structure and connections with the sons of the current US president are controversial around the financing. Cove Kaz Capital recently agreed to merge with publicly traded company Skyline Builders. As previously reported by the Financial Times, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump invested in Skyline through the American Ventures vehicle.
Although the president's sons declare that they are only “passive investors” and have no influence on the company's operational activities, Cove CEO Pini Althaus previously admitted in an interview with the daily that the company received “direct assistance from President Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick” to secure a mine in Kazakhstan.
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A race against time and Chinese domination
According to the Financial Times, request for an additional $400 million. went to the Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) – the Pentagon unit supporting supply chain technologies necessary for national security. Earlier, in November, the American Exim Bank and the Development Finance Corporation issued non-binding letters of intent to support the Northern Katpar and Upper Kairakty projects with an amount of USD 1.6 billion.
“These funds would accelerate the progress of work on the development of the mine” – says a person familiar with the matter. Cove Kaz controls 70 percent. mentioned projects. According to plans, the first shovel is to be broken into the mine in 2028, and its launch a year later.
The Trump administration argues that supporting such investments is necessary to break China's monopoly on critical minerals. However, as the British newspaper emphasizes, the government's financial involvement in projects related to the president's family will certainly remain under close supervision of public opinion and control bodies.
