Pentagon May Add $400 Million to Kazakh Tungsten Project Linked to Trump’s Sons

Cove Kaz Capital, linked to Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump through a deal with Skyline Builders, has asked the U.S. Department of Defense for another $400 million to develop a tungsten deposit in Kazakhstan, Orda.kz reports, citing the Financial Times.

According to the Financial Times, Cove Kaz Capital applied to the Office of Strategic Capital, a Pentagon body that supports technologies and supply chains important to U.S. national security.

The company is seeking $400 million in additional financing. The money could be used to speed up development of the tungsten mine in Kazakhstan. The project has already received letters of interest worth up to $1.6 billion from the Export-Import Bank of the United States and the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation.

The project involves the Severny Katpar and Verkhne Kairakty deposits in the Karaganda Region. Cove Kaz controls 70% of the project, while the remaining 30% belongs to Kazakhstan’s state mining company Tau-Ken Samruk.

Interest in the project is driven not only by money, but also by geopolitics. The United States is trying to reduce its dependence on China for critical minerals. Tungsten is used in industry, energy and defense, including drilling tools, armor-piercing ammunition and other high-strength products.

China controls a significant share of the global tungsten supply and tightened export restrictions on the metal in 2025.

In its investor presentation, Cove Kaz called the Kazakhstan mine the largest tungsten project outside China. The company expects to start construction work in 2028 and launch the mine in 2029.

Original author: Alexander Zhdanov

Read also:

• Trump’s Sons Enter Kazakhstan’s Subsoil Project With U.S. Government Money
• Kazakhstan Wants More Copper and Aluminum Processed Inside the Country
• Kazakhstan Refineries Increase Oil Processing Depth To 90%