Trump’s sons could stand to benefit from a US deal worth billions for tungsten mining in Kazakhstan
The focus has been on an agreement between the US and Kazakhstan to develop one of the world’s largest undeveloped tungsten deposits, according to the NYTimes.
During a meeting in New York in September 2025, US Secretary of Commerce Howard Latnik and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev agreed on the terms of future cooperation. US President Donald Trump joined the negotiations by telephone during the final phase.
As a result, the American company Kaz Resources gained access to the tungsten deposit near the village of Unrek in Kazakhstan. The US administration also approved preliminary applications for project funding totalling up to $1.6 billion.
Shortly after the negotiations, investors from Dominari Securities – a firm partly linked to Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump – acquired a 20 per cent stake in the corporate structure associated with the Kazakhstani project.
During the same period, Cantor Fitzgerald, an investment firm controlled by Howard Latnik’s family, helped one of the key investors raise $210 million in new capital.
The final agreement was signed on 6 November in Washington. Under its terms, Kaz Resources owns 70 per cent of the project, with the remaining 30 per cent held by Kazakhstan’s state-owned mining company.
According to The New York Times, the Trump and Latnik families have financial ties to at least 14 companies operating in the critical minerals sector and interacting with the US federal government.
The total amount of public funding already allocated or under consideration for these companies exceeds $8.9 billion.
The White House has dismissed suggestions of a conflict of interest. It stated that the administration’s decisions are made solely in the interests of the American people, and that ensuring access to critical resources remains one of its priorities.
The key figure in the Kazakhstani project is Pini Althaus, CEO of Kaz Resources. He stated that negotiations regarding the tungsten deposit began during the Joe Biden administration and were not linked to political preferences.
According to him, the project will require around $650 million in initial investment and up to $1.1 billion over the entire implementation cycle. The company estimates that the value of the tungsten reserves at the deposit could reach $80 billion.
At present, funding from the US government has not yet been finally approved. The project is undergoing further approvals and a final technical and economic assessment.
Kaz Resources expects to commence production by 2030.
