Kaz Resources, the company developing a tungsten mining project in Kazakhstan, plans to conduct a direct listing of shares in the United States in 2027. To do so, it will abandon a previously agreed merger with Hong Kong-based Skyline Builders. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
The sons of US President Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, will retain an indirect stake in the business of less than 1%. According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), at a company valuation of $2 billion, this stake will be worth less than $20 million. According to project head Pini Althaus, Trump's sons are passive investors and do not participate in managing the company.
"A direct listing is a cleaner and faster way for us to become a public company," Althaus told the publication.
Recall that Kaz Resources had previously planned to list on Nasdaq through a merger with Skyline Builders, which had earlier been acquired by a company owned by Trump's sons and ASP Isotopes. The deal, in turn, drew criticism from Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, who raised the issue of a possible conflict of interest for the US president's family.
Kaz Resources estimates the company's potential value at $2 billion. Its main asset is a tungsten deposit development project in Kazakhstan, which the company is pursuing jointly with Samruk-Kazyna (through Tau-Ken Samruk, which retained a 30% ownership stake). According to Kaz Resources' estimate, once the enterprise reaches full capacity, it will be able to provide up to 15% of global tungsten production.
The company is currently conducting a feasibility study of the deposit and expects to begin mining in 2030. According to WSJ, Kaz Resources is already in talks with American companies to sell them tungsten.
It is noted that US interest in the project is linked to efforts to reduce dependence on Chinese supplies of strategic raw materials. China dominates the global tungsten market, and tighter export restrictions in recent years have led to higher prices. The Pentagon intends to abandon Chinese tungsten and is preparing a corresponding ban. In addition, the US Department of Defense is investing $450 million in an American producer of the metal.
It is separately emphasized that Washington has supported Althaus's efforts in Kazakhstan since the administration of former President Joe Biden. Already in 2025, the administration of President Donald Trump helped conclude agreements with the Kazakh government that allowed the company to develop the deposit.
The connection between the US president's sons and the Kazakh project emerged through several deals. As WSJ writes, in 2024 the financial company Dominari Holdings, partially owned by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, helped organize investments in Hong Kong infrastructure company Skyline Builders.
Later, Skyline agreed to merge with Althaus's Kazakh assets. The result was to be Kaz Resources, which would have received Skyline's exchange listing on Nasdaq. Now they have decided to abandon this merger. However, after the share placement, Skyline shareholders will still own more than a quarter of Kaz Resources. Among them are investors linked to the Trump family.
Earlier, Kursiv wrote that in May 2026, Cove Kaz Capital Group LLC completed a deal to purchase a 70% stake in the company Severny Katpar, which is developing the tungsten deposit of the same name in the Karaganda region.
The deal value was $114.8 million. The company is part of the Samruk-Kazyna structure, and Tau-Ken Samruk retained the remaining 30% of the project.