Driven by a concerted U.S. national security initiative to sever American reliance on Chinese critical minerals, Skyline Builders, a shell company backed by Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, agreed to merge with Kaz Resources. Kaz Resources operates as a subsidiary of the critical minerals group Cove Capital. The newly formed entity plans to trade on the Nasdaq under the Kaz Resources name.
The merger grants the President’s sons a direct stake in a company developing the Severniy Katpar and Upper Kairakty tungsten mines in Kazakhstan. These sites contain some of the largest untapped tungsten reserves in the world. Tungsten is a mandatory component for defense manufacturing, specifically for armor-piercing munitions and kinetic energy missiles, as well as aerospace and semiconductor tooling.
The joint venture secured significant federal financing last year to advance the project. The U.S. Export-Import Bank committed up to $900 million, while the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation provided a $700 million letter of interest aimed at strengthening the U.S.-Kazakhstan partnership. According to early reports detailing the Skyline Builders merger timeline, Cove Kaz Capital controls 70% of the joint venture alongside Kazakhstan’s state mining company, Tau-Ken Samruk.
Global prices for ammonium paratungstate surged in early 2026, crossing $3,000 per MTU amid widening supply deficits. The Severniy Katpar mine alone is estimated to hold 1.4 million tonnes of resources. For scale, China’s entire known tungsten reserve base is roughly 2.4 million tonnes. This volume has intensified geopolitical competition to break China’s market grip, resulting in Cove Kaz Capital successfully outbidding Chinese and Russian state-backed companies for the mining rights.
The CEO of Cove Capital previously acknowledged receiving direct assistance from President Trump, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and Senator Marco Rubio to secure the Kazakhstan agreement. In 2023, Cove Capital became the first U.S. company to receive critical minerals land concessions in Kazakhstan.
The foundation for the current mining expansion was formalized during a November 2025 U.S.-Central Asia summit, where President Trump and Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a memorandum of understanding on critical minerals. Shortly after, the Trump administration added 10 new materials to the U.S. essential critical minerals list to accelerate domestic defense supply chains.