A major tungsten project in Kazakhstan’s Karaganda Region is moving into a more advanced stage and could help establish the country as a significant player in the global tungsten market. U.S.-based Cove Kaz Capital Group has begun the calculations that will determine the future of the Severny Katpar deposit. According to the company, Donald Trump’s sons are among the ultimate beneficial owners of the investment structure.
The ownership structure gives Cove Kaz Capital Group a 70% stake, while the remaining 30% is held by Kazakhstan’s state-owned operator Tau-Ken Samruk. The project therefore combines private U.S. capital with direct participation from the Kazakh government.
The resource base consists of two deposits, Severny Katpar and neighboring Verkhniy Kairakty. Their combined resources are estimated at 1.4 million tonnes of tungsten trioxide (WO3). If the project reaches its planned annual production capacity of 12,000 tonnes, the resource base could support decades of continuous operation.
Three international consultants have been brought in to prepare the definitive feasibility study. Engineering work has been assigned to DRA Global, a South African-founded company with extensive experience in mining and mineral processing. The environmental and social aspects are being handled by ERM, a UK-based firm specializing in sustainability and environmental consulting. Infrastructure, including geotechnical engineering, water-control structures, and tailings management, will be developed by Knight Piésold, another South African-founded engineering company with a global portfolio of mining and infrastructure projects.
Three international contractors, two jurisdictions, and one strategically important metal are now converging around the project. Tungsten is widely regarded as a critical raw material essential for defense applications, machine tools, electronics, and advanced manufacturing, making the emergence of a major new producer in Central Asia strategically significant.
The project is now moving from announcements to detailed economic calculations. If the final feasibility study confirms the project’s commercial viability, Karaganda Region could gain a new industrial flagship, while Kazakhstan’s tungsten industry would gain a direct route to international export markets.
Source: Kapital.kz
