The Chinese company Xiamen Tungsten Co., Ltd. has established a subsidiary in the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) — Xiamen Tungsten Hanyuan Resources Co., Ltd. — according to Finmentor.kz author Arman Batayev.
Previously, Xiamen Tungsten sought to gain control of the largest tungsten deposit in Kazakhstan’s Karaganda region.
Operations and capital
The company specializes in the production of tungsten and molybdenum. Registered on March 12, the new subsidiary will oversee the activities of Xiamen Tungsten’s affiliated companies in Kazakhstan in the mining and metallurgical sectors.
The company’s charter capital is $1 million. Its declared business activities also include copper mining and beneficiation.
Competing development plans for major tungsten deposits
In November 2025, Kazakhstan’s national mining company Tau-Ken Samruk — a subsidiary of the sovereign wealth fund Samruk-Kazyna — signed an agreement with the U.S. investment firm Cove Capital to jointly develop the North Katpar and Upper Kairakty tungsten deposits in the Karaganda region.
These deposits are considered among the largest in the world, with total reserves estimated at about 410,000 tons. The American investor committed $1.1 billion to build two beneficiation plants as part of the project.
Earlier Chinese interest in the project
In 2018, Xiamen Tungsten expressed interest in the same deposits. Business sources reported at the time that the company signed a framework agreement with Tau-Ken Samruk.
Tau-Ken Samruk later said the agreements with its Chinese partners were preliminary in nature. The Chinese company eventually withdrew from the project after its main shareholder declined to approve the deal.
