Kazakhstan’s Tau-Ken Samruk national mining company earned 111.4 billion tenge (about $250 million) in profit in the first half of the year, more than double its profit a year earlier. Nearly half of that amount — 55.2 billion tenge — came from the sale of a 70% stake in the North Katpar tungsten project to U.S.-based Cove Kaz Capital Group LLC, according to economist Arman Batayev.
Control of the asset was transferred to the U.S. investor on May 4. The fixed price of the transaction was 38.1 billion tenge, but the accounting treatment resulted in a significantly larger gain on paper, Batayev noted.
How the North Katpar deal affected profit
The agreement provides for deferred payment and additional contingent consideration. Tau-Ken Samruk received only 11.4 billion tenge in cash, or about one-third of the agreed amount. The company also recognized a 40.8 billion tenge financial asset related to future payments under the deal.
Additionally, Tau-Ken Samruk valued its remaining stake in the project at 16.2 billion tenge. After deducting the 13.2 billion tenge book value of the project operator Severniy Katpar’s net assets, the resulting gain was 55.2 billion tenge.
The financial statements did not disclose the schedule for future payments by the U.S. investors or the detailed terms of the additional contingent consideration.
Trump family connection
In May, Cove Kaz Capital completed the acquisition of a 70% controlling interest in Severny Katpar LLP, with Tau-Ken Samruk retaining the remaining 30%. The joint venture is developing the North Katpar and Upper Kairakty tungsten deposits.
According to The Financial Times, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump have been associated with business interests tied to a company involved in tungsten mining in Kazakhstan. The publication reported that the U.S. president’s sons acquired an interest connected to the broader investment structure involving Skyline Builders in August 2024. Skyline Builders later acquired a 20% stake in Kaz Resources, a subsidiary of U.S. investment group Cove Capital.
Read also: Trump’s son with Kazakh tungsten ties lost in Mongolian mountains.
Skyline Builders, Kaz Resources, and Cove Kaz Capital were later merged into a single corporate structure. The combined entity planned to list on the Nasdaq under the name Kaz Resources. The official deal announcement reportedly did not mention the Trump sons.
