US lenders do not plan to approve Kazakh mine deal backed by Trump's sons, US official says

US government lenders do not plan to approve $1.6 ​billion in financing for a Kazakh mining projectonce ​hailed as a key part ‌of President Donald ​Trump's push to secure critical minerals supply chains, a US official and a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. Neither the US ‌Export-Import Bank nor the US International Development Finance Corp plans to fund the tungsten-mining venture, the officials said. They issued letters of interest in the project with Cove Kaz Capital Group last year.

Bloomberg first reported ‌on Monday that the two US agencies would not fund the project, in which Trump's sons ‌Eric and Don Jr. hold an indirect stake of less than 1%. The project in Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic between Russia and China, was announced by the Trump administration in November 2025.

Initial plans called for mining investment firm Cove Capital to ⁠develop a ​large tungsten deposit in ⁠Kazakhstan with the state mining firm JSC Tau-Ken Samruk. DFC issued a letter of interest at the time, exploring up to $700 ⁠million for debt financing and project development funding, with EXIM looking at financing some $900 million.

DFC CEO Ben Black, ​in a statement released by the US State Department in February, said the project reflected "one ⁠of DFC's core missions - mobilizing private capital to secure the supply chains that matter most to US economic growth and security." A ⁠DFC ​official on Tuesday confirmed that the lending would not proceed, noting that letters of interest were non-binding and "should not be interpreted as a commitment by DFC to provide financing."

The project "has not advanced beyond ⁠stage one of DFC’s four-part review and Know Your Customer (KYC) screening, nor is DFC actively pursuing a ⁠transaction with them at ⁠this time." The source familiar with the matter confirmed that EXIM also would not proceed with its plans to fund the Kazakh project.