Inside One Company’s Push to Secure Critical Minerals Access for the US

There’s a tension at the heart of America’s industrial power. Much of the nation’s military and economic might is built around critical resources not produced sufficiently at home. 

Imports account for more than two-thirds of the rare-earth compounds and metals consumed in the US, according to the US Geological Survey. These compounds are needed for critical defense and energy technologies as well as advanced manufacturing. 

Few materials expose that vulnerability more clearly than tungsten. Tungsten’s density and resistance to heat make it central to weapons systems, semiconductor chips, aerospace components, electronics and nuclear technologies. 

Despite the importance of the metal, the US has not mined tungsten commercially since 2015 — and instead has depended heavily on China.

The forces driving the tungsten supply squeeze

China’s control of the tungsten supply chain poses a growing strategic risk, and gives Beijing considerable influence over the metal's availability and pricing. 

In 2025, for instance, China imposed strict export controls on tungsten in retaliation for US tariffs — and, since then, benchmark prices for the metal more than doubled. 

Global investors have taken note of this parabolic rise in the price of tungsten.  An example is Almonty Industries (Nasdaq: ALM), which has seen its share price rise from under $1 per share at the end of 2024 to over $14 per share as of July 23, 2026.

At the same time, the Trump administration has secured commitments from defense contractors to ramp up production and replenish weapons stockpiles — an effort that will increase demand for tungsten. Adding to the pressure, a long-planned federal restriction taking effect in 2027 will prohibit contractors from sourcing Chinese tungsten. 

“The need for tungsten has just become extraordinary, not just in the US, but around the world. I would call it a perfect storm,” says Pini Althaus, CEO of mining investment and development firm Kaz Resources. “Beijing’s export restrictions and the Pentagon’s ban on certain Chinese products mean this reliance on China is no longer feasible.”

To fill that gap, Kaz Resources, a soon-to-be Nasdaq-listed business set to trade under the ticker KAZR, was recently announced through the merger of Cove Kaz Capital and Skyline Builders. The company is working to reduce China’s dominance in critical minerals by developing alternative supply partnerships, notably in Kazakhstan.

As the first US business to secure critical mineral exploration licenses in the country, KAZR is now actively accelerating the development of two major tungsten deposits, which together the company says form one of the world’s largest undeveloped tungsten resources.

Why Kazakhstan could break Beijing’s tungsten dominance 

Lower costs and lighter environmental regulation have historically made China the dominant global supplier of critical minerals, allowing Western economies to meet their needs without building meaningful capacity of their own. That model is starting to falter. 

Not only have export controls narrowed access, declining ore grades and rising extraction costs are putting further strain on China’s own tungsten sector. Demand is also being driven higher by global conflicts, where tungsten used in munitions cannot easily be recovered and returned to the recycling stream.

In the search for new sources, Kazakhstan — and KAZR’ projects — offers a rare combination of scale, experience and political alignment. The country is rich in mineral resources, has a mature mining industry dating back to the Soviet era, and maintains long-standing commercial ties with the  US through oil, gas and uranium. 

More recently, industry reforms have been designed to attract Western capital, while closer cooperation with the US on critical minerals reflects a broader move to reduce reliance on China.

Together, these foundations ease one of mining’s biggest constraints: time. 

“A greenfield project can take 20 years to bring into production,” Althaus says. “In Kazakhstan, much of the preliminary geological work has already been done, which allows us to move faster and remove some of the uncertainty that usually comes at the beginning.”

Financing a path to long-term, generational tungsten production

Working alongside Kazakhstan’s national mining company, KAZR has set an ambitious production start date of 2030. 

Output is expected to be substantial once operations ramp up. The company says studies of the two sites, Northern Katpar and Upper Kairakty, suggest they could together produce roughly 15% of current global mine output — a figure that has drawn attention in Washington. 

The Export-Import Bank of the US and the US International Development Finance Corporation have both issued letters indicating potential financial backing of up to $1.6 billion, although neither represents a final commitment.

For Althaus, early involvement like this has significance beyond the agencies themselves. 

“Private capital needs to see that the government is prepared to get behind projects of this importance. That gives investors greater confidence to commit money to an industry where the costs come early and the returns take longer.” 

A definitive feasibility study, now underway, will determine whether the deposits can be mined at the projected capacity, and whether the expected returns justify the cost of construction. Tungsten’s ongoing increase in value will form part of that calculation. 

A model for the wider critical minerals race

The global tungsten race sits within a wider contest for critical minerals — one defined by geographic concentration. An IEA analysis shows that China is the leading refiner for 19 of the 20 strategic materials it tracks, with an average market share of about 70%.

Kazakhstan is key to loosening that grip, Althaus says. In addition to its tungsten projects, KAZR is investigating reserves of neodymium and praseodymium, metals used in the powerful permanent magnets that drive electric-vehicle motors and wind-turbine generators. The company also holds exploration concessions in East Kazakhstan, covering areas believed to contain lithium, tantalum, niobium, and other critical minerals. 

Developing those additional resources will take years. But success could alter the balance in several strategically important industries to the US. 

“We’ve seen China turn its control of critical minerals into strategic leverage, giving it an advantage across military technology, nuclear power, space and AI,” says Althaus.” For the West, that’s an existential challenge that must be addressed — sooner rather than later.”