A new private company, Kendala Critical Minerals Ltd., was registered at the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) on Oct. 16, 2026.
Its sole shareholder is U.S.-based KazAmerican Critical Minerals, Inc., headquartered in New York. The new company’s share capital is $1,000, consisting of 10,000 ordinary shares worth $0.10 each.
According to the AIFC, Kendala Critical Minerals Ltd. plans to engage in geological exploration, extraction, downstream processing and wholesale trading of critical minerals, strategic metals and rare earth elements.
The company will also manage subsoil-use rights, conduct geological exploration, prepare feasibility studies for metallurgical operations and enter into physical supply agreements with industrial partners.
On its official website, KazAmerican Critical Minerals says it is developing integrated supply chains for battery metals (including nickel, cobalt and lithium) and rare earth elements from Kazakhstan to the U.S. and partner countries. The company is set to use the Middle Corridor for transport of raw and processed materials.
American projects in Kazakhstan
A geological exploration company called KAZ Critical Minerals is already operating in Kazakhstan. However, there is no evidence that the two companies are affiliated; their names are simply similar.
KAZ Critical Minerals is a portfolio company of U.S. investment firm Cove Capital, which has already been developing large-scale projects focused on rare earth elements and critical metals in Kazakhstan.
Its portfolio includes a tungsten project in the Karaganda region. A joint venture, Cove Kaz Capital Group, established by Cove Capital and Kazakhstan’s national company Tau-Ken Samruk, is developing a major tungsten project comprising the Northern Katpar and Upper Kairakty deposits in the Shet district.
The project includes the construction of mines, a mining and processing complex, and a hydrometallurgical plant worth between $1.1 billion and $1.2 billion. The feasibility study is expected to be completed by the end of 2027, while mining is scheduled to begin in 2030. The project is expected to produce ammonium paratungstate, with copper, bismuth and molybdenum concentrates recovered as by-products.
Cove Capital is also conducting exploration for rare and rare earth metals in the East Kazakhstan and Kostanay regions in partnership with Kazgeology.