US Businessman in Talks To Buy Giant Kazakh Miner

US Businessman James Cameron reportedly offered $5 billion to buy Eurasian Resources Group, one of Kazakhstan’s largest mining companies, Reuters reported on April 21. The move could conclude long-running speculations regarding its corporate fate, after the death of one of its founders last month.

Cameron once served as chairman at Petropavlovsk plc, a London-based miner with business in Russia, which filed for administration in July 2022. He had reportedly pushed for a takeover of ERG since the end of 2024.

A fresh letter sent to the company’s board of directors read that “the financing will come from a combination of my own funds, as well as equity contributions from other investors in the United States, and possibly Australia and the Middle East,” Reuters reported.

Kazakhstan’s government owns 40% of the Luxembourg-based ERG, which has a troubled history of corporate governance.

Founded by the so-called Eurasian Trio, the ENRC-branch of ERG was listed in the London Stock Exchange for a few years, before delisting over concerns regarding corporate oversight.

Alexander Mashkevitch, Patokh Chodiev, and Alijan Ibragimov were the original founders of the company. Mashkevitch died in London on March 22, while Ibragimov died from COVID-19 complications in February 2021.

Observers said the move could be connected to recent revelations about Kazakhstan’s rare earth potential. Earlier in April, Kazakhstan’s government announced the discovery of a massive critical minerals basin.