Basis for Inclusion: Subject classification: Private Citizen. Pini Althaus is not an elected or appointed government official. He is included under Anchor B (documented founder/officer/director role in organizations with documented conflicts of interest receiving federal support) and Anchor D (voluntarily and publicly assumed a leadership role via on-the-record media interviews with The New York Times). He is executive chairman of Kaz Resources and founder of USA Rare Earth — two entities receiving a combined $3.2 billion in federal support from agencies overseen by officials whose families have financial ties to those same entities. His speech (including his acknowledgment of problematic “optics”) is protected and is NOT the basis for this profile. This profile documents his organizational roles and the documented financial relationships, not his opinions.

Background

Pini Althaus is an Australia-born rabbi who moved to the United States and pivoted to the critical minerals industry. He founded USA Rare Earth and now serves as executive chairman of Kaz Resources.

Althaus led negotiations for the Kazakhstan tungsten deal — a joint venture to develop one of the world’s largest untapped tungsten deposits. He has maintained that he did not benefit from political favors and that discussions about the project began under the Biden administration. [CREDIBLY REPORTED — NYT, June 28, 2026]

He sits at the intersection of multiple Trump-family and Lutnick-family financial interests documented across this profile network.

Organizational Roles

Executive Chairman, Kaz Resources — the entity at the center of the Kazakhstan tungsten deal. Kaz Resources (formerly operating under the name Cove Kaz) signed a 70/30 joint venture with Kazakhstan’s state mining company, Tau-Ken Samruk, to develop a tungsten deposit potentially worth $80 billion at current market prices. The project has received preliminary approvals for up to $1.6 billion in federal financing through the Export-Import Bank and the Development Finance Corporation. [CREDIBLY REPORTED — NYT, June 28, 2026]

Founder, USA Rare Earth (Nasdaq: USAR) — the rare earth mining company that received up to $1.6 billion in Commerce Department support. The Commerce Department also received 16 million shares of company stock as part of the arrangement. [CREDIBLY REPORTED — NYT, June 28, 2026]

Both companies received federal support from agencies where Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick sits on the board.

Both companies had capital raised or deals underwritten by Cantor Fitzgerald — the investment bank now run by Lutnick’s sons, Kyle and Brandon Lutnick, after Howard Lutnick transferred ownership into trusts benefiting them upon his Senate confirmation. [CREDIBLY REPORTED — NYT, June 28, 2026]

The Kazakhstan Tungsten Deal

Althaus led Kaz Resources through the sequence that produced a $1.6 billion federal financing commitment for a Central Asian tungsten mine.

In September 2025, Althaus was present at the St. Regis Hotel meeting where President Trump joined by phone to speak with Kazakhstani officials about the deal. Direct presidential involvement in commercial mining negotiations has no recent precedent in U.S. practice. [CREDIBLY REPORTED — NYT, June 28, 2026]

On November 6, 2025, the 70/30 joint venture with Tau-Ken Samruk was signed. [CREDIBLY REPORTED — NYT, June 28, 2026]

Two federal agencies issued Letters of Interest for the project:

• EXIM Bank: $900 million
• Development Finance Corporation (DFC): $700 million

Howard Lutnick sits on the boards of both agencies. Lutnick personally wrote to President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan urging the government to award the mining contract to Kaz Resources. [CREDIBLY REPORTED — NYT, June 28, 2026]

Six days before the deal was signed, on October 31, 2025, ASP Isotopes’ subsidiary Skyline Builders acquired a 20% stake in Kaz Resources for $20 million — a transaction through which Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump obtained financial exposure to the deal via Dominari Securities. [CREDIBLY REPORTED — NYT, June 28, 2026]

USA Rare Earth

Althaus founded USA Rare Earth, which received up to $1.6 billion in Commerce Department support. As part of that support, the Commerce Department received 16 million shares of company stock. [CREDIBLY REPORTED — NYT, June 28, 2026]

Cantor Fitzgerald earned millions of dollars in fees by helping USA Rare Earth in a series of deals that ultimately raised $1.5 billion. [CREDIBLY REPORTED — NYT, June 28, 2026]

The combined federal support across Althaus’s two companies — Kaz Resources and USA Rare Earth — totals approximately $3.2 billion.

Network Position

Althaus is the common thread connecting multiple entities in the broader network documented across this profile series:

The Trump family connection: Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump hold stakes in the Kazakhstan tungsten deal through Dominari Securities and ASP Isotopes/Skyline Builders. The President personally joined a call during the St. Regis Hotel meeting to advance the deal.

The Lutnick family connection: Cantor Fitzgerald, now run by Howard Lutnick’s sons, served as capital-raise partner for both of Althaus’s companies — earning millions in fees on USA Rare Earth alone. Howard Lutnick, as Commerce Secretary, sits on the boards of both federal agencies providing $1.6 billion in potential financing for Kaz Resources and separately directed $1.6 billion in Commerce Department support to USA Rare Earth.

The federal government connection: Both EXIM Bank and DFC issued Letters of Interest for the tungsten deal. The Commerce Department committed up to $1.6 billion to USA Rare Earth. These agencies are overseen by officials with documented family financial ties to the same transactions.

Althaus did not create these structural conflicts. But he is the private-sector principal who sits at the center of all of them — the executive chairman and founder whose two companies are the vehicles through which federal dollars, family financial interests, and government authority converge.

His Own Words

Althaus spoke on the record with The New York Times. He acknowledged the perception problem directly: “I see how the optics might be disturbing to some people.” [CREDIBLY REPORTED — NYT, June 28, 2026]

He maintained that discussions about the tungsten project began under the Biden administration and that the firm did not benefit from political favors. [CREDIBLY REPORTED — NYT, June 28, 2026]

These statements are protected speech and are documented here as the subject’s own characterization of events, not as the basis for this profile.

For Trump Supporters: Questions Worth Considering

1. Is it normal for one private individual to be the central figure in $3.2 billion or more of federal support across two companies — with the president’s sons holding stakes in one deal and the commerce secretary’s sons earning fees on both? Regardless of party, does that concentration of federal support around a single person warrant closer scrutiny?

1. Would you accept this overlap of interests from the other party? If a Democratic president’s sons held stakes in a mining deal while the Democratic commerce secretary’s sons earned fees on the same transactions — and the same individual ran both companies — would you consider the arrangement clean?

1. Althaus acknowledged that the “optics might be disturbing to some people.” Is that acknowledgment a sufficient response? Or does the documented pattern of financial relationships require a more substantive answer than a comment about appearances?

Investigative Trails

• Althaus’s prior business history: Track the trajectory from rabbinical work to critical minerals. What earlier ventures, if any, involved federal financing or politically connected investors?
• Biden-era discussions documentation: Althaus maintains discussions began under Biden. FOIA requests to Commerce, EXIM, and DFC for any pre-2025 correspondence regarding the Kazakhstan tungsten deposit or USA Rare Earth would test that claim.
• Relationship timeline with Dominari/ASP investors: When did Althaus first interact with Paul E. Mann, Allan Evans, and the Dominari Securities principals? Did these relationships predate or postdate the Trump sons’ involvement with Dominari?
• SEC filings for both companies: USA Rare Earth (Nasdaq: USAR) prospectus supplements, 8-K filings, and Cantor Fitzgerald placement-agent disclosures. Kaz Resources / Skyline Builders reverse merger proxy statement (April 2026 announcement). Track the fee disclosures to determine what Cantor earned on each engagement.

Education only — verify independently. Absence of hits is not proof.

Factual correction requests: If you believe information in this profile is incorrect, please contact factcheck@patriot.university with your name (optional), the specific claim, and any supporting documentation. We review all submissions and correct verified errors promptly.

Investigative trail pointers (public records)

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Use public-records-research-specialist, corporate-intelligence-investigator, and public-corruption-ombudsman evidence tiers.

Sources

1. Paul Sonne and Eric Lipton, “How Trump’s Sons Got a Stake in a Huge Mining Deal Their Father Brokered,” The New York Times, June 28, 2026.
2. Public corporate filings: USA Rare Earth (Nasdaq: USAR) SEC filings; Skyline Builders / Kaz Resources reverse merger announcement, April 2026; ASP Isotopes Form 8-K disclosures.

This profile documents publicly available information about organizational roles and financial relationships. It does not allege illegality. The subject’s speech is protected and is not the basis for inclusion. If any claim requires correction, contact patriot.university with documentation.

Last Updated: July 3, 2026 Profile Status: Published — under continuing review