Trump-Linked Businessman Buys Armenian Copper Mine for $228.5 Million, Plans to Shift Exports From China to U.S.

A U.S. businessman with ties to President Donald Trump’s administration plans to expand one of Armenia’s largest copper mines and redirect most of its exports from China to the United States, bringing a major source of Armenian minerals into American supply chains.

Konstantin Sokolov, the Russian-born owner of U.S.-based Dynamic Frontier Holdings, told Bloomberg that his company paid $228.5 million for the Teghut copper and molybdenum mine in Armenia’s northern Lori province.

The deal, approved by Armenia’s competition regulator in July, ended years of ownership by Russia’s VTB Bank, which took control of Teghut in 2019 after its previous owner defaulted on a $400 million loan.

Sokolov plans to raise the mine’s annual production capacity from about 80,000 metric tons of copper concentrate to between 120,000 and 130,000 metric tons, an increase of at least 50%. The expanded operation would produce concentrate containing approximately 26,000 to 28,000 metric tons of copper annually.

New production facilities are expected to begin operating in 2030, with the mine reaching full capacity in 2031, Sokolov told Bloomberg.

The businessman also intends to redirect most of Teghut’s exports, currently shipped to China, to the United States.

“One of the main objectives of this transaction was to make Armenia’s critical mineral resources available to U.S. supply chains,” Sokolov said.

The plans come as Washington works to reduce its dependence on China for minerals used in manufacturing, electronics and defense equipment. For Armenia, the investment could open a new market for one of its most important exports while reducing Russian ownership in a major mining operation.

Teghut has operated for more than a decade and remains a significant contributor to Armenia’s economy. It ranked as the country’s 22nd-largest corporate taxpayer last year, paying nearly 14.4 billion drams ($40 million) into the state budget. The mine employed more than 1,100 people as of 2022.

Russian-linked investors still hold a major position in Armenia’s mining industry. The country’s largest mining company, the Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine, is predominantly owned by entities connected to Russian billionaire Roman Trotsenko. It employs about 4,600 people and paid more than 52 billion drams ($140 million) in taxes in 2025.

Sokolov has other business interests in Armenia, including a substantial stake in one of the country’s three mobile phone operators.

His involvement also extends to a U.S.-backed transportation project in Armenia. Earlier this year, the State Department appointed him chairman of a $200 million fund primarily intended to support the development of a U.S.-run transit corridor through the country.

Sokolov has also emerged as a major Republican donor. He is reportedly among 36 private contributors to Trump’s White House ballroom project and has donated more than $12 million to Republican campaigns and political groups during the president’s second term.

His acquisition of Teghut gives an American company control of a major Armenian mining operation previously held by a Russian bank, with plans to supply the U.S. market rather than China.

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