US President Donald Trump has been making significant moves in strengthening his country’s ties with Pakistan. A crucial step in that direction involved a closed-door meeting between the 79-year-old American leader and Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir in September. Much of the details pertaining to the secretive Oval Office interaction was kept under wraps.
However, it’s hard to ignore that the enhancement of US-Pak ties is making headlines at a time when America’s relationship with India is on the rocks. Earlier this year, Trump’s expansive tariff regime hit Pakistani imports with 19% duties, which remained the lowest of any South Asian country. India, on the other hand, was hit with 50% tariffs, the highest any nation has had to face.
US-backed company partners with Pakistani mineral exploration firm
Amid the strained US-India trade dynamic, Donald Trump continues to place Pakistan on the global stage. One such recent instance backing the vision involved Nova Minerals CEO Christopher Gerteisen arriving in Pakistan to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on critical minerals with Himalayan Earth Exploration, a leading mineral exploration company in Pakistan, according to an OsintTV report.
Throughout November, multiple reports have continued to take over the Internet, indicating that Nova’s US subsidiary had expressed keen interest in investing in Pakistan’s gold and rare earth project.
OsintTV’s new report emerging this week has since confirmed the chatter, as Gerteisen was pictured alongside Pakistani officials in the South Asian country. Speaking to reporters, the Nova Minerals CEO further shed light on the “strategic alliance” with Pakistan, and how their newly signed ties with Pakistan gave the company access to local knowledge and expertise.
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— OsintTV 📺 (@OsintTV) November 23, 2025
The secret closed-door meeting between Trump, Asim Munir and Shehbaz Sharif is no longer secret, and this is why Trump is now speaking Pakistan’s language and poking India on every platform.
📍 American company Nova Minerals CEO Christopher reached Pakistan… pic.twitter.com/wxRTDuLHAt
“When we looked at Pakistan, we already knew, geologically, very good potential for mineral resources,” Gerteisen said. He further detailed that following their initial talks on the issue, the US-backed firm got better insight into the workings of the Pakistani firm Himalayan Earth Exploration after arriving in the country.
“We never intended initially, after one week of being here to find such an important agreement and strategic alliance,” Gerteisen hailed the formal partnership, as per the video shared by OsintTV. “This partnership is certainly the most comfortable, the most exciting, the most trustworthy kind of agreement. Today, we sign an agreement. Tomorrow, we get to work.”
Nova’s CEO also divulged that an initial expenditure tied to the project would require an investment of something in the range of hundred million dollars. Their work will first look at antimony, which was greatly needed in the US, as highlighted by Gerteisen in Pakistan. Thereafter, the collaboration will pan out to look at other projects Himalayan Earth Exploration is dealing with, including gold, rare earth and other critical elements.
“Keep us on your radar, big things to come,” Gerteisen affirmed.
After his statements, Pakistani officials also broke down how the project would revolve around four verticals – gold; antimony; processing plant in Pakistan; and training for exchange program students and geologists in Alaska for capacity-building.
What is Nova Minerals’ US connection?
According to the company’s official website, Nova Minerals is a mining exploration and development company, with its origin tracing back to Australia. Back in October, the firm announced that its 100% owned US subsidiary Alaska Range Resources LLC (ARR) had been awarded $43.4 million in funding by the US Department of War. Backed by the Defence Production Act Title III program, the project seeks to bring down the US’ reliance on China.
Through US government funding, the company was tasked to produce military-grade antimony trisulfide from the Estelle gold and critical minerals project in the American state of Alaska.
“We are proud to have ARR partner with the US Department of War to help secure a fully domestic supply chain for munitions and other defence products our troops need to keep our nation and allies safe,” Nova Minerals CEO Christopher Gerteisen was quoted in an official press release at the time.
“This award will fund the initial phase of the Company’s strategy to establish a full spectrum state of the art antimony mining and refining hub based in Alaska to supply refined antimony products to the U.S. industrial base and beyond. After conducting rigorous vetting and technical due diligence of the Estelle Project, ARR is proud to be the recipient of this award, which provides further confidence in the quality of antimony mineralization and highlights the potential scale and scope of future antimony production from the Estelle Project.”
Gerteisen himself is committed to managing and advancing resource projects across North America, Australia and Asia.
Earlier this month, Chris Gerteisen sat down for an interview on Fox Business’ ‘Varney & Co’ show following the company’s $43 million US Department of War grant. During the interview, he was asked if the US government had taken an equity stake in Nova Minerals with the grant. Refuting the ownership claims, the Nova chief exec asserted, “This is just a grant,” adding the project was still just in its first phase.
