For four decades, Kamran M. Khozan—Founder, CEO and Chairman of CVMR® Corporation—has pressed metallurgy, capital markets and public policy toward one audacious idea: emancipating critical minerals from the financing gridlock that keeps them scarce, opaque and under‑valued. CVMR, headquartered in Toronto but active in 22 countries, can refine 36 metals into ultra‑pure powders and net‑shape products; now Khozan wants to make those metals function as liquid financial assets.The mechanism arrived on July 17, when CVMR signed a Memorandum of Understanding with FINATRADES of RAMINVEST Holding, a Dubai‑ and Swiss‑based fintech platform. The partnership will lock refined metal—nickel ingots, cobalt powder, rare earth oxides, uranium—into secure vaults, tag each tranche to a cryptographic token, and let industrial buyers, sovereign funds and lenders trade or collateralize the tokens as easily as bullion. “Finally, the technology, the financial community and the mining community are at a stage where they can marry each other in developing something that has not been done before,” Khozan told InvestorNews host Tracy Hughes.Jack Lifton, Co‑Chair of the Critical Minerals Institute (CMI), captured the scale of the ambition: “This has been tried many times before, but never by a powerhouse like this.” Khozan’s definition of powerhouse is expansive. The venture aims to become “the largest critical minerals conglomerate,” spanning extraction, refinement, finance and marketing in one transparent loop. Each token will be backed one‑to‑one by physical metal certified by CVMR and listed on the FINATRADES exchange. “One of the major problems of the mining companies, especially small to medium‑sized companies, is finding finance for what they’re trying to do,” Khozan said. “This probably will solve that problem.”He argues that tokenization gives strategic elements the bankable stature long monopolized by gold. “Gold is gold, whether it’s in the ground or in your hand… Other metals do not have that status. We tried to give them that status and I think finally we have managed to do that.” The marketplace will begin with hubs in Texas, Tirana, London and Toronto; Khozan expects tighter bid‑ask spreads and fewer arbitrage opportunities. “If I’m buying cobalt, I want to know how it was mined, how it was refined, what chain of supply it went through,” he said. “This system… gives the market a stable pricing for all these metals that cannot deviate too much.”Transparency extends to taxation and human‑rights compliance—an explicit rebuke to the tax‑avoidance mystique that clings to parts of the crypto industry. “We are trying not to do that clever thing and dodge taxes,” Khozan said with a dry laugh. “Blockchain—something that is traceable—you know where the origin is. You know that these institutions… have a good human‑rights track record.” A joint working group has been formed to police compliance, product development and risk management.Africa, where CVMR already concentrates ore at the mine site, stands to benefit early. Khozan envisions refining roughly half the output in‑country, developing local engineers and tax bases, while shipping the remainder to North American facilities. “If we start slowly in those countries and refine… then bring some of it to North America, we have spread the goods,” he said. The model, he added, avoids the “straitjacket” of conditional lending by multilateral banks: “Our banking system does not impose those conditions… From inside we create jobs, we create technology, we educate.” The approach also appeals to governments eager for supply‑chain security. The partnership’s white‑paper highlights physical custody, immutable ledgers and ESG vetting as antidotes to price shocks and resource nationalism. Khozan’s invitation is open‑ended: “We can do this for the entire industry,” he said. “Whoever wants to do this is welcomed into the system and we can help them finance it, refine their metals and also market them.”