Australia-based companies with plans to advance rare earths projects in the United States saw their stocks soar on Tuesday as the Trump Administration continues to seek small equity stakes in critical minerals projects on American soil.
Australia-based firms Resolution Minerals and Nova Minerals both said on Tuesday that they have been invited to brief the Australian Ambassador to the United States on their respective projects planned in Idaho and Alaska. The briefings will precede the meeting between Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington next week.
The Trump Administration is increasingly looking to have a direct equity involvement in America’s critical minerals supply chain, in the race to close the gap with the world’s dominant holder of supply of critical metals and rare earth elements, China.
For its part, China has just expanded the list of rare earth elements under export control and added curbs on manufactured products that have used Chinese refining and magnet-making technology, in a move that further tightens China’s dominant control of critical materials.
The Trump Administration has already signed a deal with Lithium Americas Corp to obtain a 5% equity stake in the company developing the Thacker Pass lithium project in Nevada.
In July, U.S. rare earths miner and magnet producer MP Materials Corp entered into a public-private partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to accelerate the build-out of an end-to-end U.S. rare earth magnet supply chain and reduce foreign dependency.
Now the U.S. has Resolution Minerals’ Horse Heaven gold-antimony-tungsten project in Idaho and Nova Minerals’ antimony Estelle Project in Alaska in its sights.
Shares in Resolution Minerals (ASX: RML) surged by 55%, while Nova Minerals (ASX: NVA) saw its stock jump by 16% on the Australian stock exchange on Tuesday.
“With antimony recognized as a critical mineral and our gold resources adding significant value, Nova is well-positioned to contribute to both U.S. and Australian critical minerals strategies,” Nova CEO Christopher Gerteisen said on Tuesday.
Last week, Nova said that “aligned with its goal to become a leading antimony supplier to the U.S. military and industrial markets, Nova has developed plans for a proposed downstream refinery at Port Mackenzie and is actively negotiating with the U.S. government on additional federal funding initiatives.”
Resolution Minerals’ Craig Lindsay, CEO of U.S. Operations, commented,
“Horse Heaven is a significant Australian-led project in the United States, with historical and potential future production of gold, antimony and tungsten, which are all critical to industrial and defence applications. The briefing reflects the constructive cooperation between Australia and the U.S. on the development of secure, transparent critical mineral supply chains.”
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
