Critical Minerals and Energy Intelligence

US invests $8.6 billion in critical minerals deals since January 2025

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US government investment in equity stakes in private-sector critical minerals companies since January 2025 hit US$8.6 billion, in the biggest such push into strategic industries since the Second World War.

The push is part of a wider US$20.9 billion across sixteen deals involving direct government ownership, as Washington works to lock in critical supply from an industry where private capital has sometimes struggled to deliver secure supply of copper, nickel, cobalt, rare earths, lithium, and more.

In particular, following China’s export controls on rare earths in April and October 2025, the US scaled up its investment in critical minerals companies, which now account for nine of sixteen deals to date, using a range of grants, loans, and tax incentives.

Total USG investment by sector since January 2025 - The Oregon Group - Critical Minerals and Energy Intelligence

The mining deals include:

Company	Date	Equity	Agency	Authority	Tools Used
MP Materials	Jul 10, 2025	$400 million	Department of Defense	DPA Title III, OSC	Equity, Loans, Warrants, Offtakes, Price Floors
Lithium Americas	Oct 1, 2025	—	Department of Energy	DOE LPO Loan	Loans, Warrants
Trilogy Metals	Oct 6, 2025	$36 million	Department of Defense	OSC + DPA	Equity, Warrants
ReElement Technologies	Nov 2, 2025	—	Department of Defense	OSC Loan + DPA	Loans, Warrants
Vulcan Elements	Nov 2, 2025	$50 million	Department of Defense, Commerce	CHIPS + OSC Loan	Equity, Loans, Warrants, Grants
Korea Zinc	Dec 15, 2025	$2.2 billion	Department of Defense, Commerce	OSC, CHIPS	Equity, Loans, Warrants, Grants
USA Rare Earths	Jan 26, 2026	$280 million	Department of Commerce, Energy	CHIPS	Equity, Loans, Warrants
Atlantic Alumina	Jan 12, 2026	$150 million	Department of Defense	Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment Program	Equity
Orion Critical Mineral Consortium (Orion CMC)	2026	$100 million	Development Finance Corporation	DFC	Equity, Loan

“Decades of lackadaisical policymaking and oversight have left glaring holes in America’s supply chains and industrial base – vulnerabilities that the Trump administration is committed to using every tool at our disposal to rectify” — said White House spokesman Kush Desai to Bloomberg.

The process started under President Joe Biden (2021-2025), with deals totaling at least US$80million:

US$30 million equity investment in TechMet in FY2022
US$50 million equity investment tied to Phalaborwa Rare Earths through TechMet/DFC structures

image 2 - The Oregon Group - Critical Minerals and Energy Intelligence

We suspect this cost number is likely only the “tip of the iceberg” once you start including the Trump’s administration’s US$12 billion for the critical minerals stock pile “Project Vault”, and others.

And private co-investors include JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, as well as foreign partners including Emirati sovereign wealth fund and Japan.

On partnerships, the number is easier to undercount than overcount because many are frameworks rather than cash deals. At a minimum, the US has built a sizeable architecture that includes the Minerals Security Partnership, which brings together 14 countries and the EU; the older Energy Resource Governance Initiative launched in 2019; the U.S.-Canada Critical Minerals Action Plan in 2020; the U.S.-Brazil Critical Minerals Working Group in 2020; MINVEST; the U.S.-DRC strategic minerals partnership; and, in February 2026 alone, Reuters reported 11 new bilateral deals plus a trilateral arrangement involving the EU and Japan.

It is part of an attempt to accelerate a model that turns the US government into financier, equity holder, offtake architect and geopolitical broker. And, after years of the US talking about mineral security, they are now starting to put the money where their mouth is, so to speak.

For mining companies the scale of the investment by the US government helps put a floor in the risk involved in moving ahead with projects.

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