The headframes of mining shafts 10 and 9 at Resolution Copper Mining’s east plant near Superior, Arizona, June 14, 2017. REUTERS
WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. government will invest $3 billion in critical minerals and battery projects as part of a push to increase domestic production and boost national security and industrial policy, President Donald Trump said on Friday.
“We’re reclaiming America’s rightful place as the minerals superpower of the world,” Trump told more than 200 mining executives, educators, investors and fellow politicians at a roundtable at the State Department aimed at supporting the industry, which he said had not received enough attention from Washington in recent years.
He announced a slew of investments during his speech, including a $1.4 billion conditional loan from the Defense Department’s Office of Strategic Capital for Sila Nanotechnologies, which makes lithium-ion battery parts.
The OSC also extended a $400 million conditional loan to scandium miner Sunrise Energy Metals and a $150 million conditional loan to magnet developer Niron Magnetics.
The U.S. Export-Import Bank will lend $58 million to Westwater Resources, Global Advanced Metals and 5E Advanced Materials, which Reuters reported earlier on Friday.
“Critical minerals are the raw materials of American strength that power everything from advanced weaponry to automobiles, and we want these essential products to be mined, refined and made right here in the USA,” Trump said.
