WASHINGTON: The US 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 mineral 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 $1.4bn conditional loan from the Defence Department’s Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) 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 $150m conditional loan to magnet developer Niron Magnetics.
The Export-Import Bank will lend $58m to Westwater Resources, Global Advanced Metals and 5E Advanced Materials.
“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.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick attended the announcement.
The White House needs critical minerals to replenish weapons stockpiles depleted during the Iran war and reduce dependence on Chinese supply chains.
Several executives came with gifts for Trump. Tom Albanese, chairman of deep-sea mining firm American Ocean Minerals, gave Trump a gold replica of a nodule that the company hopes to mine from the Pacific seabed. Trump last year said he may bypass the UN-backed International Seabed Authority and issue international seabed mining licences.
Jim Litinsky, CEO of rare earths firm MP Materials, which is financially supported by the Pentagon, gave Trump magnets that had been produced for General Motors in the company’s Texas plant.
Other attendees included executives from Lithium Americas, which is building the largest lithium mine, NioCorp, which is building a scandium mine to supply defence contractor Lockheed Martin, and Energy Fuels, which received a $725m OSC conditional loan in June.
American forces have burned through large numbers of precision-guided missiles and air-defence interceptors during the Iran war. Defence officials and lawmakers have warned that replenishing some inventories could take years given existing production constraints. The Trump administration has disputed reports of significant shortages.
Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2026
