US Resumes Rare Earths Funding Program

The US Department of Defense has resumed funding for two rare earth mineral processing projects. The assessment believes that these two projects that can provide the military with rare earth products are in the best interest of the US government. According to the MiningWeekly report.

On April 22, the Pentagon announced to provide funding for the rare earth separation projects in Texas and California, respectively, for Australia's Linus (Lynas) and privately held company (MP Materials). But on April 29, the Pentagon announced that it would temporarily shelve the sponsorship, awaiting further research.

At the end of April, Reuters reported that a Chinese company owned a small stake in MP, which aroused the concerns of the US government. MP owns the only rare earths mine in the United States, and its major shareholder is a hedge fund company in Chicago. Several U.S. senators have written to the Pentagon to fund only domestic rare earth projects.

The July 10 document seen by a Reuters reporter showed that, after a third-party legal and procedural evaluation, the procedure was found to be fair, so funding for Lynas and MP will be restored. Neither Pentagon officials nor MP responded to requests for comment. Lynas declined to comment.

Although funds allocated by the Pentagon are generally used for the construction of mineral processing deposits, the US government did not disclose the amount of funding for the projects of the two companies.

Lynas has stated that it can work with the private company Blue Line to advance its projects in Texas without US government funding. In addition, the Pentagon is also reviewing applications for funding for other rare earth projects. Applicants hope that there will be results in the coming months. Last week, the MP company announced that it would go public at the end of the year.

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