The United States is preparing to launch a $5 billion fund to secure supplies of critical minerals. The fund would be set up through the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) in partnership with New York–based investment firm Orion Resource Partners, with both parties committing at least $600 million, alongside other investors.
People familiar with the development provided information to Bloomberg anonymously.
“These talks really show that the [Donald] Trump administration is trying to align its financial tools with its broader mineral ambitions,” Gracelin Baskaran, director of the critical minerals security program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the Financial Times.
Also Read: From Defense to Dollars: The Government’s Play to Rebuild the Domestic Rare Earths Supply Chain
“This public-private partnership stands to catalyze a significant amount of capital,” she added.
The DFC has become a centerpiece of U.S. efforts to support strategic investments overseas. Since its inception at the end of Trump’s first term, it has deployed capital through loans, equity stakes, and technical assistance grants to reduce dependence on Chinese supply chains.
Notable deals include a $150 million loan to Syrah Resources (OTCPK: SYAAF), which operates a graphite mine in Mozambique supplying Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), and $550 million to finance upgrades to the Lobito Corridor rail line in central Africa, a crucial export route for copper and cobalt.
If finalized, the partnership with Orion could mark the largest mining-related commitment in the DFC’s history. Orion, which manages about $8 billion in assets, is one of the mining industry’s most active financiers, with projects spanning copper, cobalt, and precious metals. In January, the firm launched a $1.2 billion venture with Abu Dhabi’s ADQ sovereign wealth fund, providing a blueprint for the potential U.S. joint vehicle.
Orion is also in talks to acquire a major copper-cobalt miner in the Democratic Republic of Congo, showing the strengthening ties between domestic capital markets and Kinshasa.
The urgency behind the new initiative reflects both immediate and long-term concerns. In the near term, China processes most of the world’s copper, rare earths, and antimony, leaving Western supply chains exposed. Over the longer term, forecasts point to deep shortages of key metals due to falling ore grades, underinvestment, and slow permitting.
The Department of Defense has already begun stockpiling cobalt for the first time since the Cold War and recently committed $400 million to U.S. rare earths producer MP Materials under a supply guarantee.
Beyond the DFC-Orion talks, Washington is scaling up critical mineral involvement through multiple agencies. The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) on Tuesday announced a letter of interest to provide up to $67 million in financing for Sunrise Energy Metals’ (OTCQX:SREMF) Syerston scandium project in New South Wales, Australia. The deposit is among the world’s largest and highest-grade, with nearly 46 million tons of resources.
Price Action: SREMF stock closed at $2.99 on Tuesday, up $0.74 or 32.89%.
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