2026 Critical Minerals Ministerial

Fact Sheet

February 4, 2026

Today the United States, together with our partners and allies, has set out to reshape the global market for critical minerals and rare earths. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, joined by Vice President JD Vance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, and U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Jamieson Greer, hosted representatives of 54 countries and the European Commission, including 43 foreign and other ministers, at the 2026 Critical Minerals Ministerial.

Delegations from the following countries attended: Angola, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Cook Islands, the Czech Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, the European Commission, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guinea, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, the Republic of Korea, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand, the Netherlands, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, and Zambia.

Critical minerals and rare earths are essential for our most advanced technologies and will only become more important as AI, robotics, batteries, and autonomous devices transform our economies. Today, this market is highly concentrated, leaving it a tool of political coercion and supply chain disruption, putting our core interests at risk. We will build new sources of supply, foster secure and reliable transport and logistics networks, and transform the global market into one that is secure, diversified, and resilient, end-to-end.

At today’s Ministerial, the United States and our partners took action to build secure and resilient critical mineral supply chains. In one day, the United States signed new bilateral critical minerals frameworks and memorandums of understanding (MOUs), announced U.S. government financing opportunities to support strategic minerals projects, and celebrated the launch of the Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement (FORGE). These efforts are complemented by our collaboration between the United States and its nine Pax Silica partners to secure strategic stacks of the global technology supply chain.

Today, the United States signed eleven new bilateral critical minerals frameworks or MOUs with countries, including Argentina, the Cook Islands, Ecuador, Guinea, Morocco, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates, and Uzbekistan. The United States signed ten other critical mineral frameworks or MOUs in the past five months and reached completion of negotiations on such agreements with seventeen other countries. The United States is demonstrating unprecedented leadership in critical minerals diplomacy. These frameworks lay the groundwork for nations to collaborate on pricing challenges, spur development, create fair markets, close gaps in priority supply chains, and expand access to financing.

Secretary Rubio announced the creation of FORGE as the successor to the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP). FORGE, which will be chaired by the Republic of Korea through June, will lead with bold and decisive action to address ongoing challenges in the global critical minerals marketplace. Understanding the benefits of working together and building on the MSP, FORGE partners will collaborate at the policy and project levels to advance initiatives that strengthen diversified, resilient, and secure critical minerals supply chains.

Recognizing that governments alone cannot solve this problem, we are committed to close partnership with the private sector, including through Pax Silica, which will lead through investments in mining, refining and processing, end use applications, and recycling and reprocessing. On February 3, the day before the ministerial, we brought leading lights in the private sector together with governments from around the world to discuss supply chain challenges and investment opportunities. That day, Deputy Secretary Landau witnessed the signing of an MOU between Glencore and the U.S.-backed Orion Critical Mineral Consortium in relation to a potential acquisition of assets in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). This MOU reflects the core objectives of the U.S.-DRC Strategic Partnership Agreement by encouraging greater U.S. investment in the DRC’s mining sector and promoting secure, reliable, and mutually beneficial flows of copper and cobalt to the United States from the DRC. Following the ministerial on February 4, Deputy Secretary Landau and Under Secretary Helberg convened a task force of mining industry leaders to advance priority projects in the framework of new collaboration with the United States and its partners.

The U.S. Government is mobilizing unprecedented resources to secure critical mineral supply chains, supporting projects with more than $30 billion in letters of interest, investments, loans, and other support over the past six months in partnership with the private sector. These investments, along with Pax Silica and our reinvigorated diplomatic and commercial engagement driven by America First values, are having a multiplier effect, mobilizing private capital many times greater than the U.S. government outlay, which will generate billions of dollars in new projects to secure our supply chains. These coordinated efforts span domestic and international projects, strengthening U.S. national security and economic competitiveness. Under the Trump Administration, America is leading the global race for strategic minerals and advanced manufacturing. This is only the beginning—dozens of additional projects are in the pipeline undergoing due diligence by U.S. funding agencies, with more coming online soon.

U.S. Government support for critical mineral supply chains in the recent past includes:

Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM)

On February 2nd, President Trump announced Project Vault, a landmark initiative led by the Chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM), which marks an unprecedented step in U.S. industrial policy by establishing a domestic strategic reserve for critical minerals. The EXIM Board of Directors approved a Direct Loan of up to $10 billion for Project Vault, more than double the largest financing in EXIM’s history, designed to shield domestic manufacturers from supply shocks, expand U.S. production and processing of critical raw materials, and fundamentally strengthen America’s critical minerals sector.

More broadly, over the past year, EXIM has issued $14.8 billion in Letters of Interest for critical minerals projects under the Trump Administration, including, in recent months, $455 million for rare earth development and processing in the United States; $400 million for lithium extraction in Arkansas; $350 million for cobalt and nickel production in Australia; and $215 million for tin extraction across the United Kingdom and Australia.

EXIM’s critical minerals portfolio of authorized transactions includes:

$10 billion – Project Vault: Establishing the U.S. Strategic Critical Minerals Reserve to support domestic manufacturers and strengthen supply chain security
$1.3 billion – Reko Diq (Pakistan): Copper and gold production
$27.4 million – 6K Additive (Pennsylvania): Titanium, nickel, and advanced metal powders
$23.5 million – Amaero Advanced Materials (Tennessee): Advanced materials and critical metals processing
$15.9 million – Empire State Mines (New York): Zinc mining and production
$11.1 million – IperionX (Virginia): Titanium processing and manufacturin

Department of Energy (DOE)

Through the DOE Loan Programs Office, the Department has supported major private sector projects to strengthen U.S. critical mineral and battery supply chains, including:

$2.3 billion loan for Lithium Americas’ Thacker Pass project (lithium carbonate from clay);
$996 million loan for Ioneer’s Rhyolite Ridge project (lithium carbonate and boric acid);
$475 million loan for Glencore Battery Recycling (lithium, nickel, cobalt, and manganese extraction);
$98 million loan for Syrah’s Vidalia facility (natural graphite processing);
$1.4 billion conditional commitment for EnergySource Minerals’ Project ATLiS (lithium hydroxide from geothermal brine);
$754.8 million conditional commitment for Novonix’s Project Kathari (synthetic graphite processing);
$1.26 billion conditional commitment for Michigan Potash (potash mine and processing);

The Department of Energy also has launched additional funding and partnership opportunities in 2025, including:

$134 million for a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to establish a Rare Earth Elements Demonstration Facility, strengthening domestic rare earth supply chains (NOFO December 1, 2025);
$355 million supporting: The “Mine of the Future – Proving Ground Initiative” to advance next-generation mining technologies and piloting byproduct critical minerals and materials recovery at domestic industrial facilities (NOFO November 14, 2025);
$50 million for a Critical Minerals and Materials Accelerator (NOI, August 13, 2025);
$500 million for Battery Materials Process and Battery Manufacturing and Recycling Grants (NOI, August 13, 2025);
$40 million for Reliable Ore Characterization with Keystone Sensing (ROCKS) (NOFO, August 25, 2025);
$20 million for Magnetic Acceleration Generating New Innovations and Tactical Outcomes (MAGNITO) (NOFO, August 25, 2025);
$6 million for Technology for Recovery and Advanced Critical-material Extraction – Gallium (TRACE-Ga) (PIA, September 15, 2025);

The Department of War

Ambler Metals, $35 million equity committed, Oct 2025, Alaska;
Alcoa-Sojitz, $93 million equity committed, Oct 2025, Western Australia, crowded in $170.3 million of equity from foreign and private investors;
Vulcan Elements, $620 million debt committed, Nov 2025, North Carolina, crowded in $550 million of equity from private investors;
ReElement, $80 million debt committed, Nov 2025, Indiana, crowded in $200 million of equity from private investors;
Korea Zinc, $1.25 billion committed and funded debt, $2.4 billion of conditionally committed debt Dec 2025, Republic of Korea and Tennessee, crowded in $2.4 billion of debt from private investors;
Korea Zinc, $150 million equity funded, Dec 2025, Republic of Korea and Tennessee, crowded in $540 million of equity from private investors;
Atalco, $150 million equity funded, Dec 2025, St. Ann, Jamaica, and Louisiana, crowded in $300 million of equity from private investors.

U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC)

Under the Trump administration, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation has invested in and is exploring more than a billion dollars in new mineral exploration deals and strengthened critical mineral supply chains for the United States and U.S. allies, including:

$75 million initial seed investment for critical minerals and strategic sectors in Ukraine that has mobilized another $75 million in non-U.S. government funding;
$600 million into the Orion Critical Minerals Consortium for critical minerals investments worldwide, that has mobilized an additional $1.2 billion in non-U.S. government funding;
$565 million for heavy and light rare earth extraction in Brazil;
LOI exploring up to $700 million to help finance tungsten development in Kazakhstan;
Joint venture negotiations with African trading vehicle that has secured 100,000 tons of copper for the U.S. and 50,000 for U.S. allies, Saudi Arabia and the UAE;
Strategic investment partnerships to explore critical mineral investment opportunities with leading Gulf firms.

Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR)

This morning, USTR announced an Action Plan on Critical Minerals with Mexico that develops coordinated trade policies and mechanisms that mitigate critical mineral supply chain vulnerabilities.

Also today, USTR announced that the United States, the European Commission, and Japan intend to develop Action Plans for critical minerals supply chain resilience.

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