U.S. Army contracts for critical minerals processing at military bases
The Red River Army Depot, which is on the border of Texas and Arkansas, is one of several U.S. Army bases in the United States that is set to see processing and development of critical minerals facility as part of the Trump administration’s push to bring rare Earth minerals manufacturing back on shore.
The U.S. Army has awarded provisional contracts to several companies for processing critical minerals at military bases in the United States. The Pentagon has reached agreements with at least four companies to build and operate the plants, which will handle rare Earth minerals such as graphite, lithium and boron.
The four companies – REalloys, Inc., Titan Mining Corp., ioneer Ltd. and Energy Exploration Technologies Inc. – are part of the Army’s strategic capital initiatives to improve critical minerals availability for advanced manufacturing. The locations that the projects are being planned for include locations in Alabama, Arkansas, Texas and Utah, so far.
“The main objective here really is to make the American and allied supply chain for these critical minerals more robust and more resilient,” David Fitzgerald, deputy undersecretary of the Army, told The Journal.
The effort aimed specifically increase the ability to mine and produce rare Earth elements for manufacturing in the United States. Concerns have been raised throughout the military, the Trump administration and both parties in Congress about U.S. reliance on minerals produced by other countries, including China.
One of the companies, Titan Mining, plans to design, finance, build and operate a graphite purification plant to produce purified graphite products – which the company said “directly challenges China’s near-total control of graphite processing.”
Titan President and CEO Rita Adiani said that Titan’s processing facility will be the first of its kind to operate on “U.S. defense soil.”
“These awards mark a turning point in ending America’s dependence on Chinese-controlled supply chains, and Titan is honored to lead the re-shoring initiative of critical minerals which are essential to our national security,” Adiani said in the release.
