▲ U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a meeting on the U.S. mining industry held at the Department of State in Washington.
The U.S. administration under Donald Trump has announced a 3 billion dollar mining project—equivalent to about 4.2 trillion won—aimed at securing the extraction of critical minerals.
Speaking at a meeting with mining industry workers held at the State Department building in Washington, D.C., on the 7th local time, President Trump stated, "Our administration is announcing a historic 3 billion dollar mining project."
The largest share of the project is a 1.4 billion dollar loan awarded by the U.S. Department of Defense's Office of Strategic Capital to Sila Nanotechnologies to build a next-generation battery facility in Washington state.
An investment of 400 million dollars will be made to expand the production of scandium—a critical mineral for the aerospace and defense industries—in Australia, alongside a 150 million dollar investment in MP Magnetics, a rare-earth company in Minnesota.
The Export-Import Bank of the United States is pursuing 1 billion dollars in financing for Ivanhoe Electric's copper mine project in Arizona.
A 25 million dollar investment is also slated for a graphite mine project in Alabama.
Previously, the Department of Defense acquired 400 million dollars worth of shares in MP Materials, the sole rare-earth producer in the United States, last year.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick emphasized that the reason the Department of Defense and the Department of State are involved in critical minerals is because it is "a national security issue far beyond a mere economic problem."
The expansion of critical mineral extraction and refining within the United States or by its allies is interpreted as a move to break away from China's dominance over mineral supply chains.
Although China agreed to ease rare-earth export controls during the U.S.-China summit last May, the U.S. assessment is that Beijing could seize and shake America's vulnerable points at any time.
Bloomberg reported that the event on this day partly aims to encourage the development and processing of critical minerals within the U.S. to counter potential moves by Chinese President Xi Jinping to pull out the rare-earth card once again ahead of a U.S.-China summit scheduled for next month.
Bloomberg noted that despite a "trade truce" that relaxed export controls on critical minerals and magnets essential for high-tech industries, rare earths remain a source of tension between the U.S. and China, and the U.S. seeks to build a supply chain independent of China, running "from mine to magnet."
President Trump vowed to ensure that the U.S. will "never again rely on a hostile foreign nation for the resources our country needs to maintain its future edge," exclaiming, "Make American mining great again."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio introduced "Pax Silica," an artificial intelligence supply chain consultative body led by the U.S. with participation from countries including South Korea, explaining that it is "an effort to work with the private sector and invest not only in extraction, refining, and processing, but also in the end-use sectors of those minerals."
Commerce Secretary Lutnick mentioned that investments by major global mining companies in the U.S. are being revitalized through Section 232 tariff policies of the Trade Expansion Act, citing Korea Zinc's total investment of 7.4 billion dollars to build a smelter in Tennessee as a representative example.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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