The U.S. hopes through the minerals partnership to convert peace and investment deals with Congo into influence over the country’s critical-minerals supply chain.
The U.S. has stepped up efforts to secure critical mineral supplies globally for a strategic metals stockpile as it seeks to reduce reliance on China and counter China’s dominance in Africa.
The U.S. is in the process of soliciting private sector feedback on the list of assets, the official told Reuters on Friday.
“We have significant interest, yes,” the official said, but declined to name the companies, saying “the conversations are still forming.”
Two enormous sandlike dunes at an old chemical processing plant in South Africa are at the center of an exploratory U.S.-backed project to extract highly sought-after rare earth elements from industrial mining waste.
The Phalaborwa Rare Earths Project has U.S. support through a $50 million equity investment by the government’s International Development Finance Corporation and is part of accelerated U.S. efforts to reduce reliance on economic rival China for the minerals crucial for making electronic devices, robotics, defense systems, electric vehicles and other high-tech products.
Countries have identified dozens of minerals, including copper, cobalt, lithium and nickel, as critical because they are essential for new technologies. The 17 rare earth elements are a subset of them.
Project continues despite a diplomatic rift
The DFC was created during the first Trump administration and committed its investment in the Phalaborwa project in 2023 under former U.S. President Joe Biden.
The current Trump administration has moved forward with the project despite a major diplomatic rift with South Africa, which began when Trump returned to office and issued an executive order last February to halt all financial assistance to the country.
But the administration has shown that certain economic concerns come first. The DFC has promoted its involvement in the Phalaborwa project as part of a push to unlock Africa’s mineral potential “while advancing U.S. strategic interests.”
The Phalaborwa project is being developed by Rainbow Rare Earths. The DFC’s investment is through partner TechMet, a company that says it is focused on securing critical mineral supplies for the West. South Africa’s government does not have a direct stake in the project.
Rainbow Rare Earths CEO George Bennett told The Associated Press they hope to supply predominantly the U.S., saying its interest in the project was largely related to defense systems.
The company says it aims to supply the rare earth elements neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, terbium and others from its South African project. They are used in high-performance magnets in wind turbines, electric vehicles, defense and emerging applications, including robotics.
The Phalaborwa project aims to start extracting rare earths from the two huge dunes in 2028. The dunes are 35 million tons of phosphogypsum, a byproduct of mining waste and the processing of phosphate rock for acid and fertilizer production.
The project is expected to operate for 16 years, Rainbow Rare Earths said. The $50 million injection from the DFC will be used only once Rainbow Rare Earths starts construction of its processing factory in Phalaborwa, anticipated in early 2027.
Rare earths are relatively common but usually occur at low concentrations and are difficult to separate, making their mining costly.
Neha Mukherjee, research manager at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, said that while the Phalaborwa project was unique, with its experimental above-ground mineral extraction process, its potential remains unknown.
“It looks like a fairly low-cost asset in terms of operational cost,” she said. “Even the capital requirement is not very high … which is a good sign.”
Mukherjee added that the project is important because “we do not have enough projects to meet the entire demand outside of China.”
US is ‘trying to catch up’
Rainbow Rare Earths says mineral extraction from the dunes will use up to 90% renewable energy and be significantly less expensive than typical rare earth mining.
Bennett said Phalaborwa would be a low-cost producer comparable to Chinese producers.
“(Former owners) crushed it, they milled it, they put energy into it, put heat into it, all that to make the phosphogypsum, which is what’s needed to make rare earths,” said Rainbow Rare Earths project director Alberto Bruttomesso, referring to the processes the waste previously underwent. “Heating is the most expensive part of the process. It’s what costs the most money.”
No matter the outcome of the conflict between the United States and Iran, China will be better off in the postwar world order due to its global leadership not only in renewable energy and batteries, but also electrical infrastructure and energy innovation.
The blockage of the Strait of Hormuz has thrown many nations dependent on Middle East oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) into crisis. Beyond immediate measures to reduce energy consumption, the Iran war is now causing these countries to accelerate longer-term plans to build out solar and wind power, install batteries to balance their grids, and expand the role of electric vehicles (EVs).
China is the clear winner. The country dominates all three industries and was already promoting them aggressively in export markets before the war. But this major advantage is only part of the postwar story. Beijing is also winning in other manufacturing sectors and electrical infrastructure writ large, and it is positioning itself to win the next generation of energy technologies. China’s progress may be good for the global climate, but as each day of hostilities passes and energy demands grow, it deepens the United States’ long-run geoeconomic challenge.
April 16 (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate on Thursday narrowly voted to overturn former President Joe Biden’s mining ban in northern Minnesota, agreeing with the House of Representatives and sending the bill to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it.
The move reverses Biden’s 20-year block on mining across 225,504 minerals-rich acres (91,200 hectares) in the Superior National Forest and gives a major boost to Antofagasta’s, opens new tab Twin Metals copper, cobalt and nickel project, as well as other proposed mines in the region bordering Canada.
Environmentalists have long worried that the mine could damage the water-rich region, which is visited by more than 200,000 hikers and canoeists each year. Mining companies have said they believe minerals can be extracted safely.
Brazil will require foreign partners to process rare earth minerals domestically as a condition for access to its reserves, a senior government official said this week, setting terms that could reshape how Chinese and Western firms compete for resources the country has long exported raw.
“Our doors of Brazil to foreign investment are open, but our position has matured,” Leonardo Durans, a senior official at Brazil’s industry ministry, said at a press conference with international media.
“The commitment we will demand from everyone is domestic technological development and job creation.”
The US drive to reduce reliance on China for rare earths and critical minerals will take more than fixing resource and processing gaps, experts say, noting that the decisive factor would be talent.
Eroding industrial know-how, a weak education pipeline, and the lack of a consistent long-term strategy could complicate US ambitions to become a mining powerhouse and rival or even surpass China, they warned.
Rare earths are a critical component in many advanced weapons systems. Observers said China’s dominance in rare earths stemmed not only from its industrial scale but also from decades of accumulated engineering expertise, which the United States was struggling to rebuild after decades of decline
Australia and the United States have committed over A$5 billion ($3.5 billion) to critical mineral projects, almost doubling the amount pledged when their cooperation framework was established six months ago. The funding will be delivered via Export Finance Australia and the U.S. Export-Import Bank, focusing on projects that strengthen strategic industries. Canberra says this positions Australia as a global leader in diversifying supply chains for rare earths and other critical minerals.
Future scenarios for the minerals alliance
If the funding accelerates project timelines and scales production, Australia could emerge as a key non-Chinese processing hub, reshaping global supply dynamics and reducing market vulnerability. Alternatively, delays from environmental, technical, or market challenges could limit impact, leaving Western nations exposed to existing dependencies. Both scenarios will influence the pace of the energy transition and the resilience of high-tech manufacturing supply chains.
LMEL eyes cobalt from Congo to India through US partnership
Nagpur: Lloyds Metals and Energy Limited (LMEL), which has taken over CHEMAF Group, a mining company in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), early this month by forming a joint venture with US’ Virtus Mineral Group, plans to get its share of cobalt from the African nation to India as well.
The sharing formula would depend on the agreement between Indian and American governments as the venture also has a US partner. CHEMAF’s mines are seen as a major non-Chinese source of cobalt, a critical mineral, especially when India doesn’t have any major resources of the metal.
“The production is expected to start within the current fiscal,” said LMEL’s managing director B Prabhakaran.
The company projects an initial output of 20,000 tonnes of cobalt and 60,000 tonnes of copper a year from the Congo mines. CHEMAF Group has mines in Congo’s Katanga belt, known to be among the biggest copper reserves in the world apart from having sizeable cobalt deposits.
The takeover of CHEMAF Group by the LMEL–Virtus combine is also seen as a major victory for the US government, as it could outmanoeuvre the Chinese players who were also eyeing the company.
Vale and Shandong Shipping Corporation have concluded an agreement for new ethanol-powered Guaibamax vessels, which are scheduled for delivery starting in 2029. The agreement marks an unprecedented milestone for global iron ore transport: this is the first time in the maritime industry that ethanol will be used as the primary fuel on an ocean-going vessel. With the potential to reduce carbon emissions by around 90% compared to the use of heavy fuel oil, commonly used in shipping, the initiative reinforces Vale’s commitment to reducing its carbon emissions across the value chain and promoting decarbonization in the maritime sector, in line with ongoing discussions at the International Maritime Organization.
The US and Japan have an ambition to transform the Philippines into a critical minerals powerhouse and cut their reliance on China as part of a broader economic partnership, but analysts warn that a lack of commitment by Manila to introduce comprehensive reforms and tackle corruption could hamper the goal.
A report by the US-based think tank Centre for a New American Security (CNAS) said cooperation between the three countries was central to leveraging the Philippines’ vast potential as a source of critical minerals and rare earths to strengthen Washington’s regional deterrence.
“The United States and Japan are already among the Philippines’ top trading partners, but there are opportunities to enhance trade and investment ties in energy, infrastructure, telecommunications and critical minerals,” it said.
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