Project Vault, the US government-backed critical-minerals stockpile, plans to choose an initial group of more than a dozen American manufacturers that could receive up to $1 billion in loans to help procure key materials.
VaultCo, the company established by the Trump administration to run the project, is in discussions with more than 70 firms across both the supply and demand sides of the critical minerals market to participate in the initiative, Executive Chairman Brett Lambert said in a Wednesday interview.
“What’s likely to happen is we’ll announce several hundred million dollars, maybe a billion dollars, of loans to OEMs who have requested use of the Vault facility,” Lambert said. “In the first tranche, we’ll have more than a dozen firms, followed by more than a dozen shortly after.”
The first tranche of companies would mark a significant step forward in the rollout of Project Vault after the Trump administration unveiled the $12 billion initiative earlier this year. The cache is intended to reduce US vulnerability to Chinese domination of production and refining of many key materials.
See more: Industrial Metals in a Security-First World
Lambert said the manufacturers selected for the program will not be publicly identified at this stage, though the announcement will likely identify the types of minerals the companies have requested. Beyond metals and minerals, the manufacturers are also requesting particular magnets, powders, alloys and other processed materials tailored to their needs. Lambert said those requests underscore how specialized the US industrial supply chain has become.
“There isn’t any one mineral that stands out, but the specificity of the requests have surprised me,” Lambert said. “When you think about the Vault, it’s not a big rail-yard with rocks covered in tarps. These are very specific alloys and assets.”
In September, commodity traders Glencore Plc and Mercuria Energy Group Ltd. said they will receive a combined $1 billion in financing from the US Export-Import Bank to purchase critical minerals for the stockpile.
Unlike a conventional government-directed stockpile, Vault is being structured as a demand-driven vehicle where manufacturers will determine which minerals are stored. It’s designed to give US firms more leverage in opaque and fragmented markets where individual buyers often struggle to source smaller volumes efficiently or at transparent prices.
Lambert said the Vault plans to withhold details on the precise quantities of minerals it intends to purchase, in an attempt to avoid moving prices in relatively small and often illiquid mineral markets.
“We want to be very careful not to influence the markets,” Lambert said. “We’ll work with the traders and the people in the marketplace to get the best deals possible.”
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