Preparation to set up mineral processing plant at US military base, defense capability will be strengthened

America is now going to set up necessary mineral processing plants inside the military base to secure its defense and industrial supply chain. Under this initiative, processing of strategic minerals like rare earth minerals, lithium, graphite and boron will take place on US military bases. Its objective is to reduce dependence on China, secure defense production and strengthen the domestic supply chain to deal with future geopolitical challenges.

Agreements have been made with many companies

America has taken a big step by considering the supply of essential minerals as a matter of national security. The Pentagon has signed agreements with several companies to develop mineral processing facilities at US military bases. This would be the first time US military infrastructure would be used for mineral processing on a large scale.

Know which companies got the responsibility

According to a Bloomberg report, REalloys Inc., Titan Mining Corp., Ioneer Ltd. are involved in this project. and Energy Exploration Technologies (EnergyX). Among these, Australia’s Ioneer is the only non-US company. The government is also providing loan and investment assistance for these projects. REalloys will operate a rare earth elements processing and separation facility at Tooele Army Depot in Utah. A part of the material prepared here will be reserved for military use.

Titan Mining has been awarded graphite purification plants at Pine Bluff Arsenal in Arkansas and Anniston Army Depot in Alabama. EnergyX will develop a lithium processing unit and Ioneer will develop a boron processing plant. Rare earth minerals, lithium and graphite are used in electric vehicles, mobile phones, computer chips, missile systems, fighter jets and advanced defense equipment. In particular, heavy rare earth elements such as terbium and dysprosium are used to make heat-resistant magnets, which are vital for the defense industry.

America also started a plan to create a strategic mineral reserve of $12 billion.

Increasing domestic production of essential minerals has become an important policy in President Donald Trump’s second term. In this direction, America has also started a plan to create a strategic mineral reserve of $12 billion. Apart from this, the government has announced to provide loans and financial assistance worth crores of dollars to many companies. In recent years, competition between China and Western countries for essential minerals has increased. China controls a large share of global rare earth processing capacity. Recently, China has also imposed export controls on some American rare earth companies. In such a situation, America is moving rapidly towards making its supply chain safe and strong domestically.