Stocks of U.S.-listed rare earths and critical minerals companies climbed on market reports that the administration intends to create a strategic minerals stockpile worth $12 billion. The initiative, identified in media accounts as "Project Vault," triggered notable intraday gains among small-cap miners and materials names.
Among the moves reported, USA Rare Earth rose 6.5%, United States Antimony moved up 7%, and Critical Metals gained 8%. MP Materials, a leading domestic rare earths producer, increased 5.5%. Other names that rallied included Ramaco Resources, which added 2%, Trilogy Metals, up 4%, and TMC the metals company, which rose 6%.
According to the reporting, the proposed stockpile would be financed through a combination of $1.67 billion in private capital together with a $10 billion loan from the U.S. Export-Import Bank. Those funds would be used to buy and store critical minerals for American manufacturers, the story said, citing senior administration officials who were not named because the plan has not been formally announced.
Project Vault has been described as modeled on the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve and would concentrate on elements such as gallium and cobalt. The reporting said those minerals are important inputs for smartphones, batteries, jet engines, and other high-technology products.
The stated objective of the proposed program is to shield U.S. manufacturers from interruptions in supply and from swings in prices for inputs. The accounts emphasized that the move forms part of broader efforts to lessen U.S. reliance on China, which currently plays a dominant role in global production and processing of rare earths and many other critical minerals used across the automotive, aerospace, and energy sectors.
Because the plan had not been publicly released at the time of the reporting, details and timing remained uncertain. Market reactions in the affected mining and materials stocks were immediate, reflecting investor focus on how a new funding and storage framework could change the domestic supply outlook for essential industrial inputs.