The United States is preparing to invest $1.6 billion in USA Rare Earth, the Oklahoma-based miner, in exchange for a 10% ownership stake, people familiar with the matter told the Financial Times, which reported the arrangement on Saturday.
According to the report, the federal investment will be disclosed on Monday along with a distinct private financing package of $1 billion. Reuters sought comment from the White House and USA Rare Earth, but neither had responded immediately.
The details cited in the report indicate the government would receive 16.1 million shares in USA Rare Earth and warrants on an additional 17.6 million shares, with both the shares and the warrants priced at $17.17 each.
U.S. officials have framed recent equity investments in domestic mining companies as part of a broader effort to expand domestic production of lithium, rare earths and other critical minerals used in national defense and advanced technology sectors. The Financial Times quoted an official in the Commerce Department’s CHIPS office as saying the transaction with USA Rare Earth is "focused on onshoring critical and strategic minerals essential to the semiconductor supply chain and US national security."
Earlier actions by the administration included taking equity stakes in MP Materials, Lithium Americas and Trilogy Metals, the report added, as part of a program of historic deals intended to reduce reliance on foreign sources of strategic minerals.
The FT also reported that USA Rare Earth has enlisted Cantor Fitzgerald to lead efforts to raise more than $1 billion in additional equity. The firm is described in the report as an investment banking and brokerage business chaired by Brandon Lutnick, who is identified as the son of U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.
Operationally, USA Rare Earth has been developing a mine at Sierra Blanca, Texas, and is building a neo magnet manufacturing facility in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The Stillwater plant is expected to reach commercial operation in the first half of 2026, per the report. USA Rare Earth has a market capitalization reported at $3.45 billion and is noted as one of the larger-scale neo magnet manufacturers in the United States.
The Financial Times report could not be independently verified immediately by Reuters. The details in the FT account include the share and warrant counts and pricing, the planned timing of announcements, the CHIPS office statement on the deal’s objectives, the hiring of Cantor Fitzgerald, and the company’s ongoing mine and manufacturing developments.
Context and implications
Officials quoted in the report frame the investment as one element of a policy push to onshore production of minerals deemed critical to both semiconductor supply chains and national security. The plan to combine a government equity infusion with private financing reflects an approach that pairs public incentives and capital with private funding to build domestic capacity in strategically important minerals and components.