Meteoric Resources and Australian Strategic Minerals received letters of interest from the US Export-Import Bank for up to US$600M in debt funding.

The US Export-Import Bank (US EIB) provided letters of interest to provide up to US$600M in debt funding to rare earth developers Meteoric Resources and Australian Strategic Minerals. Meteoric Resources are developing the Caldeira rare earth project in Brazil targeting ionic adsorption clays, while Australian Strategic Minerals are developing the Dubbo project in Australia and downstream metallisation capabilities in South Korea. The support from the US EIB follows a series of government backed investment in rare earth projects, with the US Department of Defence providing additional funding to Lynas Rare Earths for their Texas based rare earth refinery, and the Australian Government providing funding to Hastings Technology Metals, Iluka Resources and Arafura Rare Earths to continue development of their respective rare earth mines and processing facilities. 

The investments by Australian and US governments have a clear agenda, to reduce the reliance of their domestic supply chains for rare earths and downstream products containing rare earths on the Chinese market, which supplied more than 93% of globally refined rare earth products in 2023. Support is required at multiple stages of the supply chain however, with mine production requiring multiple processing and downstream manufacturing stages in order to produce the rare earth permanent magnets or catalysts used in traction motors, renewable energy generation or emissions control systems. The proposed investments by the US EIB and existing commitments by the US Department of Energy and Australian Government are spanning these supply chain gaps, though technical knowledge in rare earth processing and downstream rare earth permanent magnet manufacturing could present hurdles to growing China-alternative markets in the short-medium term.