The Revenge Of The Miners: Made In America Critical Minerals Edition
The Trump Administration's strong commitment to a secure domestic critical minerals supply chain has helped to catalyze strong market moves in junior miners with US critical minerals projects.
The Trump administration is serious about securing America’s raw materials supply chain, and this week’s announcements have demonstrated just how serious it is. First, there was the 50% tariff on U.S. copper imports. Then came this morning’s announcement of a comprehensive investment package by the US Department of Defense in vertically integrated U.S. rare earths producer MP Materials (NYSE: MP).
MP (Daily)
MP shares rocketed higher by more than 50%, adding US$2.5 billion in market cap in a single trading session.
Let’s break down the investment by the Department of Defense (DoD):
$400 million in preferred equity
The DoD acquired preferred shares convertible into common stock plus warrants, granting it a ~15% stake—making it MP’s largest shareholder.
$150 million loan
A direct investment via the DoD to expand MP’s heavy rare-earth separation capabilities at Mountain Pass.
Guaranteed offtake contracts & price floor
A 10-year, government-backed purchase agreement ensures 100% of magnets produced at the upcoming "10X Facility" will be purchased by DoD or commercial customers.
The DoD guarantees purchase of 100% of the magnets produced at the 10X Facility for a decade—ensuring full demand from defense and commercial clients.
The 10X Facility will be built in Texas, it is the centerpiece of MP Materials’ new magnet-manufacturing capacity and part of the DoD-backed expansion to rebuild a full U.S. rare-earth supply chain. Commissioning expected by 2028, with construction fully financed and underway right now.
Creates a price floor of $110/kg for NdPr oxides, insulating MP against price volatility and securing profitability.
Financing from investment banks
JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs committed $1 billion toward building the 10X magnet plant
The DoD’s investment in MP reduces the USA’s dependency on Chinese rare-earth supply chains—with nearly 90% of global processing capacity based in China. Perhaps most importantly, federal government investment in the US raw materials supply chain will help to catalyze private capital to build a complete U.S. supply chain—from mining through magnet manufacturing—for essential military components.
This isn't just a financial move—it marks a strategic shift. The DoD is enforcing active industrial policy to rebuild critical mineral capacity at home. It strengthens U.S. autonomy for defense tech production, directly targeting vulnerabilities in national security supply chains.
Once the market had a couple hours to digest the MP/DoD news, investors began to aggressively bid up other US critical mineral miners. Notably, Idaho rare earths explorer (also a junior gold producer) Idaho Strategic Resources (NYSE:IDR) opened higher and proceeded to climb on heavy trading volume throughout Thursday’s trading session, closing up 21% on the day:
IDR (Daily)
Three weeks ago, I highlighted IDR on Goldfinger Capital and stated:
“...it is IDR’s strategic position in the 70-mile-long Idaho Rare Earth Belt in central Idaho that is the real blue-sky opportunity within the company. IDR is the largest rare earth elements landholder in the United States with 3 of the top domestic rare earth elements projects, including the largest concentration of Thorium resources in the United States.”
I took profits on today’s rally, but I am feeling a slight tinge of regret; I am wondering if we are about to see a greater rare earths mania among US investors. While IDR’s Idaho rare earths projects are early-stage, and many years away from any potential production scenario. We know that such details aren’t of much consequence when a tiny sub-sector enters an investment mania.
Another Idaho junior miner, Perpetua Resources (NYSE:PPTA), saw a large share price gain on the back of the MP Materials news:
Perpetua Resources (Daily)
Perpetua’s Stibnite Gold & Antimony Project contains the only identified antimony reserve in the U.S., estimated at around 148 million pounds, enough to supply about 35% of U.S. demand over its first six years of operation. In addition, Stibnite hosts tungsten and silver. Silver is an integral element in solar panels, and tungsten is a metal with a multitude of military applications.
It is logical for investors to bid up PPTA shares after the DoD investment in MP Materials. Already, the DoD has invested over $80 million in Perpetua Resources, spanning multiple programs and agreements (DPA/DPA Title III and DOTC). These investments are geared toward securing a fully domestic antimony trisulfide supply chain for U.S. national defense and ammunition needs. However, investors are sniffing the potential for a Perpetua/DoD public-private partnership similar to the MP Materials investment package.
Another strong candidate for additional DoD investment & funding is Minnesota Nickel-Copper-Cobalt-PGE explorer/developer Talon Metals (TSX:TLO, OTC:TLOFF):
Talon Metals (Daily)
So far, the DoD has invested approximately US $23 million in Talon Metals to bolster nickel supply chains vital for defense, aerospace, and clean energy applications.
My sources tell me that the Pentagon is particularly enamored with Talon, partly because of its polymetallic metal suite—which includes cobalt, copper, palladium, nickel, and platinum—and partly because of the company’s strong environmental stewardship. This includes a small surface footprint of just 10 acres and no exposed tailings in its planned underground mining operation.
The DoD may be in the process of making multiple strategic investments across key critical minerals to help secure the US critical minerals supply chain. Talon and Perpetua would certainly be at the top of any list of candidates.
Now for the US copper miners. After all, the copper price is trading at an all-time high above $5.50/lb and the 50% Trump tariff on copper imports stands to strongly incentivize domestic copper cathode production:
Arizona Sonoran Copper (Daily)
Copper cathode is a high-purity form of copper (typically 99.99% pure) that is produced through the process of electrolytic refining or electrowinning. It is the primary raw material used in the production of copper products such as wires, rods, sheets, and pipes.
Once in production (first copper cathode production anticipated by 2029), Arizona Sonoran (TSX:ASCU, OTC:ASCUF) plans to produce copper cathode at its Cactus Project near Casa Grande, Arizona, through heap leaching and solvent extraction-electrowinning (SX-EW) processing. This method is well-suited for oxide and lower-grade sulfide ores commonly found at Cactus.
Another Arizona copper developer that is poised to produce made-in-America copper cathode is Gunnison Copper (TSX:GCU, OTC: GCUMF):
Gunnison Copper (Daily)
The first copper cathode production at the Johnson Camp Mine is expected in Q3 2025, with initial processing already underway—mining began in January 2025 and leach pad development is well advanced. The processing flowsheet utilizes heap leaching and SX-EW to produce up to 25 million pounds of finished copper cathode annually, funded by Rio Tinto’s Nuton technology venture.
Arizona Sonoran currently holds more than US$60 million in cash in its treasury, helping ASCU shares to benefit (rising 4.3% in Thursday’s trading) from improving investor sentiment towards US copper developers. Meanwhile, GCU arguably offers investors more torque to US copper production due to its smaller market cap and near term production profile. However, GCU has an open financing priced at $.30 that has served to keep a lid on the share price.
Without making this post too lengthy, I will conclude with a half dozen US copper explorers/developers that are likely to continue to benefit from Trump 2.0’s commitment to revitalizing and incentivizing US critical minerals production:
Intrepid Metals (Daily)
Intrepid Metals (TSX-V:INTR) shares rose 20.43% after delivering an impressive drill intercept grading .71% copper over 216.50 meters at the Ringo Zone at its Corral Copper Project in southern Arizona.
Ivanhoe Electric Founder & Chairman Robert Friedland spoke with the Financial Times about Trump’s 50% tariff on US copper imports:
“I commend the Trump administration for doing what’s obvious and intelligent — America needs to produce the metal….There’s a new list of critical raw materials and without it, you can’t do anything about global warming or greening the world economy and you have a critical vulnerability in national security,”
On Thursday, shares of Arizona copper developer Ivanhoe Electric (NYSE:IE) closed at a new 2025 high:
Ivanhoe Electric (Daily)
Hercules Metals (Weekly)
Idaho copper & silver explorer Hercules Metals (TSX-V:BIG, OTC:BADEF) is up 8.1% for the week as it continues to oscillate within what I have dubbed “The Big Beautiful Base”. Earlier in the week, Hercules announced the successful completion of a large-scale (>100 square kilometers) MT-NSIP geophysical survey over its Hercules Property in western Idaho, including its flagship Leviathan porphyry copper discovery and newly-added claims. Meanwhile, investors are eagerly awaiting the first drill results of Hercules’ 2025 drilling program.
Another Arizona porphyry copper developer/explorer, Faraday Copper (TSX:FDY, OTC:CPPKF), is a standout performer this week. Faraday shares are up ~50% over the last three weeks, in part due to receiving approval of the Exploration Plan of Operations by the Bureau of Land Management for Faraday’s flagship Copper Creek Project.
Faraday Copper (Daily)
Faraday is another Arizona copper developer that will eventually be able to produce domestic copper cathode from its near-surface oxide mineralization, via a heap leach + solvent-extraction/electrowinning (SX‑EW) process.
Finally, shares of Alaska mega-copper project developers Northern Dynasty Minerals (NYSE:NAK, TSX:NDM) and Trilogy Metals (NYSE:TMQ, TSX:TMQ) are benefiting from increased investor interest in American copper amid an improving federal permitting environment:
Northern Dynasty Minerals (Daily)
Trilogy Metals (Daily)
A few years ago, billionaire investor Robert Friedland coined the term “The Revenge of the Miners.” As with many things, he was a few years early. However, there is little doubt that the revenge of the miners is very real—and it is just beginning.
Disclosure: Author owns shares of several companies mentioned in this article including ASCU.TO BIG.V GCU.TO TLO.TO and may choose to buy or sell at any time without notice.
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