The US invested $2 billion across seven different critical minerals at once

The US Department of War, EXIM and the Department of Energy announced more than $2 billion spread across seven different critical minerals and materials — from scandium to graphite — plus $180 million to train workers at 17 technical schools.

At an industry roundtable hosted by the US president, the Department of War, the Export-Import Bank (EXIM) and the Department of Energy announced, on August 10, 2026, more than $2 billion in funding spread across seven critical mineral and material projects. The list includes $1.4 billion for Sila Nanotechnologies (silicon-carbon battery anodes), $400 million for Sunrise Energy Metals (scandium value chain), $150 million for Niron Magnetics (rare-earth-free permanent magnets for defense use), $85 million for Standard Bauxite (refractory-grade bauxite), and, via EXIM credit lines, $8 million for 5E Advanced Materials (boron), $25 million for Westwater Resources (graphite) and $25 million for Global Advanced Materials (tantalum and niobium). In parallel, more than $180 million was announced for workforce training: $100 million from the Department of Energy distributed across 14 mining schools and more than $80 million from the Department of War for three other institutions.

The detail that teaches the most here isn't the total amount — it's how it was split. Instead of concentrating the package on a single trendy mineral, like lithium or rare earths, the US government spread capital across seven materials that hit very different vulnerability points in the defense and technology supply chain: battery anode, permanent magnet, scandium for light alloys, refractory bauxite for industrial lining, boron, graphite and tantalum-niobium for electronics. It's a portfolio logic, not a single bet — if one project stalls or fails, the whole strategy doesn't collapse with it. The funding instruments used also vary deliberately by each company's stage of maturity: the largest, most strategic awards, like Sila's and Sunrise's, came as direct funding from the Department of War, while more recent or smaller-scale projects, like 5E, Westwater and Global Advanced Materials, received EXIM credit lines — an instrument historically used to enable exports and working capital, not to fund heavy installation capital. And the workforce training package, announced the same day and nearly as large in relative terms as the biggest single mineral award, makes clear the government treats the shortage of qualified people as a bottleneck just as real as the lack of capital to build the plant.

For anyone tracking where US public money is flowing in critical minerals, this announcement shows the bet is moving beyond just lithium and rare earths — less-hyped materials like scandium, boron and tantalum-niobium are also receiving significant capital, opening opportunity space in niches with far less attention competing for it. For students and professionals in training, the simultaneous funding of 17 mining schools is a direct signal that a technical career in the sector has concrete budget backing right now, not just political rhetoric.