The Trump administration is urgently seeking key mineral projects aimed at ensuring the security of the defense supply chain.

The Trump administration is seeking proposals from domestic manufacturers in the United States, focusing on metals used for producing equipment such as fighter jets, night vision goggles, and tank armor. The Defense Industrial Base Council (DIBC), under the U.S. Department of Defense, has issued a solicitation aimed at addressing the domestic shortfall in the production of indium, manganese, magnesium, and titanium. The U.S. Geological Survey has classified these four metals as critical minerals. This designation indicates that they are vital to economic or national security, while their supply chains are vulnerable to disruption. According to the solicitation documents released last Friday, the deadline for submitting proposals is September 17. Eligible projects can encompass any segment of the supply chain, from mining, processing, and refining to alloy manufacturing and recycling. This marks the third investment project solicitation by the DIBC since mid-2025, focusing on critical minerals and advanced defense technologies. The U.S. government has requested businesses and entrepreneurs to submit a one-page PowerPoint slide that succinctly outlines their project proposals in four quadrants. Projects that pass the preliminary screening will be required to submit more detailed information, such as project execution plans. The solicitation did not disclose the scale of the investment funding available. Government funding expert Tripp Hornick from Quince Street Strategy indicated that the available funding scale is expected to become clearer as the fiscal year 2027 defense budget is finalized. Reportedly, companies in the U.S. with the aforementioned four critical metal minerals include: IperionX (IPX.US)which owns the Titan critical mineral project in Tennessee (over 11,000 acres, containing titanium, rare earths, and zircon sand), and is constructing a titanium metal production line in Virginia; it completed a final feasibility study by 2026 and received orders from the Department of Defense. Electric Metals (USA) Ltd the only company explicitly promoting domestic manganese mining and battery-grade processing. Its Emily deposit/North Star project in Minnesota is the highest-grade manganese mine in North America and will initiate an evaluation of downstream high-purity manganese sulfate/electrolytic manganese facilities in 2026, targeting an annual production of 100,000 tons of high-purity manganese sulfate (HPMSM) and 10,000 tons of electrolytic metal manganese (EMM). Arkansas Magnesium, a joint venture between Magrathea and Tetra Technologies, is set to complete the first newly constructed primary magnesium smelter in the U.S. in nearly 50 years by June 2026 in Lafayette County, Arkansas, utilizing underground brine electrolyzing to produce 99.9% pure metallic magnesium. As the U.S. previously lacked commercial-scale primary magnesium smelting capability, this project is a key initiative to rebuild the domestic supply chain.