U.S. Army extends deadline to apply for rare earths project financing

Texas Mineral Resources

13/12/2019 21:46

By Ernest Scheyder
    Dec 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Army has extended by one week
the deadline to apply for rare earths processing facility
financing, the third deadline extension of a program intended to
help Washington secure domestic supply of the minerals used to
make military weapons.
    The deadline has been moved to Dec. 23 from Dec. 16,
according to a military notice sent to potential applicants and
seen by Reuters.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N28F2AS
    The Army division overseeing munitions last month asked
miners for proposals on the cost of a pilot plant to process
rare earths, adding that it plans to fund up to two-thirds of a
refiner's cost and could fund at least one or more
projects. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N28F2AS 
    Several rare earths companies, including Australia's Lynas
Corp  LYC.AX , have said they will apply. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N28M560
    The move would mark the first financial investment by the
U.S. military into commercial-scale rare earths production since
World War Two's Manhattan Project built the first atomic bomb.
    It comes after President Donald Trump earlier this year
ordered the military to update its supply chain for the niche
materials, warning that reliance on other nations for the
strategic minerals could hamper U.S. defenses.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL2N24N1LH
    

 (Reporting by Ernest Scheyder
Editing by Tom Brown 
)
 ((ernest.scheyder@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @ErnestScheyder;
+1-713-210-8512; Reuters Messaging:
ernest.scheyder.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))