May. 11 at 7:13 PM
$GPHOF U.S. rare earth developers and explorers have significantly benefitted from government investment, a standout example being private Brazilian miner Serra Verde which the DFC backed with a
$565 million funding package in February. USA Rare Earth’s (Nasdaq: USAR)
$2.8 billion acquisition of Serra Verde is expected to close in the third quarter. Last summer, the Department of Defense (DoD) invested
$400 million in MP Materials (NYSE: MP), the sole rare earths miner in North America, making the DoD the largest shareholder in the company.
The BMO analysts note that graphite projects have also been tapped for sizeable investments, such as Graphite One (TSXV: GPH; US-OTC: GPHOF), which might receive about
$2.1 billion from EXIM. Most of the loan would go towards a planned graphite anode plant in Ohio and the rest for its Graphite Creek project in Alaska.