THE US government is negotiating a multibillion-dollar overseas mining fund with investment firm Orion Resource Partners as Washington seeks to challenge Chinese dominance in critical minerals, said the Financial Times in a report on Wednesday.
The US International Development Finance Corporation and New York-based Orion would each invest $600m or more in the new fund, potentially alongside other sovereign investors and US agencies, said the newspaper citing people familiar with the talks.
The fund would target projects extracting critical minerals including copper and rare earths essential for defence and high-tech manufacturing, the Financial Times said.
“These talks really show that the Trump administration is trying to align its financial tools with its broader mineral ambitions,” said Gracelin Baskaran, director of the critical minerals security programme at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “This public-private partnership stands to catalise a significant amount of capital.”
Discussions between Orion and DFC began last year but were delayed by questions from commerce secretary Howard Lutnick, who sits on the corporation’s board, though these have largely been resolved.
The US has discussed investing $600m, comprising $100m for equity stakes in mining projects and $500m for debt financing.
If finalised, the Orion partnership would represent DFC’s largest deal, surpassing previous mining investments including $105m for start-up TechMet.
Earlier this year, Orion established a $1.2bn joint venture with Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ, with each contributing $600m, providing a potential template for the US fund’s structure.
