THE US government has selected Glencore to help it build a strategic reserve of critical minerals in a development that deepens the Swiss miner’s relationship with Washington.
The US Export-Import Bank (EXIM) has committed $500m to the partnership, under which Glencore will source, buy and deliver critical minerals for VaultCo, a public-private initiative aimed at securing supplies for American industry.
Earlier this year Glencore agreed to buy nearly 2,000 tons of cobalt worth about $115m for expected sale to the US government under Project Vault. The broader initiative was backed by $10bn from EXIM and another $2bn in private capital.
Glencore is also in talks to sell a 40% stake in its Mutanda Mining and Kamoto Copper Company copper and cobalt operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo to Orion Critical Mineral Consortium. The proposed deal values the operations at $9bn.
Orion Critical Mineral Consortium (CMC) is a US-backed investment vehicle led by Orion Resource Partners and backed by the US government’s International Development Finance Corporation and ADQ, an Abu Dhabi fund.
The consortium is set up to invest in critical-mineral projects and secure supplies for the US and its allies. Orion CMC and Glencore have also said they could pursue more critical minerals projects in the DRC and elsewhere in the African copper belt.
Glencore said VaultCo would combine EXIM’s financing with its ability to source and supply critical minerals and base metals. “VaultCo is an innovative approach to strengthening supply chain resilience,” said Jyothish George, Glencore’s head of marketing for metals and bulks.
“Mineral security is national security,” said Brett Lambert, executive chair of VaultCo. “Vaultco is working to ensure the US industrial base has access to the critical minerals needed to build the products everyday Americans rely on.”
