(News Bulletin 247) – The United States has announced a 10% investment in the capital of Trilogy Metals, specializing in materials prospecting. This illustrates the Trump administration’s desire to secure its supply of rare minerals.

The hit of the day on Wall Street is signed by a Canadian company. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Trilogy Metals, a mining group specializing in mineral exploration (copper, zinc, gold, silver) rose 250% at the start of the session, this Tuesday, October 7.

This very modest capitalization ($350 million at Monday’s close) is supported by an equity investment by the American government.

The Trump administration announced that it would acquire 10% of the capital of this company (or more precisely $35.6 million), via the “war” department (new name of the defense department). Equity derivative products (“warrants”) also grant options to the American government to take an additional 7.5% of the capital of Trilogy Metals.

>> Access our exclusive graphic analyses, and gain insight into the Trading Portfolio

Offensive on critical metals

Among the projects of this Canadian company is the “Upper Kobuk Minerals Projects” (UKMP), located in the Ambler mining district in Alaska.

It is one of “the richest and most promising copper districts (with copper deposits, Editor’s note) in the world”, explains the company.

It “hosts world-class polymetallic volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits containing copper, zinc, lead, gold and silver, as well as carbonate replacement deposits that have been found to be rich in high-grade copper and cobalt,” the company continues.

This participation is linked to a measure taken on Monday by Donald Trump. The latter reversed a decision dating from the Biden era when his predecessor in the White House blocked the “Ambler Road” project, explains Bloomberg. This project consists of building a highway to accelerate the development of the region’s mines and thus facilitate the United States’ access to rare metals. But opponents of the project argued that it risked damaging local flora and fauna, explains CNBC.

This announcement also comes as “the Trump administration continues to focus on critical minerals, notably on a similar agreement with Lithium America Corps last week,” explains Deutsche Bank.

The government announced to Bloomberg last week that it would take a 5% stake in this Canadian mining group specializing in lithium extraction, as well as 5% in Thacker Pass, a joint venture of the company (in which General Motors also holds 36%). The group’s shares have since gained 33%.

In July, the Trump administration also announced an agreement to invest $400 million in the capital of MP Material stock, specializing in the production of permanent magnets (used for electromechanical systems), which is based on materials present in rare earths. The stock gained 50% in one session. This company is vertically integrated, ranging from rare earth extraction to manufacturing processes.

All of these announcements illustrate, more broadly, the United States’ desire to counter China’s domination in rare earths. China accounts for about 69% of the world’s production of rare earth minerals compared to 12% for the United States, according to the Institut Polytechnique de Paris.