The Pentagon is investing over half a billion dollars to expand an Australian critical minerals project that is set to become the world’s first primary scandium mine, US President Donald Trump announced on August 8, 2026.

The $400 million USD ($560 million AUD) loan will fund Sunrise Energy Metals’ Syerston scandium project located near Fifield in central west New South Wales, approximately 350 kilometres west north-west of Sydney. The investment is intended to strengthen America’s supply of scandium, a mineral increasingly critical to aerospace, defence, and automotive industries.

Currently, nearly all scandium supply is sourced from China, Russia, and Ukraine, and is primarily harvested as a by-product of other industrial processes rather than from dedicated mines. The Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) highlighted that foreign competitors account for about 80% of the world’s scandium mining production and nearly all processing.

Sunrise Energy Metals aims to deliver the world’s first primary source of mine-able, high-grade scandium. In February 2026, the company’s CEO Sam Riggall, supported by mining billionaire Robert Friedland, stated the project is expected to contribute to a US critical minerals stockpile valued at $12 billion USD ($16.9 billion AUD).

President Trump made the announcement during a State Department event in Washington attended by over 200 mining executives, educators, and investors. He emphasized the US is reclaiming its position as "the minerals superpower of the world." The loan is part of a broader $3 billion USD ($4.2 billion AUD) investment package in critical minerals and battery projects.

The OSC noted the importance of international cooperation, stating, "No one country alone can create secure, end-to-end supply chains in critical minerals and rare earths," underscoring Australia’s role in supplying the US and its partners with essential minerals for strategically important economic sectors.

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