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 support 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, defense, and automotive industries.

Currently, nearly all scandium supply is sourced from China, Russia, and Ukraine, and is mostly obtained as a by-product of other industrial processes rather than from primary mining. The Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) highlighted that foreign competitors account for about 80% of the world's mining production and nearly all scandium 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 stated that the project, backed by mining billionaire Robert Friedland, is expected to contribute to a US critical minerals stockpile valued at $12 billion USD ($16.9 billion AUD).

President Trump announced the loan alongside other investments totaling $3 billion USD ($4.2 billion AUD) in critical minerals and battery projects. Speaking at a State Department event in Washington attended by over 200 mining executives, educators, and investors, Trump declared that the US is reclaiming its position as "the minerals superpower of the world."

The OSC emphasized the importance of secure, end-to-end supply chains in critical minerals and rare earths, noting that no single country can achieve this alone. The Syerston project is seen as a strategic step in enhancing Australia's capacity to supply critical minerals to the US and its partners.

Sources

ABC Australia News (Annabel Bowles)