The Pentagon is investing over half a billion dollars to expand an Australian critical mineral project that is set to become the world's first primary scandium mine, US President Donald Trump announced on Friday, August 8th, 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 kilometers west north-west of Sydney. The project aims to provide the world's first primary source of mine-able, high-grade scandium, a mineral increasingly critical for aerospace, defense, and automotive industries.

Currently, nearly all scandium supply is sourced as a by-product from other industrial processes and comes predominantly from China, Russia, and Ukraine. The Pentagon's Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) noted that no primary mine-source scandium supply exists globally at present, and foreign competitors account for about 80% of the world's mining production and nearly all scandium processing.

Sunrise Energy Metals' CEO Sam Riggall stated in February 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 this 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 initiative underscores the importance of secure, end-to-end supply chains in critical minerals and rare earths, with an emphasis on collaboration, as "no one country alone can create secure, end-to-end supply chains," according to the Pentagon.

Sources

ABC Australia News