The Biden administration on Tuesday announced a number of major partnerships and investments between the government and companies working in the critical mineral industry. 

What You Need To Know

  • The Biden administration on Tuesday announced a number of major partnerships and investments between the government and companies working in the critical mineral industry

  • Many of these critical minerals – like rare earth elements, lithium and cobalt – are vital for green technologies including electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar panels

  • One allocation announced Tuesday was a $35 million award from the Department of Defense to MP Materials, a company that processes and separates rare earth elements 

  • MP Materials hopes to create over 350 domestic jobs within the permanent magnet industry by 2024

The series of announcements came with ambitious goals in mind: To create good-paying jobs, to build a resilient domestic supply chain and to become economically competitive with China in the green technology market.

Many of these critical minerals – like rare earth elements, lithium and cobalt – are vital for green technologies including electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar panels and more. 

“We know that when the federal government invests in innovation, it powers up the private sector to do what they do best,” President Joe Biden said during a roundtable meeting with industry stakeholders on Tuesday. “And that's what we're seeing happen.”

One allocation announced Tuesday was a $35 million award from the Department of Defense to MP Materials, a company that operates the United States’ only facility to process and separate rare earth elements. 

The company in turn announced a $700 million investment in the magnet supply chain, an industry Biden said is currently monopolized by China. The permanent magnets are used in defense systems and other electronics.

“When it comes to clean energy, China has spent several years cornering the market on many of the materials [that] power [the] technologies that we rely on,” Biden said. “That's why I committed to build a clean energy supply chain stamped ‘Made in America.’ And Made in America means using products, parts and materials, as well as minerals right here that are in the United States of America.” 

At the outset of his presidency, Biden signed an executive order titled Ensuring the Future is Made in All of America by All of America’s Workers, which aims to “increase U.S. content in the products the federal government buys and support the domestic production of products critical to our national and economic security,” per the White House.

MP Materials hopes to create over 350 domestic jobs within the permanent magnet industry by 2024.

MP Materials is located in Mountain Pass, California, the same state where Berkshire Hathaway Energy Renewables is set to break ground on a new facility that could rapidly increase the nation’s production of lithium, an element most notably used in rechargeable batteries for products like cell phones, digital cameras, electric vehicles and computers.

BHE Renewables’ new facility in California’s Imperial County will “test the commercial viability of their sustainable lithium extraction process from geothermal brine,” the White House said in a statement. Should the test be successful, the company will move towards full-scale production of battery grade lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate by 2026.

California’s Gov. Gavin Newsom, who joined Biden virtually at Tuesday’s meeting, said the projects will focus on inclusion and righting historical wrongs, with particular attention on disadvantaged communities. 

The state government is working with local leaders and the companies to create “a community benefits package focusing not just on the economic opportunity, but making sure that the growth and inclusion strategies include local hires, include local benefits in a sustainable way,” Newsom added.