There has been a surge in mining companies seeking U.S. listings this year, but even more striking is the change in language as firms explicitly target defence-related demand for critical minerals.

At least 18 companies, mostly Canadian and Australian but ​also some U.S. startups, have completed or are pursuing dual U.S. listings this year, versus just three in 2025, according to exchange filings and company disclosures reviewed by Reuters…This year's transactions have brought producers of antimony, rare earths, tungsten and uranium to the NYSE and Nasdaq - all minerals designated strategic by the Pentagon and used in fighter jets, missiles and radar systems.

The firms are positioning themselves as suppliers of munitions, armour-piercing materials and of inputs for U.S. weapons systems, ​their public filings show, departing from traditional mining IPO language focused on supply-demand fundamentals and long-term price cycles…But several have secured government funding through Pentagon-linked programs, suggesting the listings are as much about unlocking strategic financing and investor access as upfront capital raising, analysts and lawyers said…Some Canadian-listed miners, including Lithium Americas  and Trilogy Metals are tapping U.S. defence-linked financing through equity ‌stakes and ⁠project funding as part of Washington's push to secure key minerals…That push follows a series of crises that left the United States and other Western nations racing to rebuild domestic mineral supply chains and reduce their dependence on China's dominant production and processing…In addition to China's export curbs, Washington has faced restrictions on cobalt exports ​from the Democratic Republic of Congo and other risks…Private capital ⁠has also responded. JPMorgan, for example, said in October it could invest up to $10 billion in sectors tied to national economic security, including critical minerals…In February, U.S. President Donald Trump launched "Project Vault", a $12 billion strategic minerals stockpile initiative backed largely by the U.S. Export-Import Bank…The administration has also taken equity stakes in mining firms including MP Materials , USA Rare Earth  and Korea Zinc …Investors say U.S. government equity offers more than capital, giving companies access ⁠to defence-linked contracts, ​subsidies and policy backing, and helping protect them from price cyclicality…"As long as you can gain access to the mines and the resources, I ​don't see why they can't break China's chokehold over it," Werner said, "but it'll take time and money."

The US and India have signed a bilateral critical minerals agreement establishing the framework of a strategic partnership focused on the security of supply through mining and processing…The bilateral agreement builds on the foundational groundwork laid in February 2026 during high-level meetings in Washington, D.C., where Marco Rubio launched the Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement (FORGE)…Through this framework, the United States and India will engage in international efforts to protect sensitive supply chains from coercive market practices and reduce collective vulnerability to single-source monopolies…Critical minerals have become a central pillar of the Trump administration’s industrial and national security strategy, as Washington seeks to reduce US dependence on China for materials essential to defense systems, semiconductors, electric vehicles and energy technologies.

In recent months, the US government has accelerated efforts to secure domestic supply chains through funding for mining and processing projects, and strengthening partnerships with allied resource-rich countries to diversify supplies.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan signed a strategic partnership agreement in Yerevan on ​Tuesday, less than two weeks before parliamentary elections in the South Caucasus country…Rubio's visit comes ‌as Russia has threatened to exert economic pressure on Yerevan for its growing ties to the West by raising prices Armenia pays for Russian gas if the country turns away from integration with Moscow…Rubio and Mirzoyan also signed a framework agreement ⁠on critical minerals and another on cooperation on a proposed 43-km (27-mile) transit corridor across southern ​Armenia that would give Azerbaijan a direct route to its exclave of Nakhchivan and into Turkey, Baku's closest ​ally…"We are going to be able to work together to make sure that both of our countries, both of our economies, ​are going to have reliable ​access to these ⁠critical minerals," Rubio said at the signing ceremony on Tuesday.