Trump Administration and Export-Import Bank Establish a $12B U.S. Strategic Critical Minerals Reserve: Five Things Critical Mineral Mining Companies Need to Know Now

Key Takeaways

1. Most Section 45Z rules apply only after the regulations are finalized, limiting near-term impact on existing fuel sales.

2. Emissions rate table guidance takes effect earlier, applying to certain sales beginning January 10, 2025.

3. The regulations reinforce the IRS’s push for standardized emissions data and greater certainty under the amended clean fuel credit.

    

On February 2, 2026, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) and the Trump Administration announced Project Vault, a $12 billion initiative establishing the U.S. Strategic Critical Minerals Reserve. This independently governed public-private partnership will store essential raw materials in facilities across the United States to protect against supply shocks and strengthen the domestic industrial base. The program covers all minerals designated as critical by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). 

For companies mining critical minerals in the U.S., this development provides a new framework for financial support and regulatory prioritization. Here are five things your company needs to know and do:

1. 1. Leverage “National Security” Status to Expedite Permitting

Project Vault is explicitly designed to advance the National Security Strategy and reduce dependence on foreign-controlled supply chains. Because the project is framed as a “frontline economic tool” to ensure “uninterrupted access” to essential materials, mining companies can leverage this federal designation to advocate for faster regulatory timelines.

Action: In all state and federal permitting applications, your legal counsel should formally cite the project’s alignment with Project Vault’s national security objectives to justify more efficient environmental and operational reviews.

1. 2. Access to Unprecedented Long-Term Financing

The EXIM Board of Directors has approved a Direct Loan of up to $10 billion to provide long-term financing for this initiative. This capital is intended to support the partnership between original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and private sector capital providers.

Action: Evaluate how your mining operations can integrate into this $10 billion ecosystem, either by seeking direct project financing from EXIM or through off-take agreements with the designated reserve suppliers.

1. 3. Utilize High-Level Industry-Government Coordination

The initiative represents a “transformative approach” where industry and government move “decisively together”. The presence of the President and Cabinet Secretaries at the launch underscores a unified federal commitment to domestic critical mineral production.

Action: Leverage this “decisive” coordination to request inter-agency streamlined meetings. Use the administration’s focus on “revitalizing American industry” to press for synchronized reviews between the various federal and state departments and agencies (including EXIM) to resolve bureaucratic bottlenecks more efficiently.

1. 4. Stabilization Against Market Volatility and Supply Shocks

The Reserve is designed to store materials to protect domestic manufacturers from supply shocks and market disruptions. For miners, this creates a stable, government-backed destination for domestic production.

Action: Position your mining project as a “resilience provider” for the U.S. industrial base. Highlighting that your minerals can be stored domestically to prevent supply disruptions can enhance the social license to operate and reduce local or state-level political opposition to new mining permits.

1. 5. Strategic Integration with Major Industrial OEMs

Project Vault is supported by major U.S. manufacturers who require these minerals for advanced manufacturing and critical technologies. These companies are increasingly focused on strengthening “supply chain resilience”.

Action: Engage with these initial OEM participants. By becoming a domestic supplier for the minerals required by these companies, your project gains additional strategic value that can be used to argue before state and federal regulators that any delay in your permitting process directly threatens the manufacturing jobs and economic security highlighted by EXIM leadership.

About Foley’s Energy & Infrastructure Sector

Foley’s cross-disciplinary Energy & Infrastructure team of more than 200 attorneys regularly represents clients in the traditional and renewable power, oil & gas, nuclear, and infrastructure and energy transition industries. Foley offers comprehensive legal services for energy and infrastructure companies and projects to guide clients through every phase—from development and site control to investment, commercial contracting and financing. Foley can also assist companies involved in mining, processing, and disposal to navigate the various state and federal regulations, international agreements, and national security considerations.