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US invests billions in mining projects to boost defence
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PerthNow
(EPA PHOTO)US President Donald Trump has addressed an American Mining Industry Roundtable in Washington DC.
He announced a slew of investments during his speech, including a $US1.4 billion ($A2 billion) conditional loan from the US Department of Defense's Office of Strategic Capital for Sila Nanotechnologies, which makes lithium-ion battery parts.
The OSC also extended a $US400 million conditional loan to scandium miner Sunrise Energy Metals and a $US150 million conditional loan to magnet developer Niron Magnetics.
Trump said in 2025 he could bypass the United Nations-backed International Seabed Authority and issue international seabed mining licences.
The Australian government on Saturday welcomed the Trump administration's loan to Sunrise Energy Metals, which is developing a scandium mine in NSW.