Quarterly Outlook
Equity outlook: The high cost of global fragmentation for US portfolios
Charu Chanana
Chief Investment Strategist
Key points White House considers equity investment in mining companies Beijing earlier this month imposed export controls on rare earth elements in retaliation for tariffs Washington eyes stockpiling key minerals in a fashion similar to its strategic petroleum reserve US could create sovereign risk insurance fund to protect companies from political changes The White House is considering making direct equity investments in companies mining for critical minerals to end dependence on imports, particularly from China.
Burgum said China, which recently imposed export controls on some rare earth element, was dumping minerals on the international market and making it harder for American companies to compete. “You’re competing against state capital because China is picking these strategically as areas that they want to invest in,” Burgum was reported to have said, going on to note that the US could use a sovereign wealth fund-like vehicle to invest in domestic miners focused on extracting and processing critical minerals.
The remarks only point to an ambition of the US administration and no concrete steps have been taken.
Albemarle Corporation, the largest lithium miner in the U.S., is the world’s biggest supplier of the metal for electric vehicle batteries.
Focusing on copper you have Freeport-McMoRan, which is a copper, gold, and molybdenum miner with interests in Arizona.
Southern Copper Corporation a globally integrated copper producer with notable projects in Mexico and Peru.
MP Materials is the largest producer of rare earths outside China. The company owns and operates the Mountain Pass Rare Earth Mine and Processing Facility, the only rare earth mining and processing site of scale in North America. The company is also developing a rare earth metal, alloy, and magnet manufacturing facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The company’s operations are organized into two reportable segments: Materials and Magnetics. First quarter results are due May 1st.
Energy Fuels is a uranium mining company that operates mines in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming. It holds two of America's key uranium production centers: The White Mesa Mill in Utah, and the Nichols Ranch ISR Facility in Wyoming. Its Q1 results are also due May 1st.
NioCorp Developments operates the Elk Creek project in Nebraska, focused on mining niobium, scandium and titanium. Its fiscal Q3 2025 results are due on April 25th.
Uranium Energy is another US uranium miner. In 2022 the company secured a US Department of Energy contract to supply U308, a radioactive uranium compound used in nuclear reactors and semiconductor manufacturing. This came as part of plans to establish a domestic uranium reserve.
And while gold may not be classed as a critical mineral, recent price action suggests it could become more relevant in a multipolar world. Newmont Corporation is the world’s largest gold miner having bought Goldcorp in 2019. It also produces material amounts of copper, silver, zinc, and lead as byproducts.