Ivanhoe Mines Joins White House Launch of $12 Billion U.S. Critical Minerals Stockpile
Ivanhoe Mines Participates in White House Launch of Project Vault and Advances U.S. Critical Minerals Supply Discussions
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (TSX: IVN) (OTCQX: IVPAF) announced that its Founder and Executive Co-Chairman, Robert Friedland, joined President of the United States Donald J. Trump at the White House for the official launch of Project Vault, a $12 billion domestic critical minerals stockpile initiative aimed at strengthening U.S. supply chain security.
Ivanhoe Mines is currently in advanced discussions with Gécamines, the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) state-owned mining company, and global metals and energy trading firm Mercuria, regarding the supply of critical minerals to the United States.
The proposed supply would originate from concentrates produced at the ultra-high-grade Kipushi zinc-copper-lead-germanium-gallium mine, located in the DRC.
Project Vault: Strengthening U.S. Critical Minerals Security
Project Vault is a U.S. government initiative designed to establish a strategic reserve of critical minerals for civilian and industrial use. The program combines $1.67 billion in private capital with a $10 billion loan facility from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) to procure, transport, and store strategic minerals domestically.
The initiative was formally launched on February 2, 2026, during a press conference held in the Oval Office at the White House. Attendees from the mining and manufacturing sectors included Ivanhoe Mines’ Founder and Executive Co-Chairman Robert Friedland and General Motors Chair and Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra.
Members of the presidential delegation included Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, and other senior members of the U.S. House and Senate.
Also present were John Jovanovic, Chairman and President of the Export-Import Bank of the United States, and David J. Copley, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director at the National Security Council.
Advanced Offtake Discussions for Kipushi Concentrate
Ivanhoe Mines, together with its Kipushi joint-venture partner Gécamines, is engaged in advanced discussions with Mercuria Energy Trading SA of Geneva, Switzerland, regarding the offtake of zinc concentrate produced at the Kipushi Mine.
Under the proposed framework, Mercuria’s existing offtake agreement for Kipushi’s zinc concentrate would be assigned to Gécamines’ trading division.
This arrangement would also include additional volumes generated following the successful debottlenecking and ramp-up of the Kipushi concentrator, which was completed in the fourth quarter of 2025.
For 2026, Kipushi production guidance is set at 240,000 to 290,000 tonnes of zinc concentrate.
Strategic Germanium and Gallium Supply Potential
Concentrates produced at Kipushi contain significant quantities of germanium and gallium, two highly strategic critical minerals. Gécamines may ultimately be responsible for marketing and selling up to 50% of Kipushi’s total concentrate production, including potential sales into U.S. markets.
These discussions align with ongoing U.S. plans to develop domestic processing capacity. On December 15, 2025, Korea Zinc and the U.S. Government announced a $7.4 billion public-private investment to construct a state-of-the-art integrated base metals and critical minerals smelter complex in Clarksville, Tennessee.
Kipushi Mineral Resources and Critical Minerals Profile
The Kipushi Mine hosts one of the highest-grade zinc deposits globally. Based on the 2018 Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource estimate, Kipushi contains:
11.78 million tonnes grading
35.34% zinc
0.80% copper
23 g/t silver
64 g/t germanium, at a 7% zinc cut-off
This equates to approximately:
9.2 billion pounds of zinc
8.7 million ounces of silver
24.4 million ounces of germanium
While gallium was assayed during the 2018 resource estimation, it was not included in the published resource at that time due to limited market demand and pricing.
Market dynamics have since shifted significantly, driven by rapid growth in artificial intelligence, data centers, and advanced semiconductor technologies.
Recent 2025 concentrate assays from Kipushi report values of up to 90 g/t germanium and up to 70 g/t gallium.
Uses of Germanium and Gallium
Germanium is a strategic metal used in electronic devices, flat-panel displays, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), night-vision systems, optical fibers, precision optics, and solar power applications.
Gallium is essential for the manufacture of compound semiconductor wafers used in integrated circuits and optoelectronic devices, including laser diodes, LEDs, photodetectors, and high-efficiency solar cells.
