Missouri-based US Strategic Metals (USSM) and Stillwater Critical Minerals have signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding (MoU), establishing a strategic relationship aimed at exploring a variety of business opportunities related to critical minerals.

The partnership marks a significant alignment between the two companies as they focus on expanding their role in the US green economy and securing domestic critical minerals supply.

USSM CEO Stacy Hastie stated that the company’s goal was to significantly increase production in the coming years by strengthening relationships with raw material suppliers to meet the surging demand for critical metals.

“Stillwater West fits this mandate extremely well, for its scale, grade and suite of critical minerals, nearly all of which the US heavily relies on imports for,” said Hastie.

The Stillwater West project is noted for its potential to become a major domestic source of at least eight critical minerals. Hastie highlighted the project’s alignment with US government efforts to secure domestic supply chains for critical minerals, adding that the development of Stillwater West fits perfectly with USSM's internal growth objectives.

USSM recently secured $230-million in debt financing from natural resources investor Appian Capital Advisory, alongside a letter of interest from the US Exim Bank for a potential $400-million loan. These financial moves are aimed at completing the first phase of USSM’s multi-metal proprietary processing and battery metal recycling hub.

“We have strong backers who are aligned with our team's goal to expand into one of North America's largest and most important fully integrated producers of key battery and strategic metals with full supply chain from exploration to production all based within the United States,” said Hastie. He emphasised that US-based projects, such as Stillwater West, are well-positioned for funding and support, especially given the dearth of nickel and cobalt assets.

“This has forced an expanded definition of domestic to include Canada and Australia, but we would expect projects located within the US to be prioritised for funding and support.”

Stillwater Critical Minerals president and CEO Michael Rowley, added, "Stillwater West is a special asset and almost entirely unique in the United States at a time when all stakeholders, from the federal government to industry and investors, recognise the overwhelming need for domestic supplies of the very critical minerals this project hosts. We have built a world-class team that includes Glencore at both an equity and management level and are pleased to be aligning ourselves with another very high-quality strategic partner like USSM to continue to advance this world-class project.”

Rowley highlighted the project’s alignment with US strategic interests and noted the potential to accelerate engineering and metallurgical studies, boosted by government grants and partnerships with institutions such as the US Geological Survey, Cornell University, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for CO₂ sequestration, hydrogen, and hydrometallurgical studies.

The partnership is also expected to strengthen relationships with original equipment manufacturers, vehicle/battery manufacturers, major mining companies and, perhaps most importantly, in the near term, federal government agencies and legislators providing funding opportunities.