US to Take 10% Stake in Trilogy Metals to Unlock Alaska Mining

(Bloomberg) -- The US said it will take a 10% stake in Canadian minerals explorer Trilogy Metals Inc. as part of a $35.6 million investment to secure critical energy and mining projects in Alaska.

In an announcement Monday, President Donald Trump said the White House is reversing a Biden-era decision to reject Ambler Road, a project to help access vast critical mineral deposits in Alaska’s Northern Brooks Range to open up critical energy and mining projects. The 211-mile (340-kilometer) highway would connect a remote mining district with deposits of copper, cobalt, gallium, germanium and other minerals.

“This was something that should have been long operating and making billions of dollars for our country and supplying a lot of energy and minerals and everything else,” Trump said during an event in the Oval Office.

Trilogy Metals has mining claims in remote areas of Alaska, including a joint venture with South32 Ltd. The US deal also includes warrants to purchase an additional 7.5% of the Vancouver-based company.

The planned investment is the latest example of the Trump administration taking stakes in North American critical minerals companies to help counter China’s dominance in the industry. Just last week, the US agreed to acquire a direct interest in Lithium Americas Corp., which is developing the Thacker Pass lithium project in Nevada. In July, the US Defense Department agreed to a $400 million equity investment in MP Materials Corp. to fund a plant for rare-earth magnets.

US shares of Trilogy soared more than 150% in after-market trading following the announcement of the deal. The company didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Ambler Road will be a toll road constructed from gravel, and will be sensitive to environmental concerns. Trump said the effort will include the construction of two bridges.

The Interior Department blocked construction during former President Joe Biden’s term, saying that the road would impact wildlife including caribou.

Trump’s move directs the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and US Army Corps of Engineers to reissue any necessary permits needed to build the road.

Billionaire John Paulson is a top shareholder in Trilogy, with an 8.7% stake through his investment fund Paulson & Co Inc., according to the latest data compiled by Bloomberg.

--With assistance from Jacob Lorinc and Catherine Lucey.

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