US launches $1.8 billion fund with ADQ and Orion to secure critical minerals

Washington forms new consortium with ADQ and Orion to secure key mineral supply chains

Last updated:
2 MIN READ
US teams up with Abu Dhabi’s ADQ and Orion in $1.8bn minerals push.
US teams up with Abu Dhabi’s ADQ and Orion in $1.8bn minerals push.
Credit: ADQ

Dubai: The US has launched a new $1.8 billion investment fund with Orion Resource Partners and Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund ADQ to strengthen access to critical minerals.

The initiative, led by the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), marks one of the most significant steps yet under President Donald Trump’s drive to secure minerals vital to energy transition, defence manufacturing and advanced technologies. The DFC, Orion and ADQ have each committed capital to form the Orion Critical Mineral Consortium, which aims to build a total pool of up to $5 billion.

The DFC said the partnership will “develop secure, responsible, and resilient supply chains for the critical minerals that underpin future economic growth and security.” It follows a week of major US mineral diplomacy, including an agreement with Australia to expand access to rare earths and talks with the Democratic Republic of Congo, the world’s top cobalt producer and a major source of copper.

Ben Black, chief executive officer of the DFC, called the move a strategic priority. “Securing critical minerals is a paramount matter of US strategic interest and economic prosperity,” he said. “Orion CMC was created to establish a robust pipeline of secure critical mineral investments vital to advancing American economic prosperity. I’m proud of the incredible work by DFC and its partners to secure these vital resources, which will safeguard America’s leadership in advanced technologies.”

The Orion consortium will prioritise investments in existing or near-term producing assets rather than early-stage exploration. This approach is designed to speed up development and minimise exposure to long project lead times that have historically hindered Western efforts to diversify supply.

Orion, which manages around $8 billion across private equity and commodity trading, had earlier this year formed a $1.2 billion venture with ADQ to invest in energy and materials.

Nivetha Dayanand is Assistant Business Editor at Gulf News, covering aviation, financial markets and commodities. A business and financial journalist with a strong interest in multimedia storytelling, she regularly takes complex financial and economic subjects beyond the written word, producing explainer videos that make them easier for a wider audience to understand. Nivetha has interviewed senior policymakers, business leaders and global financial figures both on and off camera. Her past guests include UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud, a member of the House of Saud and the founder and CEO of KBW Ventures, Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund and Indian ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and N. Chandrababu Naidu. She has also hosted and moderated panels, conferences and awards shows, bringing her newsroom experience to live conversations on business, finance and the economy. An Erasmus Mundus journalism alum, Nivetha is drawn to stories that affect people directly and to reporting that gives a platform to voices that might otherwise go unheard. She was among the first journalists to speak to Petrofac employees in the UAE about unpaid salaries, broke the news of the planned demolition of Dubai’s well-known “Toyota Building”, and helped set the record straight on widely circulated claims that a giant replica of the Moon was coming to Dubai. More recently, her exclusive interview with EDGE Group CEO Hamad Al Marar revealed how the UAE-based defence group deployed its systems along the country’s shore border and established a geofence around the UAE within 48 hours of the February 28 escalation. Prior to joining Gulf News, Nivetha worked at ITP Media, where she helped launch Finance Middle East, a new publication covering the region’s financial sector. Her role spanned reporting and editing, video production, interviews and events. Across print, digital, and video, she focuses on finding the people behind business stories and explaining why those stories matter to the audience reading or watching them.

Sign up for the Daily Briefing

Get the latest news and updates straight to your inbox