The United States Department of Defense wants to accelerate domestic production of cobalt and graphite. And they’re betting on two Canadian publicly traded mining companies to do it.

‍What’s happening:‍

• The United States Department of Defense has announced they have awarded new grants to two publicly traded Canadian mining companies to strengthen North American based production of cobalt and graphite
  

By the numbers:‍

• The Department of Defense awarded $6.4M USD to Fortune Minerals Limited (TSX:FT) and $8.3M USD to Lomiko Metals (TSXV:LMR) through the Defense Production Act Investment program
  
• The Department of Natural Resources Canada will also provide $5.6M USD to Fortune Minerals Limited and $3.6M USD to Lomiko Metals in collaboration with the new funding from the Department of Defense
  

Why it matters:‍

• The new funding represents one of the first times ever the United States Department of Defense has awarded grants to publicly traded Canadian mining companies
  
• Both cobalt and graphite are critical minerals for defense technology, aerospace innovation and clean energy infrastructure
  

Going deeper:‍

• The new funding from both the United States and Canada is part of a previously announced collaboration known as the United States and Canada Joint Action Plan on Critical Minerals to accelerate North American based mineral production

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