Marina Yaknes — U.S. Department of State (Economic Officer, Ankara)
Yaknes presents a “1,000-foot view” of U.S. critical minerals policy, fra
ming China’s dominant, non-market-driven control of key mineral markets as the central problem. She outlines four policy pillars: investing (hundreds of billions in debt and equity, including new-for-the-US equity investing), stockpiling (including “Project Vault,” a domestic strategic reserve backed by a $10 billion Export-Import Bank loan facility), protecting mining companies abroad, and reforming the domestic permitting ecosystem to move faster than the historical ~29-year mine-development timeline.
She details recent diplomacy: a February 2026 critical minerals ministerial with 54 countries plus the EU (representing roughly two-thirds of global GDP), where the U.S. signed 11 new bilateral CRM frameworks (adding to 10 signed earlier), and Secretary Rubio announced “FORGE” (Forum on Resource Geostrategic Engagement) as successor to the Mineral Security Partnership, alongside a complementary initiative called “PAX Silica” covering broader technology and infrastructure supply chains. She closes citing over $30 billion in U.S. letters of interest, investments, and loans over the past six months, intended to mobilize far larger private capital.
#USPolicy #CriticalMinerals #SupplyChainSecurity #FORGE #ProjectVault #PAXSilica #MiningIndustry
