New FORTRESS America Program Elevates Defense Supply Chain Resilience
Key Highlights
- ➤FORTRESS America established Sept. 30 with five resilience and defense-supply-chain pillars
- ➤Program Office deadline set at 30 days; memorandum names no materials, companies, funding, or contracts
- ➤Ramaco Resources (METC) estimates $3.2 billion Brook Mine capital, plus $0.8 billion contingency
- ➤Ramaco Resources (METC) reports $8 billion potential NPV and initial production estimated for 2031
- ➤Ramaco Resources (METC) reports Q2 revenue $144.8 million and net loss $15.4 million
Expert Statements
James Litinsky, Founder, chairman and CEO of MP Materials
“10X is about building industrial strength at a scale the United States has not seen in generations, and the exceptional talent and infrastructure in North Texas make it possible”
Thras Moraitis, President of USA Rare Earth
“Our immediate priority is to bring these businesses together, establish clear accountability and execute reliably for customers”
Randall Atkins, CEO of Ramaco Resources
“This deposit contains what we now believe are some of the most valuable critical minerals and rare earths needed to solve the supply chain crisis”
Ranjeet Sundher, Chief executive officer of Tactical Resources
“Peak is a very special project in this sector because the potential feedstock material is already out of the ground. Two decades of quarry operations produced it, and it is sitting on surface in West Texas. Our technical work has concentrated on whether that material can be processed, and on the heavy rare earth profile it carries, which is where the United States is most exposed. With the Nasdaq listing complete, we are moving the project into its next phase”
P. Lourcey Sams, Special advisor to Tactical Resources
“Texas has the industrial base, the energy and the infrastructure to build a domestic rare earth supply chain”
DALLAS, Oct. 01, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- USA News Group News Commentary - On Sept. 30, the Secretary of War established FORTRESS America as a Department of War program built around supply-chain and defense-industrial base resilience, a strategic defense reserve and energy independence. The memorandum does not name a single material or company. It does frame the policy question that rare earth developers and producers have been working inside for months: whether the United States can secure the inputs its military depends on. Companies in that conversation include Tactical Resources Corp. (Nasdaq: TREO), MP Materials Corp. (NYSE: MP), USA Rare Earth, Inc. (Nasdaq: USAR), Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU) and Ramaco Resources, Inc. (Nasdaq: METC).
Key Takeaways * The Department of War memorandum, dated Sept. 30, establishes FORTRESS America as a program organized around five pillars, including supply-chain and defense-industrial base resilience and a strategic defense reserve. * The memorandum directs the Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment to stand up a Program Office within 30 days. It does not name specific materials, companies, funding levels or contracts. * Tactical Resources reported on Sept. 22 preliminary max extraction rates of up to 96.1% on rare earth feedstock at its Peak Project in Hudspeth County, Texas, using heated hydrochloric acid in agitated-tank testing. The company says the results are scoping-scale and do not establish commercial-scale recovery. * The company says it owns approximately 1.5 million tons of pre-crushed fines from the Sierra Blanca Quarry, and an exclusive option to acquire 100 percent of Sierra Blanca Quarry, LLC under a purchase and sale agreement through July 31, 2036. * Around the sector, MP Materials is building a Texas magnet campus, USA Rare Earth has closed its Serra Verde combination, Energy Fuels has qualified terbium oxide with a Japanese magnet maker, and Ramaco has put a $3.2 billion capital estimate on its Brook Mine project. What the FORTRESS America Memorandum Says
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