JUNE 16, 2023 – The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Industrial Base Policy (OASD(IBP)), through its Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization (MCEIP) office entered an agreement with Jervois Mining USA, a subsidiary of Jervois Global Limited, to conduct feasibility studies to expand cobalt extraction in Idaho.
The $15 million agreement, entered into under Defense Production Act (DPA) Title III authorities and utilizing funds appropriated by the Additional Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, will enable Jervois to undertake mineral resource drilling that will accelerate the improved definition and expansion of currently known cobalt resources at Jervois’s Idaho Cobalt Operations (ICO) and the adjacent Sunrise deposit and studies to assess a domestic U.S. cobalt refinery. The project is a critical step in the U.S. effort to decrease reliance on overseas sources of strategic and critical minerals.
Cobalt is a component of multiple munitions and high-temperature aerospace alloys used by DoD and has critical applications in high-capacity batteries for military and commercial electric vehicles.
DoD has identified a foreign dependence for cobalt in the reports completed pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 14017.
“In investing in domestic cobalt resources, Industrial Base Policy is building a sustainable, responsible industrial base capable of meeting our future national defense challenges” said Dr. Laura Taylor-Kale, ASD(IBP). “Investments such as these execute President Biden’s focus on strengthening supply chains for critical minerals for large capacity batteries and are one step in the Defense Department’s strategy for minerals and materials related to batteries.”
Jervois Mining USA is a Nevada corporation based in Idaho.
About the Department of Defense’s Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy
Industrial Base Policy is the principal advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment (USD(A&S)) for developing Department of Defense policies for the maintenance of the United States defense industrial base (DIB), executing small business programs and policy, and conduction geo-economic analysis and assessments.
The office also provides the USD(A&S) with recommendations on budget matters related to the DIB, anticipates and closes gaps in manufacturing capabilities for defense systems, and assesses impacts related to mergers, acquisition, and divestitures. IBP monitors and assesses the impact of foreign investments in the United States and executes authorities under sections 2501 and 2505 U.S.C. Title 10.