DPA Title III obligations to US critical minerals — FY24–FY26 named beneficiaries

Headline: DoD/DoW has moved from $10–30M demonstration-scale DPA Title III grants in FY24 toward a structurally new $550M+ direct-equity-plus-price-floor partnership model in FY25 (MP Materials), with public-market beneficiaries clustering in NdPr rare-earth magnets (MP, Lynas), lithium (LAC), manganese/zinc (SOUHY/S32), cobalt (ELBM), LFP cathodes (NNOMF), and specialty semiconductor materials (5N+, ElementUS — both private). The MP Materials deal is the regime-change instrument; everything before July 2025 is precedent-grade but small.

Question

Which sub-sectors of US critical minerals have actually received DPA Title III obligations in FY24–FY26, what was the spend cadence, and which public-market tickers were named beneficiaries?

TL;DR

• Sub-sector concentration (FY24 → FY26): Battery materials (Li, Co, Ni, Mn, LFP cathodes) dominated by award COUNT in FY24. Rare-earth permanent magnets (NdPr + heavy REEs) dominate by DOLLAR magnitude starting FY25 with the MP Materials deal. Semiconductor materials (gallium, germanium, scandium) appear as a discrete sub-line, smaller-ticket but strategically distinct.
• Spend cadence shift: FY24 cadence = many ~$7–20M demonstration grants under the IRA $500M tranche, spread across CY2024 (May–Sep concentration). FY25 cadence = step-change to one $550M+ direct-equity instrument (MP, July 2025) plus continued ~$30M grants (ElementUS gallium 2025). FY26 cadence = early but the Trump administration's March 2025 Executive Order invoking DPA for mineral production [10] signals continued / accelerated activity.
• Public-market named beneficiaries (tickers):
  • MP (MP Materials) — rare-earth magnets, $400M equity + $150M loan + $110/kg NdPr price floor + 7,000MT/yr offtake (July 10, 2025) [3][4][7]
  • LYSCF / LYSDY (Lynas Rare Earths, ASX:LYC ADR) — heavy REE separation Texas plant, $258M cumulative (boosted from $120M base in 2025) [5]
  • LAC (Lithium Americas, parent of Lithium Nevada Corp) — $11.81M, August 2024, Thacker Pass [6]
  • SOUHY (South32 Ltd, ASX:S32 ADR) — $20M, May 2024, Hermosa manganese/zinc project Arizona [6]
  • ELBM (Electra Battery Materials) — $20M, 2024, cobalt sulfate hydrometallurgy [6]
  • NNOMF (Nano One Materials, TSX:NANO) — $12.88M, September 2024, LFP cathode active materials [6]
  • UUUU (Energy Fuels, partner-cited via White Mesa heavy-oxide line in MP supply chain [3]) — adjacent beneficiary, no direct FY24-FY26 DPA III line item surfaced in this scan
  • USAR (USA Rare Earth) — partner-cited as domestic sintering capacity in MP-deal ecosystem [3], no direct FY24-FY26 DPA III line item surfaced
• Private beneficiaries worth tracking (regime-defining recipients without a ticker today):
  • ElementUS Minerals LLC — $29.9M, 2025, gallium + scandium demonstration facility (Gramercy, Louisiana) [2]
  • 5N+ Semiconductors (parent 5N+ Inc is TSX:VNP) — $14.4M, 2024, germanium substrates for solar cells [2]
  • Doe Run Resources Corp — $7M, 2024, Co/Ni hydrometallurgy (Missouri) [6]

What we found

Sub-sector breakdown (FY24 → FY26)

Aggregate funding context: Congress provided at least $4.4B to the DPA Fund for Title III purposes FY20–FY25, including $500M from the IRA 2022 tranche specifically earmarked for critical materials [1]. FY25 snapshot showed 28 grants active [1]. Between FY18 and FY24, DoD used Title III to make about 208 investments in defense suppliers [1].

Spend cadence (chronological, the regime-change narrative)

• Pre-FY24 baseline: Cost-plus DPA III grants in the $5–30M range, treated as demonstration-scale industrial-policy nudge. Lynas Texas heavy-REE plant initial $120M (2022) was the largest precedent.
• FY24 (Oct 2023 – Sep 2024): Multiple $7–20M grants concentrated in May–Sep 2024 calendar. Battery materials dominate by count: S32 manganese (May), Lithium Nevada (Aug), Electra cobalt, Doe Run Co/Ni, Nano One LFP (Sep). 5N+ germanium round-trips the semiconductor-materials line. Total FY24 critical-minerals tranche surfaced in this scan: ~$92M across 7 named recipients.
• FY25 (Oct 2024 – Sep 2025): Two structural shifts —
  1. ElementUS gallium award ($29.9M) brings semiconductor-materials line into 2025.
  2. July 10, 2025: MP Materials deal. $400M convertible preferred equity (DoD becomes 15% shareholder, largest), $150M 12-year unsecured loan at Treasury+1%, $110/kg NdPr price floor via Contract for Difference, 10-year 7,000MT/yr magnet offtake, EBITDA profit-share to DoD above $140M threshold, option for additional $350M equity [3][4][7]. This is the first time the federal government has become a major shareholder in a critical-minerals company [3]. Co-investment cascade: Apple $500M recycling investment within one week; GM 1,000MT magnet offtake; JP Morgan + Goldman $1B loan for "10-X" facility construction [4].
  3. Lynas contract boost to ~$258M cumulative (from $120M base) [5] — same instrument shape (cost-plus), larger envelope.
• FY26 (Oct 2025 – Sep 2026, mid-cycle as of brief date): March 2025 Trump-administration EO invoked DPA authority for mineral production [10]; FY26 spend cadence not yet fully observable but the policy direction is unambiguous. Watch for: a second magnet-equity deal on the MP template (USA Rare Earth, Energy Fuels are the most-cited candidates), niobium/tantalum first-award (FY24 NDAA flagged this gap [1]), and any semiconductor-materials follow-on beyond ElementUS.

Named public-market tickers — the investing-watchlist short-list

Tickers grouped by signal strength.

Tier 1 — direct named DPA Title III beneficiary AND public:

Tier 2 — partner-cited in MP ecosystem, no direct FY24-FY26 DPA III line item:

Tier 3 — frequently mentioned in critical-minerals press but no direct DPA III award surfaced in this scan:

• TMC (TMC the metals company) — seabed nodules, primarily policy / permitting story
• NB (NioCorp Developments) — niobium/scandium, FY24 NDAA flagged niobium as DoD-review-required gap [1], NioCorp is the obvious US-listed candidate, but no DPA III award surfaced
• PPTA (Perpetua Resources) — antimony, has prior DoD support (separate program, not DPA III in this scan window)
• TLO (Talon Metals) — nickel, partner of Tesla, no FY24-FY26 DPA III award surfaced

Cross-check

• Power-cycle thesis overlap: The 2026-05-17 power-cycle v1 thesis ([[01-projects/investing/theses/2026-05-17-power-cycle-v1]]) tickers (TLN, CEG, CCJ) do NOT overlap with the DPA III critical-minerals beneficiary set. The connection point is the broader "physical-constraint scarce-asset" pattern — both theses exploit the gap between demand and a hard-to-build physical input. Critical minerals share the same shape: a 5–10 year supply-side response curve against a 2–3 year demand surge. NdPr magnets specifically are an input to wind turbines, EV motors, AND data-center cooling fan motors, which threads them into the power-cycle indirectly but not as a primary anchor.
• Innermost-loop AI-infra thesis overlap: The 2026-05-12 innermost-loop thesis ([[01-projects/investing/theses/2026-05-12-innermost-loop-ai-infrastructure]]) is about chips → memory → power → frontier labs. Critical minerals are upstream of MOST layers (NdPr in cooling motors, gallium in high-frequency semiconductors, germanium in radiation-hardened solar for sat constellations). Worth a sub-bucket consideration in a future v2, but not a primary innermost-loop play.
• Hengsperger reindustrialize-America frame: The 2026-04-19 Hengsperger reference ([[06-reference/2026-04-19-hengsperger-reindustrialize-america]]) anticipates the vertical-integration mandate that the MP-DoD deal physically instantiates. MP-DoD is the proof point — federal capital + private capital + offtake commitment + price floor = the playbook Hengsperger described, now operational.
• Cross-source agreement on MP deal magnitude: Three independent sources (Payne Institute, Columbia CGEP, AFCEA/InvestorNews) cite the same $400M / $150M / $110/kg figures. High confidence on the headline numbers. EBITDA profit-share threshold ($140M, then 50% above $170M) cited by Payne Institute only — single-source, treat as directional.
• Source-gap flag: The official businessdefense.gov DPA Title III announcement page failed SSL handshake during this scan (certificate verification error). The full FY24-FY26 award list was reconstructed from secondary sources (war.gov press releases, MiningWeekly, Acquisition.gov news archive, Bipartisan Policy Center, Payne Institute). Direct-from-source verification of the full obligation list is a follow-up question.

Synthesis

Three things this brief locks down for any investing-thesis decision:

1. The instrument changed in July 2025, and that's the asymmetric signal. DPA Title III was a cost-plus demonstration-grant program of $5–30M checks through FY24. The MP Materials deal made it a direct-equity-plus-price-floor instrument at $550M+. If a second equity-style deal happens (USAR or UUUU are the obvious candidates), it confirms that the MP structure is a template, not a one-off. That is a discrete catalyst worth watching quarterly.

2. The bottleneck sub-sector is rare-earth permanent magnets, not lithium. Lithium projects are getting battery-policy money everywhere (IRA, DOE Loan Programs Office, state-level). NdPr magnets get specifically DoD-tier treatment because they are dual-use (F-35, missile guidance, AND wind turbines / EV traction motors). The DoD price-floor mechanism on NdPr is a structurally new policy tool — read-across to anyone investing in MP, Lynas, or any 2nd-mover magnet build.

3. The semiconductor-materials sub-line is real but small. Gallium ($29.9M ElementUS), germanium ($14.4M 5N+), scandium (combined w/ gallium) — these are not magnet-deal-size, but they map to specific chip-fab gaps (high-frequency / RF, solar, radiation-hardened sat applications). The investing read-through is narrow — 5N+ parent VNP is the only ticker, and it's a specialty Canadian small-cap.

Watchlist additions recommended:

• MP — already widely held, but the DPA III thesis upgrades it from "rare-earth growth name" to "DoD-anchored utility-like cashflow profile with price floor." Consider adding to a future critical-minerals sub-bucket inside the broader physical-constraint family of theses.
• LYSCF / LYSDY — heavy REE complement to MP. Watchlist-grade once Texas plant 2026 opens.
• UUUU — partner-cited; watch for direct DPA III award announcement as confirming catalyst.
• USAR — speculative, watch for direct DPA III award.
• ELBM, NNOMF, VNP — speculative tier, small-cap, only sized as a basket if a "DPA III named beneficiary basket" sub-bucket is approved.

Not recommended for action:

• LAC and SOUHY — DPA III check is too small relative to parent-co scale to move the thesis.
• TMC, NB, PPTA, TLO — no FY24-FY26 DPA III line item surfaced; policy-story only at this stage.

Calibration note on this brief: Single-pass scan, 5 QMD + 3 web searches + 2 web fetches, with the official DoD announcement page unreachable due to SSL error. Numbers are accurate at headline level (cross-verified), but a "full obligation list" would require either direct DoD outreach or a USAspending.gov API pull against federal account 097-0360 [11]. Treat this brief as directionally correct for thesis-construction, not as a complete inventory.

Follow-up questions (3)

1. Does a second MP-template equity deal close in FY26? Specifically: does USA Rare Earth (USAR) or Energy Fuels (UUUU) receive a DPA III equity + price-floor + offtake instrument modeled on the July 2025 MP deal? This is the discrete catalyst that would confirm DPA III as a structurally new industrial-policy tool, not a one-off political moment. Quarterly check on war.gov press releases + USAspending federal account 097-0360.
2. What is the FY24-FY26 DPA III line item for niobium and tantalum? The FY24 NDAA explicitly directed DoD to review niobium/tantalum/scandium DPA Title III applicability [1]. As of May 2026, no niobium award has surfaced in this scan. NioCorp Developments (NB) is the obvious US-listed candidate. A first niobium award would be a meaningful additional signal.
3. Is there a direct DoD-tier-treatment for HBM-relevant materials? Memory-cycle thesis depends on HBM3e/HBM4 capacity ramp. The substrate materials and packaging chemistries (ABF substrate alternatives, advanced photoresists) are upstream-of-chip critical inputs. Has DoD invoked DPA III for any of these, or is it purely Commerce/CHIPS Act jurisdiction? If DPA III, the named beneficiaries become a memory-cycle complement.

Sources

1. Bipartisan Policy Center: What's in the FY2024 NDAA for Critical Minerals — FY24 NDAA niobium/tantalum/scandium directive, $4.4B DPA Fund context FY20-FY25, 208 investments FY18-FY24.
2. DoW: $29.9M ElementUS gallium/scandium award (2025) + DoD: GLOBALFOUNDRIES $8M precedent — semiconductor-materials sub-line.
3. Payne Institute (Colorado School of Mines): MP Materials-DoD Partnership Explainer — full deal structure: $400M equity, $150M loan, $110/kg NdPr floor, 7,000MT/yr 10-year offtake, EBITDA profit-share, supply-chain partner cites (Lynas, White Mesa = UUUU, Round Top, USA Rare Earth, Noveon).
4. Columbia CGEP: MP Materials Deal Marks Significant Shift in US Rare Earths Policy — first time federal government becomes major shareholder in critical-minerals company; co-investment cascade (Apple $500M, GM 1,000MT, JPM + Goldman $1B).
5. SFA Oxford: MP Materials-DoD Deal Secures U.S. Rare Earth Magnet Supply — Lynas $120M base → $258M boosted (2025), heavy-REE Texas plant 2026 opening.
6. Mining Weekly: Electra awarded $20M by US Defense Department (Aug 2024) + Acquisition.gov: Summary of DPAP Awards via IRA — FY24 inventory: South32 $20M May 2024 Hermosa Mn; Lithium Nevada $11.81M Aug 2024 Thacker Pass; Nano One $12.88M Sep 2024 LFP cathodes; Doe Run $7M Co/Ni; Montana Tech $6.56M workforce; 5N+ $14.4M germanium.
7. C&EN: US invests in rare earth firm MP Materials — DoD becomes 15% MP shareholder, deal close July 10, 2025.
8. Procurement Magazine: Inside DoD and MP Materials' Critical Minerals Partnership — Pentagon-as-anchor-customer industrial-policy frame.
9. InvestorNews: Pentagon's Next Power Play - Top 10 Critical Mineral Companies — speculative-tier ticker list (UUUU, USAR, NB, PPTA, TLO context).
10. Congress.gov CRS: Trump Administration's Invocation of DPA for Mineral Production (IN12540) — March 2025 EO context, FY26 policy direction.
11. USAspending.gov: Defense Production Act Purchases (federal account 097-0360) — primary-source obligation data for follow-up direct verification.

Related

• [[01-projects/investing/theses/2026-05-17-power-cycle-v1]] — power-cycle thesis (no direct overlap, same physical-constraint pattern)
• [[01-projects/investing/theses/2026-05-12-innermost-loop-ai-infrastructure]] — innermost-loop parent thesis (critical minerals are upstream of multiple layers)
• [[06-reference/2026-04-19-hengsperger-reindustrialize-america]] — vertical-integration mandate frame; MP-DoD deal is the proof point
• [[06-reference/2026-04-03-materials-science-unsung-hero]] — materials-science capability ramp context