Harena Rare Earths (HREE ) has been highlighted in a White House fact sheet released following a major summit between the mining industry and the US government hosted by the Department of State.
Specifically, Harena’s recently announced US$4.84 million project development funding agreement with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation was showcased.
The White House Fact Sheet identifies Harena's Ampasindava rare earths project in Madagascar as part of a broader package of initiatives that will strengthen U.S. critical mineral supply chains and secure key inputs for American manufacturing.
Separately, the DFC has described the Ampasindava funding as its first mining investment in Madagascar, stating it will advance a strategically important source of rare earth elements for U.S. advanced manufacturing, while adding Harena to its strategic rare earth portfolio alongside Serra Verde and Aclara.
The funding that the DFC is providing to Harena will support permitting, environmental and social programmes, pilot plant development and other technical work as Ampasindava is moved towards production.
Together, the White House and DFC announcements reinforce Ampasindava's strategic importance as governments increasingly prioritise secure, diversified critical mineral supply chains.
"President Trump is looking out for the American people and has made securing our critical mineral supply chains a national priority,” said Ben Black, chief executive of DFC.
“Through projects like Harena, DFC is helping expand America's access to these essential materials and providing our partners transparent, high-quality financing alternatives. DFC is proud to support investments that strengthen U.S. economic security and create lasting economic opportunity for both the United States and Madagascar."
Ivan Murphy, executive chairman of Harena, added: "This investment by the U.S. government through the DFC is a huge endorsement of the quality of our ionic clay rare earth project in Madagascar. We are deeply grateful to Ben Black and Conor Coleman for their leadership of DFC, as well as to the teams with whom we have had the pleasure of working. We are honoured to be playing our part to alleviate the chronic shortage of magnet metals and heavy rare earths and to increase mineral security for the United States and its partners."
View from Vox
Harena is well and truly on the map now, as far as the US government is concerned, and we can only expect the ties to grow closer as time goes on. The DFC funding will be very useful in pushing Ampasindava closer to a production decision, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Americans coming back round for a larger slug when the full development financing package is eventually announced.