Trump Team Eyes Wall Street Tool to Add Clout in Vital Minerals

The Trump administration is looking at adopting a tool more familiar to Wall Street than Washington, as it seeks equity holdings in producers of critical minerals to bolster supply chains deemed essential to national security.

More than a dozen Australian mining firms earlier this month held meetings in Washington with officials from various agencies, and were told that the administration is looking for ways to take equity-like stakes in companies, according to people familiar with the talks.

While discussions didn’t focus on specific deals, they did cover financial techniques that the administration could use. Some of the officials said the ...