‘Project Vault’ Wins Some Metals Industry Support as Stocks Gain

The US government’s planned $12 billion initiative to stockpile critical minerals is winning support from parts of the metal markets, while raising doubts elsewhere about how effective the initiative will be.

Critical minerals span everything from aluminum to zinc, but it’s smaller, niche markets such as rare earths where federal buying is more likely to move prices and impact trade flows. Developers with ties to the Trump administration reacted more strongly than larger, established miners. MP Materials Corp. jumped as much as 7% on Monday, while Almonty Industries Inc. rose 9.7% before paring gains.

Aclara Resources Inc., which recently ...