Glencore and Mercuria become first VaultCo participants, committing $1B to stock the US minerals reserve

US Export-Import Bank (EXIM)/Project Vault

Commodity traders Glencore and Mercuria became the first participants in VaultCo, the independent company that runs Project Vault, with $1B between them to buy and store critical minerals using EXIM financing. Glencore's $500M centres on cobalt from its Congo operations.

• VaultCo is chaired by supply-chain veteran Brett Lambert; EXIM is a non-voting board observer.
• Drawdown decisions rest with participating companies, not federal officials.
• Next step: bring in smaller manufacturers embedded in supply chains.