New trade association seeks to help US critical materials industry onshore production

MP Materials has built a rare-earth separation facility in Mountain Pass, California. (MP Materials)

A new trade association has been established to bring together the critical materials community to develop and strengthen domestic industry and reduce reliance on adversary countries for key materials. Critical Materials America (CMA) has been incorporated and is in the process of being certified as a 501(c)(6) trade association, David Cherington, a co-founder and managing director for CMA, told Janes on 28 February.

The three co-founders came together six months ago with the goal of creating an organisation covering “critical minerals and rare-earth elements and all of the things that go along with that from an industry perspective, a policy perspective, [and] a university R&D [research and development] perspective” and bringing together different groups to educate and advocate, Victoria Napier, a co-founder and managing director for CMA, said.

The CMA has begun talking to other organisations, corporations, and academic groups that may be interested in participating, Cherington said, explaining that “our goal is to be that voice, that convening body for forums between Capitol Hill, [the] White House, agencies, and then stakeholders across industry, academia, think tanks, and the media so that we can really start to build a discussion about critical materials holistically”.