The Department of War's Office of Strategic Capital Introduces National Security Fund Finance Program

July 14, 2026 |

The Department of War's Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) is pleased to announce the introduction of the National Security Fund Finance (NSFF) program, which aims to provide capital support to credit funds addressing shortages, gaps, and vulnerabilities in critical minerals vital to United States national security.  OSC's mission is to advance these strategic interests by providing direct loans and deploying other financial tools, with the NSFF program acting as the fund-level financing solution to accomplish that goal.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law by President Donald J. Trump, provided funding for OSC to support critical minerals and materials. The NSFF program will provide loans to qualified investment fund managers, who will combine OSC loans with private capital to invest in portfolio companies focused on addressing U.S. national security shortages related to critical minerals and materials.

"The NSFF program clearly advances OSC's goal of crowding-in private capital to address shortages that are vital to U.S. national security. Paired with private capital, NSFF will drive significant investment to address gaps and vulnerabilities in our U.S. critical minerals industry. OSC is taking decisive action to restore our domestic critical minerals supply chain, revive our industrial base, and rebuild our military to achieve President Trump's goal of peace through strength," said David A. Lorch, Director of the Office of Strategic Capital and Senior Advisor to Deputy Secretary of War Steve Feinberg.

OSC is scheduled to issue a formal Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) imminently. The application link will be posted on OSC's website, accompanied by an official press release on the Department's website. The NOFO application period will open upon its official publication.

"President Trump has led the way in leveraging the strength of the United States' world-leading capital markets," said Emil Michael, Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering. "The Office of Strategic Capital's NSFF program represents another tool that will establish true U.S. independence in the critical minerals supply chain."

Office of Strategic Capital Signs $500 Million Conditional Loan Commitment With Phoenix Tailings

June 16, 2026 |

The United States Department of War's Office of Strategic Capital (OSC) announced today a $500 million conditional loan commitment with Phoenix Tailings, Inc. to scale the company's domestic processing of rare earth elements. Together, the OSC investment and additional private capital are intended to provide approximately $1 billion to support a significant expansion of critical metal production at existing facilities and a new, state-of-the-art, U.S.-based rare earth separation and metallization facility.

This partnership with OSC marks Phoenix Tailings' next stage of growth, positioning the company at the center of an important national security priority focused on building a resilient, domestic supply chain for rare earths. Phoenix Tailings specializes in rare earth separation and metallization, a highly technical midstream process that bridges the critical gap between raw extraction and permanent magnet production. The company's increased production will directly support permanent magnet facilities across the broader U.S. industrial base and improve supply chains for other specialty defense and industrial products.

"Supporting domestic processing for critical minerals and rare earths is a key focus for OSC, and the rare earth midstream processing capabilities that Phoenix Tailings represents are key shortage areas that need to be rapidly addressed. We are pleased to support Phoenix Tailings in building the company's Freedom Facility, which will represent an important step in strengthening the full mine-to-magnet supply chain in the United States," said David A. Lorch, Director of the Office of Strategic Capital and Senior Advisor to Deputy Secretary of War Steve Feinberg.

The company currently operates two metallization facilities located in Burlington, Massachusetts, and Exeter, New Hampshire. The conditional loan commitment between OSC and Phoenix Tailings specifies customary additional steps that the company must take to proceed toward financial close on the loan, including fulfilling financial, legal, technical and other due diligence requirements.

"I applaud the Office of Strategic Capital on this important conditional investment, which advances the reshoring of rare earth supply chains and strengthens the might of America's defense industrial base. The focused, unified effort and support from Secretary Hegseth and Deputy Secretary Feinberg have been crucial in addressing supply chain shortages and vulnerabilities in the defense industrial base," said the Honorable Emil Michael, Under Secretary of War for Research and Engineering.