Sunrise Energy Metals has expressed confidence it will be among the companies contributing to the recently announced US critical minerals reserve strategy, known as Project Vault.
The company is developing the Syerston scandium project in central New South Wales, which is recognised as the world’s largest and highest-grade scandium deposit.
Sunrise chief executive officer Sam Riggall told Reuters in Washington that the company was well positioned to supply the United States with the rare earth element, which is valued for its use in high-strength, lightweight aluminium-scandium alloys for aerospace applications, solid oxide fuel cells for clean energy, and specialty lighting.
Sunrise also said on LinkedIn that it was “honoured” its co-chairman Robert Friedland met with US President Donald Trump at the White House as a representative of critical minerals producers for the launch of the $US12 billion strategic critical minerals reserve.
Friedland is an American billionaire, a director of Ivanhoe Mines, and the largest shareholder in Sunrise. Another substantial shareholder is Kiril Sokoloff, chairman and founder of global investment advisory firm 13D Research & Strategy.
An updated mineral resource estimate for Syerston, announced in November, confirmed the project as the world’s largest and highest-grade scandium resource, with a global resource of 19,007 tonnes at an average grade of 414 grams per tonne. This represented a 98 per cent increase in contained scandium.
The support from the US export credit agency underscores scandium’s strategic importance, particularly after China imposed export controls on rare earths in April 2025.
The Syerston project has been identified as a candidate for financing under several EXIM programs, including the Supply Chain Resiliency Initiative and the China Transformational Exports Program.