Canada- and Frankfurt-listed silica, zircon, titanium, scandium and rare earths developer Meta Critical Minerals has jointed the US Military Academy at West Point's Critical Minerals Consortium with the aim of supporting US critical mineral supply chains through its projects in Wyoming.

The Critical Minerals Consortium was established as an interdisciplinary initiative at the US Military Academy at West Point through its Center for Environmental & Geographic Sciences, which will ensure the US and its allies maintain an unassailable resource advantage through interagency coordination, global academic partnership and original research in critical minerals policy.

Future Army leaders will examine the technical, diplomatic, and economic dimensions of critical mineral supply chains and their role in securing the future of the American defence industrial base.

Other members of the Critical Minerals Consortium include Colorado School of Mines, Idaho National Laboratory, North-West University in South Africa, the University of Texas, Nigeria-focused tin, niobium, tantalum, zirconium, and ilmenite developer Aeternum Resources and mining investor Cove Kaz Capital Group.

The US was 100% net import reliant on 13 critical mineral commodities in 2025, however, there has been growing recognition about the importance of secure supply chains and industrial capacity to transform these resources into usable technologies for military systems and the broader defence industrial base.

Meta Critical Minerals believes the consortium can play a vital role in bringing together the research, industry expertise and strategic thinking needed to address national security priorities. "With our two Wyoming projects - Arcadia and Lake Owen - we see a meaningful opportunity to contribute to that effort while exploring relationships that can help us advance these assets toward development," says CEO Rana Vig.

Arcadia is an advanced-stage project comprising 4 480 acres with two near-surface heavy mineral sand deposits containing zircon, titanium-bearing ilmenite and rare earths-bearing monazite. In turn, Lake Owen is a layered mafic-ultramafic intrusion prospective for vanadium, scandium, titanium and gallium.