US to inject US$150M into Guyana’s bauxite operation to secure critical supply chain

– once fully operational project is expected to meet
100% of US military demand
The United States (US) Government on Friday announced a US$150 million investment geared towards expanding bauxite mining in Guyana as Washington moves to secure a regional supply chain for refractory-grade bauxite, a critical material for national defence and key industrial base sectors. In a statement on Friday, the US Department of War’s (DOW) Economic Defence Unit (EDU), in partnership with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy, announced an US$85.5 million equity investment agreement with Strategic Bauxite USA, through the Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) programme. This contribution is complemented by an additional US$64.5 million co-investment from the private sector. “These funds will be used to acquire and expand the First Bauxite (FBX) mine in Guyana, develop new calcination facilities for primary processing, and contribute to a follow-on project to construct a brown-fused alumina (BFA) facility in the United States,” the DOW said in its missive.
According to the Department, this strategic partnership will establish a secure, vertically integrated US supply chain for refractory-grade bauxite, which is a critical material for national defence and key industrial base sectors. “Our defence readiness relies on secure, regional access to critical minerals,” Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy Michael Cadenazzi said. “This partnership with Strategic Bauxite through the equity funding and analysis provided by the IBAS programme ensures that critical materials in the western hemisphere stay in supply chains that protect the United States and its allies.”

First Bauxite leadership change
This announcement comes less than a month after Canada’s First Bauxite revealed in a July 2026 statement that it entered into an agreement under which Strategic Bauxite USA has acquired the company – a deal it says would allow continued growth, investment, and long-term success.
First Bauxite, through its local subsidiary Guyana Industrial Minerals Inc. (GINMIN), operates the Bonasika Bauxite Project located in Region Three between the Demerara and Essequibo Rivers.
Meanwhile, the US DOW explained in Friday’s missive that this US$150 million initiative addresses an over-dependence on imports for refractory-grade bauxite for the US supply chain, with the vast majority sourced directly from China or Chinese-owned entities. It noted that once fully operational, this project is expected to meet 100 per cent of US military demand for BFA and 100 per cent of US demand for refractory bauxite. The Department said IBAS equity and direct investments are strategically targeted at critical supply chain bottlenecks, particularly where private venture capital has historically been hesitant to invest due to long developmental timelines.
“The Department of War is no longer waiting for supply chain dependencies to be exploited,” Director of the Economic Defence Unit George K. Kollitides II stated. “This agreement shows how EDU and the Department can partner with the commercial sector to rapidly turn opportunities into advantages for the warfighter.”
Refractory-grade bauxite is necessary for manufacturing high-temperature-resistant materials used to make critical components for our warfighters, such as heat shields, thermal barriers, and turbine engines in guided missiles, rockets, military aircraft, and space systems. Beyond defence, this high-purity bauxite is a vital raw material for steel and aluminum production, energy infrastructure, and industrial furnaces, making it a cornerstone of a modern industrial economy.
The DOW said this agreement also serves as an example of how the Department is coordinating across the interagency to support national security requirements. As part of the broader effort, the Department of State provided critical funding to support infrastructure associated with the project, enabling the US Government to act quickly and reinforce the long-term viability of the supply chain.

Interest in Guyana’s bauxite
The US Government had first announced its interest in Guyana’s bauxite resources back in May when Under Secretary for Economic Affairs, Jacob Helberg, visited Georgetown and held high-level engagements with the Guyanese Government. During a press conference with local reporters, Helberg told the Guyana Times that Guyana has a lot of natural reserves but not the capacity to get this mineral into markets-something which the US is ready to work with the country on. “We talked about the opportunities surrounding bauxite and expanding Guyana’s economic activities in the bauxite sector with additional private investments. We also talked about ways that infrastructure investments, especially in roads and potentially autonomous trucking technology, can actually be catalytic to getting more Guyanese bauxite on the global market,” Helberg stated.
According to the US Government official, “Bauxite minerals were a focus because the reserves are already known, and there are already a lot of investors with active investments in Guyana today. We did talk about surveying land where large amounts of new reserves for many types of other minerals are believed to be located, but where the land needs to be surveyed in a more extensive way. So, we did talk about things that were prospective, but because the reserves of bauxite are known and there are already investments today, we talked a fair amount about those.” Moreover, just last month, Deputy Secretary of State, Christopher Landau, reiterated the United States’ commitment to position its private sector to tap into the vast investment opportunities available in Guyana across multiple industries, including mining. He made these remarks during bilateral engagements with a Guyanese Government delegation led by the Senior Minister with Responsibility for Finance, which attended the US-Guyana Investment Enabling Forum held in Washington, D.C., on July 17.
“They agreed that US private sector capital, expertise, and technology could unleash a wave of investment opportunities in all sectors of the economy, including agriculture, critical minerals, energy, infrastructure, and housing,” the Spokesperson at the US Department of State, Tommy Pigott, stated about the meeting. Moreover, Deputy Secretary Landau, in a social post on X, lauded the Guyana Government’s ambitious plans to promote economic growth in both the energy and non-energy sectors, such as mining and agriculture, as well as its commitment to ensuring that such growth benefits the Guyanese people now and in the future.