WHAT WE DO
RMI structures access to U.S. government programs that most project developers don’t know exist — and most advisors don’t know how to navigate.
The gap between a qualifying critical mineral asset and U.S. government capital is not a financing problem. It is a navigation problem.
Federal programs across DoD, DFC, EXIM, the Department of the Interior, and Department of Energy are funded and mandated to secure allied-nation critical mineral supply chains. Each carries its own eligibility criteria, commodity priorities, and engagement protocols — and most project developers never find the right door.
RMI closes that gap. We are the intermediary between qualified international projects and the federal programs built to support them. We are not a materials producer. We are the bridge.
Service 01
What It Is
RMI identifies the specific U.S. government capital vehicles for which a given project qualifies, sequences the engagement strategy across multiple program offices, and navigates the full pathway from initial program contact through term sheet.
How We Execute It
Every engagement begins with a program mapping exercise: we assess the project’s mineral profile, jurisdiction, development stage, sovereign sponsor, and existing offtake or financing arrangements against the current eligibility parameters of each federal program. That assessment determines which programs to approach, in which sequence, and with what positioning.
From there, RMI manages the program relationship directly — preparing submission materials, coordinating with program offices, addressing technical and legal due diligence requests, and advancing the engagement through each program’s internal review process. We maintain active institutional relationships with the DoD Office of Strategic Capital, EXIM Project Vault, the DFC, and the Department of the Interior’s Critical Minerals Club — relationships that compress timelines and reduce the friction that stalls cold approaches.
The Programs We Work With
Who This Is For
Mine developers and sovereign mineral authorities in allied nations who have a qualifying asset and need a structured pathway into U.S. government capital programs. Also relevant to project finance sponsors and off-takers seeking to de-risk transactions through federal program participation.
Service 02
What It Is
RMI structures, negotiates, and advances government-backed offtake and purchase agreements — the primary instrument by which U.S. programs convert critical mineral projects from exploration-stage assets into bankable supply.
How We Execute It
Take-or-pay offtake agreements and guaranteed purchase structures are not conventional commercial contracts. They carry specific sovereign creditworthiness requirements, product specification standards, delivery and force majeure frameworks, and price collar mechanisms that reflect the U.S. government’s dual mandate: securing supply chain access while meeting federal procurement standards.
RMI drafts and negotiates offtake term sheets that are structured from the outset to meet federal program requirements — rather than requiring retrofit after a commercial structure has been established. We coordinate with program counsel on both the U.S. government side and the project-country side, manage the technical specifications review, and advance the agreement through the program office approval process.
Where a project has existing commercial offtake in place, we assess compatibility with federal program requirements and structure bridge arrangements where necessary.
Who This Is For
Mine developers and sovereign mineral authorities seeking to convert a producing or near-production asset into a contracted supply relationship with U.S. government-backed counterparties. Project finance lenders requiring bankable offtake as a condition of debt sizing.
Service 03
What It Is
RMI builds the bilateral and multilateral relationships between allied-nation sovereign partners, U.S. government program offices, and private sector counterparties that underpin durable critical mineral supply chain agreements.
How We Execute It
Government-backed critical mineral transactions do not close on the strength of project economics alone. They close when the right sovereign-to-sovereign relationships are established, when program offices have confidence in the counterparty, and when the political and strategic context supports a long-term supply commitment.
RMI operates at this relationship layer. We prepare sovereign mineral authorities and project sponsors for engagement with U.S. counterparts — including positioning strategy, program office introductions, and coordination across the relevant embassy, defense attaché, and interagency relationships that inform program office decision-making. Where appropriate, we support the development of government-to-government frameworks that create the enabling conditions for private-sector transactions.
This work is not lobbying. RMI does not engage in political advocacy or governmental representation as defined under FARA. We build the institutional relationships and strategic context that position qualifying projects for program engagement.
Who This Is For
Sovereign mineral authorities and national mining companies in allied nations seeking to establish a structured U.S. government relationship around their critical mineral assets. Also relevant to private developers whose projects require sovereign sponsor engagement to qualify for federal programs.
Service 04
What It Is
RMI facilitates access to U.S. government-controlled processing and separation technologies as part of broader critical mineral supply chain investment packages — enabling allied-nation projects to build in-country processing capacity rather than exporting raw ore.
How We Execute It
Raw ore export is the least valuable position in the critical mineral supply chain. The programs that matter — and the offtake structures that pay the highest premiums — target processed and separated material: rare earth oxides, separated mineral concentrates, battery-grade precursors, and refined metals. Getting there requires processing and separation technology that most project-country jurisdictions do not have.
U.S. government programs, particularly through DoE and DoD, have developed proprietary processing and separation technologies as part of the domestic supply chain investment mandate. These technologies are available for transfer to allied-nation partners under structured program agreements — but accessing them requires navigating program eligibility, technology licensing frameworks, and the interagency coordination that governs controlled technology transfer.
RMI manages this process: assessing technology fit against a project’s ore chemistry and deposit characteristics, coordinating with the relevant program offices, and structuring the technology transfer agreement as a component of the broader capital and offtake package.
Who This Is For
Allied-nation mine developers and sovereign mineral authorities seeking to establish downstream processing capacity. Also relevant to allied governments pursuing in-country value-add mandates as a condition of sovereign investment in resource development.
How We Work
RMI engagements follow a disciplined four-phase process designed to move qualifying projects from initial assessment to executed program agreements with the fewest false starts and the greatest institutional momentum.
Phase 01
Project Assessment
We evaluate mineral profile and defense criticality, jurisdiction and sovereign risk, development stage and capital requirement, existing offtake or financing arrangements, and any compliance considerations relevant to program participation. The output is a program map: which federal vehicles apply, in which sequence, and with what positioning approach.
Phase 02
Program Strategy & Positioning
RMI develops the engagement strategy — including submission materials, counterparty positioning, and the sequencing of program office contacts. This phase includes preparation of the project narrative in the framing that program offices respond to: not as a mining investment, but as a U.S. national security supply chain solution.
Phase 03
Program Engagement & Negotiation
RMI manages the program relationship through active engagement — coordinating with program offices, responding to due diligence requests, negotiating term sheet parameters, and maintaining momentum through the internal review cycles that govern federal program approval. This is where institutional relationships compress timelines.
Phase 04
Transaction Execution
RMI coordinates across legal counsel, sovereign partners, program offices, and private-sector counterparties through to executed agreements — whether capital commitment, offtake contract, technology transfer agreement, or a combination structure.
Ready to Discuss Your Project?
RMI works with a select number of engagements at any time. If you have a qualifying critical mineral asset and are seeking structured access to U.S. government capital programs, we invite you to begin the conversation.
Discuss Your Project with Our Team
Engagements are confidential. Initial consultations are by referral or direct inquiry.