Generals join critical-mineral boardroom arms race

Critical-mineral juniors are snapping up retired U.S. military leaders to help win Washington funding, echoing a playbook uranium producers pioneered years ago when they recast domestic nuclear fuel as a national-security issue. 

Almonty Industries (TSX: AII; Nasdaq: ALM) has named Brigadier-General Steven Allen as chief operating officer and General Gustave Perna to its board. Rare-earths developer Critical Metals (Nasdaq: CRML) recruited General Tim Ray and Rear Admiral Peter Stamatopoulos as advisers.  

“We have been seeking for over a year now a former military official to assist our board as we continue to work more closely with various divisions of our U.S. Military,” US Antimony (NYSE American, NYSE Texas: UAMY) CEO and chair Gary Evans said last August when General Jack Keane joined its board. “We will use those connections professionally, selectively and only when deemed necessary.” 

The uranium sector has been running this strategy longer, but the roll call underlines a shift in financing as miners’ push to gain Washington-focused know-how and access strategic funding. The new wave of appointments is concentrated in rare earths, tungsten and antimony, where U.S. agencies are trying to rebuild domestic supply chains after China’s export controls jolted Western buyers. 

Open doors 

A retired general on the board won’t solve permitting delays, metallurgical challenges or financing gaps, and government support can be slow, conditional and politically fraught. But many juniors say generals add respectability and contacts that can help open doors. Companies are increasingly looking beyond brokered placements to grants, loan guarantees, offtakes or strategic investments tied to national security. 

Electra Battery Materials (TSX-V, Nasdaq: ELBM) has nominated Rear Admiral Gerard Hueber as a director and USA Rare Earth (Nasdaq: USAR) has kept General Paul Kern on its board since 2020 as it sought federal support tied to magnet production. 

MP Materials (NYSE: MP), which runs the Mountain Pass rare-earth mine and processing facility in California, has had General Richard Myers on its board for years. It has benefited from government backing as it moves downstream into magnets. 

The hires in all these examples concern retired servicemen. The moves are meant to translate mining timelines and risk into the language of procurement, security boosting and industrial policy. 

Military leaders also help juniors avoid missteps with foreign partners and explain why a defence buyer might care about a deposit years before a mine produces first metal. 

Logistics 

For Almonty, the appointments dovetail with its push to be seen as a secure, non-China tungsten supplier. The company has highlighted Perna’s logistics background and Allen’s operational experience as it advances Sangdong in South Korea and positions itself closer to U.S. customers. 

Critical Metals, which holds the Tanbreez project in Greenland, has framed its advisory board in similarly strategic terms. The company has said Ray’s experience helps it navigate defence-linked demand for rare earths, while Stamatopoulos brings supply-chain and logistics expertise. 

The earliest clearly documented example of a uranium-sector company bringing U.S. military brass into leadership roles is USEC, now Centrus Energy (NYSE: LEU. In 2008, it added Navy Rear Admiral H. William Habermeyer to its board. Habermeyer was a nuclear-trained submarine officer in his naval career.  

By 2018, U.S. uranium producers like Ur-Energy (NYSE American, TSX: URE) and Energy Fuels (NYSE: UUUU; TSX: EFR) were explicitly framing domestic supply as a national-security and defence issue. It filed a U.S. national security trade petition arguing imports threatened the viability of domestic uranium mining. It was a policy push that foreshadowed today’s critical-miner drive to align projects with Washington priorities. 

More recently, Orano Federal Services, a subsidiary of the French uranium miner, and private uranium enrichment developer LIS Technologies added former military leaders in board and advisory roles.