Ernest Scheyder of Mining.com reports that the US Defense Department AI program to forecast critical mineral prices and reduce reliance on China has been transferred to the nonprofit Critical Minerals Forum (CMF). Backed by DARPA and joined by companies like Volkswagen and MP Materials, the AI aims to improve market transparency and support US mineral supply deals. Using over 70 datasets, it predicts prices based on real costs, excluding Chinese market influence. While some experts are skeptical, the CMF is already helping shape investment decisions and expansion plans. Scheyder writes:
A US government-created artificial intelligence program that aims to predict the supply and price of critical minerals has been transferred to the control of a non-profit organization that is helping miners and manufacturers strike supply deals.
Launched in late 2023 by the US Department of Defense, the Open Price Exploration for National Security AI metals program is an attempt to counter China’s sweeping control of the critical minerals sector, as Reuters reported last year. […]
Armed with the AI model, the CMF aims to help manufacturers curb their reliance on China by signing more metal supply deals with Western mines, according to more than two dozen industry consultants, purchasing agents, analysts, regulators and investors who told Reuters the program reflects one of the boldest efforts to date to transform the ways certain metals are bought and sold. […]
As Western miners begin to demand green premiums for their metals, those new agreements increasingly require the very market intelligence the CMF model aims to provide. […]
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