Nomi Prins — APRIL ISSUE - The Pentagon-Backed Play on the Rare Earth Chain's Real Bottleneck
The April Founders+ pick: an under-the-radar US rare-earth refiner with DoD funding, proven separation technology and a North American facility commissioning this year — the midstream bottleneck the Pentagon is racing to solve.
One-line take: the April Founders+ monthly — the companion recommendation to the Apr-8 "broken link" piece. On March 4, six days into Operation Epic Fury, the Pentagon sent an emergency request to 1,500+ defense contractors for proposals to mine, process or recycle 13 critical minerals on US soil (four rare earths, including yttrium — the coating that keeps jet-engine turbines from melting); accepted projects get up to $500M, proposals due in two weeks. Rare-earth prices have roughly doubled since January on precautionary buying ahead of the Nov-10 export-control deadline, policy momentum and the war. Prins's pick: an under-the-radar US refiner with DoD funding, proven separation tech and a North American plant commissioning this year. Note: this issue is a separate Founders+ Member plan and the body is gated on this account — only the free intro was captured; the recommended company's name, full analysis and buy-up-to price are paywalled.
1. Stocks & names mentioned
A Founders+ rare-earths issue, gated on this account — the body (with the recommended refiner) is reserved for Founders+ Member subscribers. The free intro names no individual securities; the investable reference is rare earths. The "At" link opens the article.
| Ticker | Name | Research | View | What she said | At |
|---|
| Rare earths | Rare earths / yttrium (commodity) | — | Positive | Prices have roughly doubled since January on precautionary buying ahead of the Nov-10 export-control deadline plus the war. The Pentagon's March 4 emergency request (13 critical minerals, four rare earths incl. yttrium; up to $500M per project) shows real federal money pointed at domestic separation/refining. | read |
The recommended US refiner's name and buy-up-to price are reserved for Founders+ Member subscribers (the issue body is gated on this account). "View" reflects framing, not a price rating.
2. Key points
The summit and the supply chain
- On March 18 Trump delayed his planned Beijing state visit (originally Mar 31-Apr 2) to focus on the Iran war, with a tentative meeting now mid-May; the flow of rare earths and magnets to US buyers was on the pre-summit agenda.
The Pentagon's emergency request
- On March 4, six days into Operation Epic Fury, the Pentagon asked 1,500+ defense contractors for proposals to mine, process or recycle 13 critical minerals on US soil. Four were rare earths, including yttrium (used in coatings that keep jet-engine turbines from melting at operating temperatures). Accepted projects get up to $500M; proposals were due within two weeks — Washington moving on a shortfall the war magnified.
Prices doubled on policy, not fundamentals
- The January 2026 outlook flagged rare earths as a top asymmetric opportunity and said pricing would be driven more by policy than fundamentals. Prices have roughly doubled since January — driven by precautionary buying ahead of the Nov-10 deadline on China's export-control suspension, building policy momentum, and the Middle East war.
The pick (free intro only)
- The issue details an under-the-radar US refiner with DoD funding already in place, proven separation technology and a North American facility commissioning this year — the midstream "mine-to-magnet" bottleneck. The full analysis (company name, financials, buy-up-to price) is reserved for Founders+ Member subscribers and is gated on this account.
3. In plain English
A jargon-free summary of the thesis. (Plain-language companion to the table above; renders on the commodity's consolidated page.)
RareEarths — Rare earths / yttrium (commodity) Positive
This is the paid follow-up to Prins's argument that the broken link in rare earths is "separation" — the chemical processing China dominates. The news hook: the Pentagon, mid-war, made an emergency call to over 1,500 defense contractors offering up to $500 million each to mine or process critical minerals (including the rare earth yttrium, which coats jet-engine parts so they don't melt) inside the US. That's real government money flowing exactly to the bottleneck.
Her recommended stock is a small US refiner that already has Pentagon funding and a North American processing plant opening this year. The catch for this archive: this particular issue is behind a higher "Founders+" paywall on the account, so the company's name and target price aren't visible here — only the setup is.
Summary derived from the public (free) intro of the Prinsights Substack Founders+ issue for personal study. Not investment advice; the issue body and the recommended name are paywalled. © Nomi Prins / Prinsights for source material.