America Is Importing Metals It Already Owns. One Man Predicts That Ends as soon as June 30.
Washington, D.C., June 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The United States is importing metals from Chile, Kazakhstan, Poland, Mexico, Peru, and China. Metals used in fighter jets, nuclear reactors, AI chips, missiles, and the electrical grid. Metals that, according to one of Washington's most seasoned financial insiders, America already owns in abundance.
It just has not been allowed to dig them up.
Jim Rickards, a former advisor to the White House, U.S. Treasury, Federal Reserve, and Pentagon, says one remote deposit on U.S. soil holds enough strategic metals to transform America's national security picture overnight. And one tiny company trading for just under $2 per share owns all of it.
He says a government decision expected no later than June 30 could change everything.
A National Security Crisis Hidden in Plain Sight
Rickards says the case for unlocking this deposit is not just financial. It is a matter of national defense.
He starts with rhenium, a metal most Americans have never heard of. Without it, he says, high performance military jet engines do not fly. The U.S. currently imports almost all of it from Chile, Kazakhstan, and Poland. If those supply lines were disrupted, he warns, the consequences for American air power would be immediate and severe.
"If those supply lines are cut, our Air Force gets grounded," Rickards said.
The deposit he is pointing to holds an estimated 6.3 million pounds of rhenium alone, enough to build more than 3 million high performance jet engines. He says it could be the largest untapped rhenium reserve in the world, and almost no one is talking about it.
Then there is silver. The U.S. is currently dependent on imports from Mexico, Peru, and Chile for a metal that runs through every advanced AI chip, every missile guidance system, and every radar communication device in the American arsenal.
This one deposit holds and estimated 371 million ounces of it.
"Silver is essential for missile guidance systems, weapons, and radar communications," Rickards said. "America's Crown Jewel could change everything."
The Metal That Holds America Together
Rickards says the deposit also contains an estimated 3.69 billion pounds of molybdenum, a metal he describes as the industrial backbone of the United States.
Without it, he says, pipelines corrode, nuclear reactors become unstable, and military grade components fail under pressure. It is essential to the kind of high performance steel used in bridges, skyscrapers, pipelines, and battlefield equipment.
He puts the scale of this supply into perspective. The molybdenum at this single site could produce enough high performance steel to build 800,000 miles of pipeline, 1,800 Golden Gate Bridges, or 7,700 skyscrapers across the United States.
"Without it, our pipelines would corrode, our reactors would melt down, and our missiles could fail at the worst possible moment," he said.
China Controls the Supply. America Could Control the Source.
Rickards says the geopolitical stakes here extend beyond military hardware. He points to rare earth metals and critical minerals as the defining resource battleground of the coming decades, one that China has spent years positioning itself to win.
He says the deposit he is pointing to could fundamentally shift that balance of power back toward the United States. It contains enough copper to build 12,500 new AI data centers, the kind being raced to completion right now by Microsoft, Google, and Amazon. It contains enough silver to power billions of AI chips and enough gold to anchor the dollar's global dominance for another generation.
"Making America the AI capital of the world, preparing our military for 21st century combat, ensuring America has all the resources it needs to bring about a new Golden Age," Rickards said. "It can all be solved with a single move."
One Company. One Decision. One Deadline.
The company that owns this entire deposit has a market cap below one billion dollars. It is trading for just under $2 per share. Rickards says the only reason the stock is still this cheap is that the market continues to price in the Biden era EPA decision that has kept this project blocked.
He believes that decision is about to be reversed. Two pieces of legislation are advancing through the U.S. Senate with bipartisan support, both tied directly to this project. A critical government decision is expected no later than June 30.
Rickards says the moment that green light arrives, the stock will no longer be priced like the deposit does not exist.
"The goal is to unlock an estimated $2.7 trillion in mineral wealth inside a single remote region of the country that has been trapped for decades," he said.
He is urging everyday Americans to consider acting before that date, while the stock is still within reach.
"Any American can claim it," Rickards said. "And if you act quickly, ideally before June 30, you could set yourself up for one of the greatest windfalls in Trump's second term."
He is straightforward about the risk involved.
"Is there risk? Absolutely," he said. "But that uncertainty is what has given us the opportunity we have today."
About Jim Rickards and Paradigm Press
Jim Rickards has spent over five decades working in the most powerful institutions in the United States, including the White House, the U.S. Treasury, the Federal Reserve, the Pentagon, and the CIA.
Paradigm Press is one of the most widely read independent financial research publishers in the United States, rated 4.8 stars on Google across more than 1,900 reviews. Free from advertiser influence, Paradigm Press is committed to helping everyday Americans understand and act on the forces shaping their wealth.