Global critical‑minerals scramble: U.S. $30B mobilization lifts RUA Gold’s New Zealand antimony push

A concatenation of export controls from a dominant producer and an accelerated U.S. policy response has reframed antimony and related by‑products as strategic, defense‑relevant commodities. The reported U.S. mobilization of roughly $30 billion appears to combine several instruments—an earmarked strategic reserve, project finance and conditional offtake/loan facilities—moving federal policy from signaling into active deployment and unlocking follow‑on grants, demonstration contracts and industry–lab partnerships. That shift privileges projects that can pair auditable, NI‑style geology with validated metallurgy and demonstrable pilot processing, creating a brownfield and bankable‑asset bias among financiers. Within that environment RUA Gold has concentrated capital and operating capacity on two New Zealand projects, running multiple rigs and aiming for a rapid resource update it says could exceed 300,000 ounces. At Auld Creek drilling has extended an interpreted mineralized strike to roughly 870 metres and returned a narrow, high‑grade intersection — 3.0 metres grading the equivalent of 21.27 g/t AuEq (4.5 g/t Au with ~3.9% Sb) — results RUA intends to fold into a fast‑tracked, audit‑ready resource. The company’s C$38 million cash position following a placement gives it runway to sustain an aggressive drill cadence while pursuing New Zealand’s expedited permitting pathways and addressing metallurgy early. Complementary industry moves underscore the policy effect: Perpetua Resources’ modular pilot arrangements and awards are explicitly aimed at validating antimony‑trisulfide metallurgy to meet military specifications, while United States Antimony is expanding downstream capacity and seeking funding for hydromet plants to convert concentrates into specification‑grade material. Midstream and processing plans in North America — from pilot plants to proposed smelter expansions and state‑aligned industrial projects — illustrate how private capital and federal incentives are combining to rebuild processing corridors. The broader implication is that polymetallic deposits with recoverable antimony now attract strategic capital, faster permitting attention and potentially higher takeover multiples than would apply to standalone gold prospects. For investors, the near‑term test is convertibility: assays and pilot demonstrations must translate into audit‑ready resources and scalable metallurgy to secure de‑risking capital and long‑term offtake. For policymakers and communities, the constraints remain metallurgy scale‑up, permitting timelines, social license and Indigenous engagement — factors that will determine which projects actually deliver commercial antimony volumes despite the policy tailwinds. In sum, the $30 billion‑scale policy mobilization shortens the path from discovery to offtake for projects that can demonstrate continuity of data and process, and firms that can prove metallurgy and near‑term processing will capture the lion’s share of strategic capital.