Sunrise Energy Metals Stock Jumps 16% to $18.49 After Landing $400 Million US War Department Loan Deal

SYDNEY — Shares of Sunrise Energy Metals Ltd rocketed 16.07% on Monday, climbing $2.56 to close at $18.49, after the company secured a conditional $400 million debt financing commitment from the U.S. Department of War to advance its flagship scandium project in New South Wales.

The rally marks one of the sharpest single-day gains yet for the Melbourne-based mineral exploration company, extending a rally that has already made it one of the best-performing stocks on the Australian Securities Exchange over the past year.

The War Department's Office of Strategic Capital announced a $400 million conditional loan commitment to Sunrise Energy Metals to build out the company's scandium operations. The proposed 25-year facility is structured for phased drawdowns tied to milestones and equity contributions, and is intended to fund project expenditures while substantially de-risking development and enhancing capital flexibility.

The deal gives the Department of War a right of first offer on the output of Sunrise's Syerston project, with the scandium produced expected to support demand from U.S. companies, including firms in the defense industrial base. Syerston, located in New South Wales, is designed to produce 60 tonnes of scandium annually and is one of several proposed sources of the metal outside China, though construction has not yet begun.

Sunrise Energy Metals Chairman Robert Friedland, in a statement announcing the commitment, called it a landmark moment for the company and for Australia's mining industry, saying the financing aligns with the goals of the U.S.-Australia Partnership on critical minerals. Friedland said the world has entered an era in which access to critical minerals will shape industrial strength, technology leadership and national security, and described scandium as one of the clearest examples of a material supporting the technologies, industries and defense capabilities that will define the coming decades. "We thank President Donald J. Trump and the Department of War's Office of Strategic Capital for its support as we aim to establish Syerston as a cornerstone of Western scandium supply," Friedland said.

Friedland has also said the Syerston project will be the world's first source of primary mine supply for scandium end-users. Scandium is currently harvested only as a byproduct of other industrial or resource extraction processes, and no primary mine-source scandium supply currently exists anywhere in the world, with foreign producers — chiefly in China — accounting for roughly 80% of global mining output and nearly all of the world's processing capacity.

The financing news comes amid heightened U.S. government interest in shoring up domestic and allied supply chains for critical minerals used in defense, aerospace and advanced manufacturing. Syerston hosts one of the largest and highest-grade mineable scandium deposits within a Five Eyes jurisdiction and is being advanced as a scalable, long-life and low-cost source of primary scandium outside China.

Sunrise executives say that if the conditional commitment is converted into a definitive financing package, the long-term debt could materially reduce one of the biggest risks facing emerging critical minerals projects — securing the capital required to move from resource to production.

Alongside the financing announcement, the company revealed broader plans to expand its ambitions in the U.S. market. Sunrise has announced its intention to pursue a U.S. stock exchange listing to access global investment markets, a move that remains subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals. The company said it has already begun preparations for a listing on a U.S. securities exchange, a step that would open access to deeper capital markets and could strengthen its position within critical minerals supply chains tied to defense and advanced technology sectors.

Sunrise also disclosed a revised capital cost estimate for the Syerston project of between A$450 million and A$475 million, or roughly US$315 million to US$333 million, reflecting an expanded project scope and updated construction costs. The company's revised plans now include the construction of downstream refining capacity in the United States in addition to the mine and processing facilities in New South Wales. Initial development at Syerston is designed to produce 60 tonnes of high-purity scandium oxide annually over an estimated 32-year mine life.

The company said it plans to finalize capital estimates and secure the remaining approvals needed for both the project financing and the proposed U.S. listing over the course of 2026, while continuing to advance procurement and engineering work for the project.

Monday's surge builds on months of dramatic gains for the stock. Shares have climbed from levels below 30 cents in early 2025 to well above $16 in recent weeks, a gain exceeding 3,000% over roughly the past year, as investor enthusiasm for the company's scandium ambitions has intensified. The company, formerly known as Clean TeQ Holdings before rebranding in March 2021, has benefited from a string of positive catalysts in recent months, including strategic partnerships and growing government interest in securing reliable supplies of critical minerals.

Scandium, a lightweight metal used to strengthen aluminum alloys, has drawn increasing attention from Western governments and manufacturers because of its applications in aerospace, defense systems and clean-energy technology, sectors where supply security has become a growing strategic concern. U.S. government interest in the project predates Monday's announcement — the Export-Import Bank of the United States had earlier issued a letter of interest for up to $67 million in potential financing support for Syerston, citing the strategic importance of scandium following China's rare earth export controls.

As of the most recent trading session, Sunrise Energy Metals carried a market capitalization of roughly A$2.48 billion, with shares having traded in a 52-week range between A$1.138 and A$18.60. The stock's next scheduled earnings report is expected later this month.

For now, investors appear to be betting that Monday's financing commitment substantially improves the odds that Syerston moves from resource estimate to producing mine — and that Sunrise, once a little-known nickel-cobalt explorer, is emerging as a central player in the West's push to reduce its reliance on Chinese-controlled critical mineral supply chains.