Critical Minerals Boom: Nickel–Cobalt Market Races Toward $35B+ Valuation

NEW YORK, March 31, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Market News Updates News Commentary - Nickel–cobalt alloys might not sound exciting at first, but they're actually a big deal in modern defense. These materials are used in things like jet engines, missile systems, and naval equipment because they can handle extreme heat and stress without breaking down. That's why governments are starting to treat nickel and cobalt as must-have resources, not just commodities. There's also a growing push to secure supply closer to home, since a lot of global production is concentrated in a few regions—something that makes defense planners (and investors) a bit uneasy.   Active Companies mentioned in the article and active in the industry includes: First Atlantic Nickel Corp. (OTCQB:FANCF) (TSXV:FAN), MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP), REalloys Inc. (NASDAQ:ALOY), Canada Nickel Company Inc. (TSXV:CNC) (OTCQB:CNIKF), TMC the metals company Inc. (NASDAQ:TMC).

The market side of this story is just as interesting. Right now, the nickel–cobalt alloy market is estimated to be around $18–19 billion, and it's expected to grow to roughly $35–36 billion over the next 7–8 years, which is solid, steady growth. Some estimates even show similar markets nearly doubling over the same timeframe. A big chunk of that demand is tied to aerospace and defense, where performance really matters and there aren't many good substitutes. As countries keep upgrading aircraft, missiles, and advanced systems, the need for these high-performance alloys just keeps rising.

What really gets investors paying attention, though, is the supply situation. Nickel and cobalt aren't evenly distributed around the world, and that creates a mix of risk and opportunity. Defense demand isn't something that drops off in a downturn—if anything, it stays strong—so companies that can provide reliable, secure supply are in a good position. Add in trends like electrified military vehicles and next-gen propulsion, and you've got a long runway for growth. That's why nickel–cobalt mining is starting to look less like a basic materials play and more like a strategic piece of the defense puzzle.

First Atlantic Nickel Corp. (OTCQB:FANCF) (TSXV:FAN) ANNOUNCES ACCEPTANCE INTO DEFENSE INDUSTRIAL BASE CONSORTIUM (DIBC) - PIPESTONE XL SMELTER-FREE NICKEL-COBALT ALLOY PROJECT BYPASSES MIDSTREAM SMELTING BOTTLENECK IN U.S. DEFENSE SUPPLY CHAIN - First Atlantic Nickel Corp. (FSE: P21) ("First Atlantic" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Company's application to the U.S. Defense Industrial Base Consortium (the "DIBC") has been approved. The DIBC operates as a consortium-based contracting vehicle under the Office of the Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy ("IBP"), which manages key industrial base investment authorities including programs funded under Title III of the Defense Production Act ("DPA") and the Defense Industrial Base Fund ("IBF") under 10 U.S.C. § 4817. These authorities enable the Department of War ("DoW") to make direct investments designed to expand and sustain domestic industrial capacity, particularly where supply chains are fragile or overly dependent on foreign sources. Canada has been designated a "domestic source" under Title III of the DPA since 1992.

The DIBC aims to expand and diversify the defense industrial base, enable private-sector businesses to work in partnership with the U.S. Government, provide financing for key contractors, and provide the U.S. Government access to commercial solutions for defense requirements. Through these authorities, the DoW utilizes various financing structures, including direct equity stakes, grants, offtake agreements at guaranteed price points, purchase commitments, loans, and loan guarantees to catalyze domestic mineral production and processing.

Key Points

1. Nickel is the only battery metal listed among 13 defense-critical minerals in the DIBC's first critical minerals Request for Project Proposals (RPP-CM-26-01), released February 27, 2026 - awaruite addresses three Areas of Interest (AOI) outlined by the in the RPP.
2. In September 2023, the U.S. Department of Defense stated that nickel is "an essential mineral input to produce high-temperature aerospace alloys, stainless steel, and chemicals for lithium-ion batteries".
3. Pipestone XL Awaruite Nickel-Cobalt Alloy Project addresses two sectors considered to be critical to the defense industrial base: "Strategic and Critical Materials" and "Energy Storage and Batteries".
4. Awaruite is a high-grade naturally occurring magnetic nickel-iron-cobalt alloy mineral containing approximately 77% nickel and 1% cobalt that is not a sulfide nor an oxide nickel ore. Awaruite does not require smelting and can be processed at the mine site using magnetic separation and flotation to produce a ~60% nickel concentrate, offering large-scale processing capacity not capped or limited by smelter availability.
5. Awaruite bypasses the midstream smelting bottleneck in North America, the United States has zero nickel smelters and only two remain in Canada with limitations on capacity and technical constraints on penalty and deleterious elements, awaruite's ~60% nickel concentrate can be sent for direct downstream battery chemical refining or manufacturing of specialty alloys, or stainless steel.
6. Awaruite provides a pathway to direct downstream refining of nickel sulphate in the United States, meeting the definition of qualifying nickel under Section 45X of the U.S. Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit: nickel "converted to nickel sulphate" or "purified to a minimum purity of 99 percent nickel by mass".
7. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace paper "Securing America's Critical Minerals Supply" (October 8, 2025) projects U.S. nickel import reliance of -9,275% by 2035, representing a 740,000+ tonne annual shortfall.
   
   
   
   

DIBC Issues First Critical Minerals Request for Project Proposals - On February 27, 2026, the DIBC issued RPP-CM-26-01, "Domestic Processing Capabilities of Critical Minerals," its first Request for Project Proposals targeting critical gaps in domestic production capacity for thirteen defense-critical minerals: arsenic, bismuth, gadolinium, germanium, graphite, hafnium, nickel, samarium, tungsten, vanadium, ytterbium, yttrium, and zirconium.  

Pipestone XL Addresses Two Critical Defense Industrial Base Sectors and Three Areas of Interest - First Atlantic's Pipestone XL Nickel Alloy Project directly addresses two sectors considered to be critical to the defense industrial base - Strategic and Critical Materials, and Energy Storage and Batteries - and three of the RPP's six Areas of Interest (AOI):

1. Raw mineral sourcing and beneficiation, including extraction, concentration, and beneficiation of mineral ores;
2. Separation and processing of raw or beneficiated materials into intermediate chemical forms; and
3. Metal production, metallization, refining, and upscaling to achieve purified forms suitable for critical applications.
   
   
   
   

The RPP encourages innovative commercial solutions that offer capabilities across multiple stages of the value chain and solutions that produce multiple minerals as co- or by-products.   CONTINUED… Read this and more news for First Atlantic Nickel at:   https://www.fanickel.com/archive

In other market news of interest:

MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP) recently announced it has selected a 120‑acre site in Northlake, Texas, to develop "10X," the company's planned large-scale rare earth magnet manufacturing campus. Located less than 10 miles from MP's existing Independence facility in Fort Worth, the new campus will cement North Texas as the center of gravity for the United States' rare earth magnet supply chain.

10X will significantly expand MP's fully integrated U.S. rare earth magnetics manufacturing platform, which already encompasses mining and refining, metallization and alloying, sintering, finished magnet production, and closed‑loop recycling. Once operational, the new campus is expected to contribute to the company's total production capacity of approximately 10,000 metric tons of NdFeB rare earth magnets per year, dramatically advancing the nation's ability to produce these strategic components domestically.

REalloys Inc. (NASDAQ:ALOY), a mine-to-magnet rare earth Company, announced the appointment of Joe Kasper as Chair of its Advisory Board. Mr. Kasper most recently served as Chief of Staff to the U.S. Secretary of Defense and in the Office of the Secretary of Defense as a Special Government Employee where he led efforts to address critical material supply chain vulnerabilities across U.S. defense and national security strategic imperatives.

Kasper's appointment unites three of the most consequential figures in American defense and national security at REalloys. Joe Kasper now joins REalloys Chairman, Stephen duMont, President and CEO of GM Defense, and General Jack Keane, a retired four-star General, former Vice Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient. Their shared mission with REalloys is to secure America's heavy rare earth supply chain for the U.S. Defense Industrial Base with zero Chinese nexus - from feedstock and reagents - to equipment and IP.

Canada Nickel Company Inc. (TSXV:CNC) (OTCQB:CNIKF) recently announced that it has signed two agreements as part of the Ontario Energy Board's approved connection process with Hydro One Network Inc. (Hydro One), enabling the commencement of engineering work to connect the Company's flagship Crawford Nickel Project ("Crawford"), located 42 kilometers north of Timmins Ontario, to Hydro One's Porcupine Station. The transmission line connecting Crawford to Porcupine Station is planned to be built for the Company via the previously announced project with Taykwa Tagamou Nation.

Mark Selby, CEO of Canada Nickel Company said, "Today's announcement with Hydro One represents an important step in advancing the Crawford Nickel Project. By initiating the engineering work required to connect Crawford via a transmission line to be built by our partner, Taykwa Tagamou Nation, we are laying the groundwork for reliable power delivery and continued progress advancing Crawford. This collaboration underscores our commitment to responsible development and partnership with indigenous communities as we advance one of the world's leading nickel projects."

TMC the metals company Inc. (NASDAQ:TMC), a leading developer of the world's largest resource of critical metals essential to energy, defense, manufacturing and infrastructure, recently provided a corporate update and fourth quarter and full year financial results for the period ending December 31, 2025...

...Gerard Barron, Chairman & CEO, commented: "In my time leading TMC, I've never felt better about our pathway to production because of our financial, strategic, and permitting position. 2025 was a transformative year for our business — we pivoted to a clear U.S. permitting pathway, saw strong policy support for our industry through the Administration's Executive Order and new consolidated application regulations from NOAA, welcomed several strategic partners and investors including Korea Zinc and the Hess family, and delivered the world's first Pre-Feasibility Study for an integrated polymetallic nodule project demonstrating commercial viability. We ended the year with $162 million in liquidity including undrawn, unsecured credit facilities and expect to report around $154 million of liquidity at March 31, 2026.

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