Exclusive: U.S. Army will fund rare earths plant for weapons development

FILE PHOTO: A front-end loader is used to reinforce a safety berm inside the open pit at a rare earth facility in California June 29, 2015. REUTERS/David Becker/File Photo

(Reuters) - The U.S. Army plans to fund construction of rare earths processing facilities, part of an urgent push by Washington to secure domestic supply of the minerals used to make military weapons and electronics, according to a government document seen by Reuters.

The move would mark the first financial investment by the U.S. military into commercial-scale rare earths production since World War Two's Manhattan Project built the first atomic bomb.