NEW YORK, January 1, 2026, 13:11 ET — Market closed
Critical Metals (CRML.O) is targeting early 2026 to finalize the last quarter of customer offtake agreements for its Tanbreez rare earths project in Greenland and is open to a potential U.S. government investment, its chief executive told Reuters. “Would welcome it, even though we didn’t ask for it,” CEO Tony Sage said, adding the company had sought grant support under the U.S. Defense Production Act. Reuters
The update lands as investors in rare metals stocks look for clearer signs of how the U.S. and its allies will fund supply chains for critical minerals outside China. Rare earths are a group of 17 metals used to make magnets that power electric motors in products ranging from electric vehicles to defense systems.
For early-stage miners, offtake agreements matter because they lock in future sales to customers, helping lenders and investors underwrite projects that can take years to build. In plain terms, they reduce the “who will buy it?” question before a shovel hits the ground.
Critical Metals shares last closed on Dec. 31 up 0.4% at $6.94, after trading between $6.75 and $6.97. The stock has fallen about 4% over the last three sessions, reflecting thin year-end liquidity and the high beta typical of development-stage mining names.
Investors are weighing the timeline against the cost and complexity of building a mine and processing chain, a step that remains dominated globally by China. Even with buyers lined up, projects can be derailed by permitting, financing terms, and delays in downstream capacity.
Washington’s approach to backing critical-mineral projects has come into sharper focus in recent months as the administration has pursued deals and taken equity stakes to secure supply, Reuters has reported. That policy backdrop has increasingly become a catalyst for U.S.-listed rare earth and battery-materials developers.
Sage also pointed to interest from the Middle East, including potential processing partners, as energy-rich states look to build their own rare earths capacity with cheaper power and quicker permitting than many Western markets. The company has already pre-sold most of its planned output and wants to keep supply diversified to limit geopolitical risk, he said.
The company’s Austrian lithium project remains on hold until prices for the battery metal recover, Sage said, underscoring how commodity cycles can force capital allocation decisions even inside diversified “critical minerals” portfolios. Reuters
What traders will be watching next is whether Critical Metals can close the remaining offtake agreements on terms that support project financing — and whether any government backing comes with conditions that change the capital structure. Updates on processing partnerships will also be scrutinized, since separation and refining are often the bottlenecks.
Before the next U.S. session on Friday, investors will be looking for follow-through from policymakers on how funding will be structured for strategically important minerals, and whether the market gets more detail on customer commitments. Any new disclosure around project milestones or financing would likely drive outsized moves in a stock that has traded in wide swings over recent sessions.
Near-term scheduled catalysts are less clear. Nasdaq’s earnings page for the company lists the earnings date as unavailable, leaving the tape more dependent on news flow such as filings, contracts, and project updates than on quarterly results.
On the chart, traders have been watching the week’s lows near $6.75 as near-term support and the recent highs near $7.80 as the first test for a rebound. A clean break either way could set the tone when liquidity returns after the holiday.
