Strategic Minerals plc (SML.L): $9.25m U.S. Government Strategic Investment

Funding supports pre-site development activities aimed at fast-tracking full feasibility and the route to underground mining

On 28 September 2026, Strategic Minerals plc (SML.L) announced through the London Stock Exchange that the U.S. Government had committed $9.25 million in funding to its wholly owned subsidiary, Cornwall Resources Limited (“CRL”), to significantly accelerate development of the Redmoor tungsten-copper-tin project in Cornwall, UK. The funding is intended to advance Redmoor through all feasibility studies and towards a final investment decision (“FID”) for mining.

Redmoor is Europe’s highest-grade undeveloped tungsten resource and one of the highest-grade tungsten projects globally.

The investment reflects U.S. Government support for the development of a secure and resilient allied tungsten supply and recognises Redmoor’s potential importance to U.S. and allied advanced manufacturing, defence and critical-minerals supply chains.

Crucially, the funding is non-dilutive and places no restrictions on future funding or offtake agreements.

Together with Strategic Minerals’ existing cash resources and other potential grant funding, the investment will allow CRL to move beyond the previously planned PFS milestone and target completion of a full Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) — the final economic study before FID.

The funding will support:

• ongoing resource infill and expansion drilling, geotechnical and metallurgical drilling, and other site investigations;
• Mineral Resource Estimate updates and subsequent Reserve conversion;
• PFS and DFS;
• metallurgical, processing and engineering studies; and
• pre-site development activities aimed at fast-tracking the route to underground mining.

In parallel, U.S.-linked supply-chain and potential offtake discussions are continuing.

The programme targets completion of the technical and commercial work required to reach FID within 32 months of the agreed programme initiation date.

CRL and the U.S. Government will finalise the provisionally accepted Project Execution Plan (PEP), including programme milestones, delivery timetable and award payment schedule. The PEP will also govern cost-sharing provisions, reporting, payments and other programme conditions.

Charles Manners, Strategic Minerals Executive Chairman, commented:

“We believe the strengths and investment case for Redmoor have been clearly demonstrated through this investment.”

“The U.S. Government has in recent weeks made significant investments to support allied, western world tungsten supply chains. We would like to thank the U.S. Government for this investment, and we look forward to working with them through the Department for War as we deliver this transformation project, with the aim of accelerating the development process for a new the U.K. tungsten mine capable of contributing significantly to this objective.”

Mark Burnett, Strategic Minerals Executive Director, commented:

“This programme provides further additionality to the Company’s plans to integrate and accelerate Redmoor through feasibility. Whilst not guaranteed, further U.K. domestic support for Redmoor is currently also being investigated.”

“The Board would like to thank the CRL team for their hard work and dedication to Redmoor. Their work has positioned the project for this investment, including through an intense application and contracting process, and a recent trip to Philadelphia to discuss its project proposal in person with senior government officials.”

Dennis Rowland, CRL Managing Director, commented:

“The programme at Redmoor has expanded significantly in the last two years, through resource and economic sensitivity analysis updates, and now delivering the largest, continuous, diamond drilling programme from surface drilled in Cornwall, designed to facilitate data collection for both of the project’s feasibility studies.”

“It has been our intention to pursue all means to accelerate Redmoor towards full feasibility and then into mining, as quickly and efficiently as possible. This transformational funding to CRL will add significant momentum and support for Redmoor’s accelerated development. It helps eliminate funding uncertainty and risk between Redmoor’s feasibility development stages and positions the project for rapid development through integrated workstreams. We aim to deliver resource infill-PFS-DFS, and other associated pre-site development tasks, within 32 months of the agreed programme initiation date, delivering Redmoor to a final investment decision for mining.”

“We would like to thank the Defense Industrial Base Consortium (“DIBC”) and consortium manager Advanced Technology International (“ATI”) contracting teams for their guidance and support throughout the application and contracting process. We look forward to working with ATI throughout the delivery of this sub-agreement. Whilst there is no guarantee of follow-on production funding, subject to the proper completion of the programme’s milestones, we further look forward to potential discussions on follow-on funding support for mine development at Redmoor.”

“The Company would also like to thank the U.K. Government, through its Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade’s critical minerals team, for support throughout the application process.”

Source: www.strategicminerals.net

Andrievskii View

For Strategic Minerals, this development is far more significant than the $9.25 million headline figure itself. Capital can be raised in the market. What is considerably harder to obtain is what Redmoor has now effectively secured: strategic recognition from the U.S. Government.

The funding is non-dilutive, places no restrictions on future offtake agreements and provides a pathway through PFS and DFS towards a final investment decision. In doing so, it addresses one of the principal risks facing any junior mining project — that a promising resource becomes stranded somewhere between drilling and mine construction because the capital required to advance it is unavailable.

But the most important point is the signal itself. The United States is not funding a geological hypothesis. It is funding the work required to prepare Redmoor for potential mining. At a time when the West is seeking tungsten supply chains that are less dependent on China, this changes Redmoor’s position from that of a promising British deposit to a potential strategic asset within an allied critical-minerals supply chain.

The next re-rating of Redmoor will therefore depend on more than drilling results and the tungsten price. The market must now consider U.S. Government backing, an accelerated route to DFS/FID, the absence of shareholder dilution and the possibility of subsequent funding support for mine development.

This is where the Strategic Minerals investment story changes.

Yesterday, Redmoor was a resource that still had to prove it could become a mine. Today, the U.S. Government is paying to get that answer within 32 months.

This publication is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.

Aleksei Andrievskii | Advisory Board Member, Bendura Bank AG | Liechtenstein