NAIROBI – The US will help Kenya develop a critical minerals processing industry, a senior American official said on Wednesday, against the backdrop of rivalry between China and the US over access to critical minerals. 

Kenya is considering bids to develop the coastal Mrima Hill deposit, which is expected to contain tens of billions of dollars' worth of rare earth minerals and niobium, a metal used in aerospace manufacturing.

"Critical minerals are a top priority for President (Donald) Trump and Secretary (of State Marco) Rubio, and we are ready to work with Kenya as it becomes a regional leader in this space," Frank Garcia, assistant secretary of state for Africa, told a meeting of the Kenyan business lobby group American Chamber of Commerce.

"We are ready to help you build a mining sector that is transparent and attracts legitimate businesses, respects communities and helps secure global supply chains."

US BACKS RARE EARTH PROJECTS
The US International Development Finance Corporation is backing a pipeline of African rare earth projects as Washington looks to cut dependence on top producer China, which dominates the global supply chain and has tightened export controls in recent years.  

"If we are serious about rare earths minerals, energy and a stronger America, we do it in partnership, not alone," Garcia said.

Kenya's President William Ruto welcomed the US support, saying local processing of minerals will help his government create jobs.

"In critical minerals, we are accelerating the responsible exploration and development of rare-earth elements, titanium, graphite, lithium, niobium and other strategic resources," Ruto told the same meeting.

US company Critical Metals Corp and Australia's RareX said in July they had been shortlisted to compete for the rights to develop Mrima Hill. 

Kenya's government has not published a shortlist but there are six companies on the list with two of them from the US, Harry Kimtai, the principal secretary for Kenya's state department of mining, said at the meeting. 

US OFFICIAL SAYS HE REJECTS EXTRACTIVE MODEL
Kenya and the US have agreed on the appropriate way to develop the mining sector, said Chris Kulukundis, the US acting deputy assistant secretary of state for Southern Africa and critical minerals.

"The Mrima Hill tender process is moving forward in a transparent manner. We have two US consortia that we believe are going to be able, if successful and if chosen, to develop the project in the correct way," he said.

Ruto told Reuters in June that Kenya and the US were close to sealing a critical minerals deal. Neither side provided an update on the agreement on Wednesday.

Garcia said the United States favoured a mining development model that includes local processing and value addition in producing countries.

"Some of our competitors are efficient at one thing: pulling minerals out of the ground, whisking them offshore and capturing all value addition far away from the lands from which the minerals originated," he said.

China, which has faced criticism from some governments and advocacy groups over exporting raw minerals for processing elsewhere, has rejected such accusations.