The U.S.–China microchip rivalry is evolving.
While previous years were marked by tit-for-tat sanctions and chip export restrictions, 2025 has opened a new diplomatic chapter, with both sides now entering formal trade negotiations.
But make no mistake: the underlying contest for control over AI and semiconductor supply chains remains intense.
A key focus of these negotiations is the growing recognition that without secure access to critical minerals—like copper, cobalt, nickel, and rare earths—there’s no reliable path to semiconductor self-sufficiency. These materials are foundational to building AI infrastructure and have become strategic priorities in both Washington and Beijing.
Nowhere is this shift more visible than in Arizona, home to one of the largest semiconductor infrastructure buildouts in global history.
What began as a $12 billion project in 2020 has since gone into overdrive.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world’s leading advanced chipmaker, has since committed $165 billion to U.S. operations. Backed by $6.6 billion in CHIPS Act incentives, TSMC is now building six advanced fabs, two AI-focused packaging facilities, and a major R&D center —all in Phoenix.
This massive buildout will serve leading AI chipmakers like Apple, Nvidia, AMD, and Broadcom, and is expected to generate over $200 billion in economic output over the next decade.
And it’s happening just a few hours from Glenstar Minerals’ Green Monster property in southern Nevada.
As Glenstar Minerals (CSE: GSTR, OTCQB: GSTRF) drills their polymetallic resource—rich with copper, cobalt, zinc, rare earths, and nickel—it’s positioning itself as a critical upstream player in America’s new AI chip corridor.
$50B Policy Shift Ignites a Domestic Mineral Rush
With AI adoption surging, chip production has become a geopolitical flashpoint. The U.S. and China are locked in a tech war that is reshaping trade policy and restructuring global supply chains.
This conflict didn’t erupt overnight— it escalated through a series of sanctions and retaliatory moves that have turned semiconductors into a national security issue.
The White House’s response has been decisive. The CHIPS Act unlocked over $50 billion in subsidies to rebuild domestic chip manufacturing. And the Defense Production Act was invoked to prioritize domestic mining and processing of critical materials.
This marks a historic turning point—where critical mineral development has become a direct extension of national industrial policy.
Meanwhile, China has doubled down on its own efforts to secure technological self-sufficiency, increasing investment into rare earths and advanced chip foundries.
The shift in the tech landscape is undeniable: semiconductor giants are no longer waiting on the sidelines.
Leading firms like Nvidia, Apple, and AMD are rethinking supply chains and bringing manufacturing operations closer to home.
Nvidia is ramping up chip production stateside with expanded U.S. fabs, while Apple is accelerating its domestic assembly efforts, particularly in the Midwest. In fact, across the tech sector, companies are set to invest over $300 billion in 2025 alone to stay ahead in the AI race.
Nvidia, Apple, and Qualcomm are among the companies making the most significant moves, committing billions to expand their U.S. operations.
This wave of investment, focused on AI infrastructure, semiconductor production, and R&D facilities, underscores the high stakes of this rivalry. As America races to onshore its AI infrastructure, the spotlight is shifting to the upstream enablers—companies positioned to supply the raw materials that make this technological leap possible.
That urgency isn’t just driving private investment, it’s triggering the biggest shift in U.S. resource policy in decades.
$900M Investment Signals Rare Earths Are Now a National Priority
In July 2025, the White House and Apple jointly committed a landmark $900 million to MP Materials, the country’s only rare earth miner.
This investment, which includes $500 million from Apple and $400 million from the Department of Defense, is designed to accelerate domestic production of rare earth elements critical to AI and chip manufacturing.
The impact was immediate: MP Materials' stock soared 255% in the days following the announcement[i].
This deal signals a clear shift in U.S. policy. After years of warnings about overreliance on China, which currently controls 85% of rare earth processing capacity, the U.S. is looking to fast-track a secure domestic supply chain.
As capital floods into domestic rare earths, early movers with scalable assets could be next inline.
With exposure to rare earths, cobalt, copper, and nickel from its Green Monster property, and proximity to America’s most important semiconductor hub, Glenstar stands to benefit from the same national policy tailwinds.
Green Monster: Surrounded by Giants in Nevada’s Mining Heartland
Glenstar Minerals’ Green Monster property is situated in the heart of one of the world’s most mineral-rich regions, surrounded by some of Nevada’s largest and most successful mines. In fact, Nevada ranks top 4 in terms of overall domestic mineral production and is the clear leader when it comes to gold production.
To the north, the Cortez Mine, operated by Barrick Gold, has been a significant gold producer for decades, contributing billions in revenues and marking one of Nevada's premier mining hubs.
Just to the west, the Battle Mountain District, home to some of the state’s most prolific mines, including Newmont’s and Barrick’s operations, continues to be a focal point for large-scale exploration and development.
The Round Mountain Mine, another major producer to the east, has long been a cornerstone of Nevada’s mining success.
These massive operations form a powerful ring around Green Monster, providing not only geological evidence of the region's mineral wealth but also access to critical infrastructure, expertise, and an established mining ecosystem.
Glenstar Minerals (CSE: GSTR, OTCQB: GSTRF) is positioned to tap into this rich mining history while developing its own high-value resources of copper, cobalt, nickel, zinc, and rare earths.
Strategically Positioned in The Historic Goodsprings District
Glenstar’s flagship Green Monster property is in Nevada’s Goodsprings district—a region with a long legacy of mineral production and a supportive, mining-friendly jurisdiction.
Once Clark County’s largest mineral producer, Goodsprings has been responsible for over $31 million in recorded historical production, accounting for more than 40% of the county’s total output.
That’s a staggering figure, considering Nevada’s standing as one of the top mining regions in the world. For decades, this district helped power industrial America—yet much of its deeper mineral potential remains untouched.
The Green Monster project spans more than 700 acres and borders patented claims historically awarded to sites with proven production.
The original Green Monster Mine itself was once a consistent producer of copper, zinc, silver, lead, and uranium, with records showing more than 2 million pounds of zinc extracted in earlier phases of development.
But as with many legacy mines, operations eventually stalled—not due to resource depletion, but because past miners focused solely on near-surface veins using limited technology. Without the modern tools to explore deeper structures, the district’s full potential remained hidden.
That’s where Glenstar Minerals’ (CSE: GSTR, OTCQB: GSTRF) story breaks from the past.
Glenstar set out to test what earlier generations of miners couldn’t detect. A recent magnetic survey revealed a strong anomaly directly beneath the historic mine, pointing to a possible nickel-copper sulfide system at depth.
In May 2025, they completed the first-ever drill program at the property, ahead of schedule and under budget. The results confirmed what early models suggested: Green Monster hosts high-grade polymetallic mineralization in areas that had never been drilled before.
One of the first holes hit a 10-metre-wide zone grading over 30% zinc and 5.7 ounces per tonne silver, with additional copper at >0.36%,nickel at 523 ppm, and cobalt at 91.9 ppm.
And significantly, the intercept sits about 150 metres outside the initial target zone, confirming that Glenstar is just starting to scratch the surface of a much larger system.
With more assays pending and Phase 2 drilling planned, Glenstar is quickly advancing could be a major new U.S. discovery.
But what truly sets Green Monster apart is its location: just hours from Arizona’s $165 billion semiconductor corridor.
For Glenstar, that means proximity not just to rail, power, and workforce—but to the very industrial clients who will need the materials being mined.
As results from the drill campaign begin to emerge, Glenstar isn’t just exploring. It’s reclaiming a historically productive site, unlocking its deeper layers with modern tools, and placing itself at the center of the global AI arms race.
Expanding the Critical Minerals Play with a Newly Acquired Asset
Glenstar Minerals (CSE: GSTR, OTCQB: GSTRF) has added a second key project with the expansion of the Wildhorse Property in Nevada’s Mineral County.
What began as a 900-acre land package has now grown to over 1,200acres,following early exploration that pointed to a broader mineralized system across the property.
Wildhorse sits in a geologically favorable region that has seen little modern exploration, but initial results are promising.
The company recently completed its first phase of fieldwork, returning 1% copper, 6,100 ppm antimony, over 1 g/t gold, and meaningful values in tungsten and bismuth.
The Coca Cola Zone, a newly identified target, features exposed copper mineralization, suggesting the potential for an interconnected system.
Glenstar is now planning a second round of sampling and mapping to define priority drill targets.
With antimony, tungsten, and bismuth essential to semiconductor manufacturing, and antimony75% reliant on Chinese imports, early-stage projects like Wildhorse are moving into the spotlight.
Supplying the Materials That Power the AI Economy
AI isn’t built on code alone—it requires a physical backbone of critical minerals like copper, cobalt, nickel, zinc, and rare earth elements. Glenstar Minerals, through its Green Monster and Wildhorse projects in Nevada, is positioning itself as a domestic supplier of these materials at precisely the right moment.
Copper:The Electrical Backbone of AI Infrastructure
Copper sits at the heart of this transformation. As the primary conductor of electricity and heat, it is essential to every layer of AI infrastructure—from the chips and motherboards themselves to the dense energy systems driving data centers.
That demand is already putting enormous pressure on global supply. Prices have surged more than 30% year-to-date, driven by accelerating AI adoption, energy infrastructure upgrades, and mounting geopolitical uncertainty over trade and tariffs.
Looking ahead, global copper demand is expected to expand by more than 70% by 2050, reaching over 50 million metric tons annually. Much of this growth is tied directly to the electrification of infrastructure and the explosive rise of data centers for AI computing.
Cobalt: The Key to Stable, High-Performance Processing
But conductivity alone isn’t enough—thermal stability and power retention are equally vital, and that’s where cobalt is important. Often overlooked by the broader tech industry, cobalt plays a key role in enabling high-performance processing by preventing heat degradation in both chips and batteries. The Cobalt Institute puts it bluntly: “Without cobalt, there is no high-performance computing".
According to Grandview Research, the global cobalt market is expected to grow by a 6.7% clip in 2025, to hit more than $18billion. This surge is fueled largely by electric vehicles and advanced AI data systems that need dense, stable power sources.
Nickel: Powering Next-Generation Batteries and AI Infrastructure
Nickel, meanwhile, is emerging as a linchpin in battery technology, thermal alloys, and industrial metals—making it indispensable for the manufacturing of servers. Nickel is also a primary ingredient in stainless steel, which is widely used in semiconductor fabrication due to its strength, cleanliness, and resistance to chemical corrosion. Stainless steel is crucial in cleanroom environments, vacuum chambers, and chip etching equipment.
From batteries to fabrication, nickel underpins both the infrastructure and the energy that AI relies on. That’s why Precedence Research projects that the global nickel mining market will nearly double by2034, growing from $56 billion in 2025 to over $100 billion.
Zinc: An Overlooked but Essential Industrial Metal
While not as headline-grabbing as lithium or cobalt, zinc plays a vital role in electronics and chipmaking infrastructure. It is widely used in anti-corrosion coatings, alloy manufacturing, and as a component in high-performance die-casting.
In data centers and energy-intensive AI facilities, zinc's versatility helps ensure infrastructure reliability and system durability.
Rare Earth Elements: The Hidden Drivers of AI and Tech Manufacturing
While the attention on rare earth elements (REEs) tends to be focused on China’s dominance in their supply, these critical metals play a pivotal role in high-tech and AI applications. Rare earths such as neodymium, dysprosium, and praseodymium are integral to the production of magnets found in AI-powered machinery, including electric motors, sensors, and hard drives.
The strategic importance of these metals cannot be overstated.
The U.S. has made significant efforts to reduce dependence on foreign sources of rare earths, and Glenstar Minerals’ (CSE: GSTR, OTCQB: GSTRF) location in a historically rich mining region positions it as a key player in helping meet this critical need.
The U.S. Geological Survey notes that demand for REEs will increase by up to 10% annually through 2030 as industries like AI, electric vehicles, and renewable energy grow, making domestic sources like Glenstar’s even more valuable.
Antimony: Essential To Silicon Processing
One of the lesser-known elements, antimony is a linchpin in the semiconductor supply chain. A metal with unique electrical properties, antimony is primarily used in doping silicon to create n-type semiconductors—a foundational step in chip manufacturing that enhances conductivity and performance.
Beyond silicon processing, antimony is also critical in flame retardants, solder alloys, and infrared sensors, making it a strategic material for civilian and defense technologies. Despite its importance, the U.S. remains heavily dependent on foreign sources, with more than 75% of global supply controlled by China, often through vertically integrated state-owned enterprises.
This supply imbalance has raised alarms in Washington. In fact, antimony is one of only a few minerals classified as both critical and strategic under the Defense Production Act, giving it priority status in federal resource planning. With tensions rising over chip supply chains, materials like antimony have taken on a new level of urgency.
Glenstar Minerals’ (CSE: GSTR, OTCQB: GSTRF) exposure to antimony adds a vital element to its diverse portfolio of minerals.
5 Reasons to Add Glenstar Minerals (CSE: GSTR, OTCQB: GSTRF) to Your Watchlist Now
- A Strategic Location Near the Chip Capital of the U.S.:
Green Monster is located near the Arizona border, placing it adjacent to Arizona’s multibillion-dollar semiconductor corridor. - Exposure to High-Value Battery Metals:
The Green Monster property is rich in copper, cobalt, zinc, rare earths, and nickel—all essential to AI chips, EVs, and energy storage. A second property in Nevada’s Currant Creek District offers exposure to a new class of critical minerals, including antimony. - Major Exploration Catalyst On The Horizon:
With an initial drill program completed, and a second phase planned, Glenstar is poised for an imminent exploration catalyst, setting the stage for proving its high-grade mineralization. - Rich Mining Heritage in a Proven District:
Goodsprings has a long-standing history of mineral production, having generated over $31M in output, and remains one of Nevada’s most promising exploration zones. - Full Alignment with U.S. Industrial Policy:
Glenstar is well-positioned to benefit from both the CHIPS Act and the Defense Production Act as domestic production ramps up.
Securing AI Leadership Starts with American Soil
Technology dominance now depends on something more fundamental: control of supply chains, materials, and domestic production.
Glenstar Minerals (CSE: GSTR, OTCQB: GSTRF) is rapidly becoming a strategic player in the U.S. push to reduce reliance on foreign resources. With a fully funded drill program, historical grades, and essential infrastructure at its doorstep, Glenstar is tapping into the mineral-rich backbone that will power tomorrow’s industrial economy.
Learn more about Glenstar’s exploration program and how it's helping secure America’s technological future on their
website.
