The move is one of several planned for an executive order Trump could sign as soon as Wednesday after he told Congress last week he would "take historic action to dramatically expand production of critical minerals and rare earths here in the USA.

Under the directive, the Pentagon would collaborate with other federal agencies to set up processing facilities on its military bases.

U.S. President Donald Trump is looking to build metal refining facilities on Pentagon military bases as part of his plan to boost domestic production of critical minerals, Reuters reported on Tuesday,

Fighter jets, submarines and bullets used by the military are built with minerals processed by Beijing.  Read more at straitstimes.com.