Why the Pentagon is suddenly interested in a tiny town in NSW

The town of Fifield near Parkes is about a six-hour drive west of Sydney, and at the last census was home to about 130 people. Now, the town has found itself at the centre of a major strategic play by the United States government. The US Department of War has committed to make a conditional loan of US$400 million (about A$566 million) to Sunrise Energy Metals, an Australian mining company hoping to deliver the world’s first supply of a key critical mineral outside of China. Scandium is listed…