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... The Defense Department and an affiliate of Pinnacle Asset Management are set to announce a strategic partnership Monday involving Atlantic Alumina Co., or ATALCO, which has been turning bauxite into alumina just outside of New Orleans since the late 1950s. Alumina is a fine white powder used to make aluminum.

The deal is the latest example of the Trump administration's unprecedented push to invest directly in companies it views as critical to US national security. It took a stake in chipmaker Intel Corp. last year while also negotiating a "golden share" in US Steel Corp. as part of its takeover of Japan's Nippon Steel Corp.

The Pentagon has invested $150 million of preferred equity in ATALCO, which will use that money and another $300 million from Pinnacle to boost alumina production and also "establish the country's first and only large-scale gallium production circuit," according to a statement reviewed by Bloomberg News. The US government is expected to provide "additional funding" within 30 days of closing. ...