Rare earths investor hires carrier admiral, opens D.C. base

Retired Rear Adm. John Meier, the first commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), has joined mining investor Appian Capital Advisory as a senior advisor on defense supply chains.

Appian announced the hire on Oct. 13 together with two other appointments. Brian Greeley, who was chief banking officer at the Export-Import Bank of the United States, becomes chief financial officer for the firm’s critical minerals business, while Christopher Smith, the former head of government affairs at Ford Motor Company, joins Meier as a senior advisor.

The firm, which advises private funds investing in mining, has also opened a base in Washington, D.C., and plans to spend about $2.

5 billion over the next five years developing mines and plants for minerals including rare earths, graphite and lithium. Meier spent 37 years in the U.S.

Navy and last served as commander of Naval Air Force Atlantic, which runs the service’s East Coast carriers and aviation squadrons; at Appian he will focus on which minerals U.S. and allied defense supply chains need, for current projects and future deals.

Greeley’s job is the money side, financing the portfolio, lining up long-term buyers and making sure new acquisitions can meet industrial and defense specifications. Smith, who earlier ran policy and government affairs at LNG exporter Cheniere Energy and served as assistant secretary for fossil energy at the U.S.

Department of Energy, will work on fitting projects to what manufacturers need to buy. “These appointments reflect the growing complexity of sourcing, financing and delivering critical minerals projects at the pace industrial and government customers now require,” said Michael W. Scherb, founder and CEO of Appian.

Several of Appian’s assets produce materials that end up in military hardware. Atlantic Strategic Minerals in Virginia runs a producing mineral sands operation and the largest minerals separation plant in North America, and is adding rare earth processing. Gippsland Critical Minerals in Victoria, Australia, owns the advanced-stage Fingerboards Project, which Appian says could supply 7.

1% of the world’s dysprosium and terbium, two heavy rare earths used in the heat-resistant magnets inside missile fin actuators, fighter jet systems and electric motors. Appian also owns Graphcoa in Brazil and Allied Graphite in the United States, which together mine graphite and turn it into battery anode material, and U.S.

Strategic Metals, which is building a U.S. plant to recycle and produce battery metals.

China refines most of the world’s rare earths, and its 2025 export controls on dysprosium, terbium and other heavy rare earths sent Western defense contractors and governments looking for supplies from outside the country. “In my experience structuring financing for critical minerals projects at EXIM, I saw firsthand how aligning private capital with policy goals can accelerate projects to completion and meaningful production,” said Brian Greeley, chief financial officer for critical minerals at Appian. Appian manages about $5 billion and has a technical staff of around 100 geologists, engineers and metallurgists.

Since 2016 it has brought 12 mining projects into production, and its operations now employ more than 13,000 workers, with the new Washington office set up to handle its growing U.S. holdings and its work with defense companies and government agencies.