Meta Critical Minerals adds West Point advisor to strategic board

Meta Critical Minerals Inc. (CSE: MTTA, OTCQB: MTTAF, FSE: VJ3) has appointed John Melkon, a senior advisor to the United States Military Academy at West Point, to its Strategic Advisory Board, according to a company statement.

Melkon served as a director and assistant professor at West Point from 2012 to 2026 and has been charged with building and leading the Critical Minerals Consortium there. He previously served as a senior operations advisor to U.S. Army Africa and as a strategic operations officer for the Department of Defense. Earlier in his career, he spent more than 13 years as an Army Special Forces officer and worked as an international banking associate for Credit Suisse First Boston in Frankfurt, Germany.

"His 30 years of experience negotiating critical supply chains for U.S. national security will help us deepen our engagement with U.S. government, military and industry stakeholders seeking secure domestic sources of zircon, titanium, rare earth elements, scandium and vanadium," said Rana Vig, CEO of Meta Critical Minerals.

The appointment follows the company receiving approval for a 10,500-foot drill program at its Dugout Creek deposit, part of the Arcadia Project in Washakie County, Wyoming. The company also holds the Lake Owen asset in Wyoming. The deposits contain zircon, titanium-bearing ilmenite and rare-earth-element-bearing monazite.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey's 2026 Mineral Commodity Summaries, the United States was 100% net import reliant on scandium and titanium sponge metal and 67% net import reliant on rare earths in 2025.

Melkon is currently a PhD candidate at Stellenbosch University and holds degrees from Princeton University, Texas A&M University, and Columbia University, among other institutions.

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