LONDON, Aug 27 (Reuters) - U.S. government-backed

investment vehicle TechMet is launching a trading arm for

critical minerals after further investment from commodity

trading house Mercuria, it said on Wednesday.

Privately-held TechMet has stakes in 10 companies, including

Brazilian Nickel, Cornish Lithium and Rainbow Rare Earths

.

A new trading unit, TechMet SCM, will focus on speciality

metals, from both its portfolio companies and third parties, a

statement said.

Mercuria, already a major shareholder, has boosted its

investment, making possible the launch of the trading arm, it

added, without saying how much Mercuria invested.

"It will ... expand its global footprint with teams in South

Korea, Western Europe and Washington D.C. to strengthen

partnerships and secure new offtake agreements," TechMet said.

The new trading arm, wholly owned by TechMet, will be headed

by Quentin Lamarche, who was previously the co-managing director

of a joint venture between Mercuria and TechMet focused on

trading battery metals.

Lamarche, based in Belgium, previously worked for Specialty

Metals Resources in Hong Kong and for Umicore in Belgium,

according to his LinkedIn profile.

The U.S. government's International Development Finance Corp

is one of TechMet's biggest investors. Other major shareholders

are the Qatar Investment Authority, S2G Investments and

Lansdowne Partners.