Threats from China to cut off supplies of critical manufacturing minerals have industry advocates saying it’s time to “Make American Mining Great Again.”
The Communist Party in Beijing is restricting the export of rare minerals to the United States, including gallium, germanium and antimony. These elements are essential to the manufacture of high-tech semiconductors, particularly those used in weapons systems. They are also essential ingredients in infrared technology and fiber optics.
National Mining Association president and CEO Rich Nolan says China has weaponized the world’s mineral supply chains, and the United States must “confront Chinese mineral extortion.”
“We can and should be producing gallium, geranium and antimony right here at home,” Nolan said in a statement. “Our challenge is not geology — the U.S possesses vast mineral resources — but the lack of comprehensive, urgent policy to turn those resources into the secure supply chains we so desperately need.”
Domestic mining advocates argue that the United States has significant supplies of these elements, but it has relied on foreign suppliers instead. For example, the U.S. stopped mining gallium in 1987. Instead, America gets its supply from China, Japan and Germany. China, meanwhile, has been providing more than half (54 percent) of germanium used by the United States.
Now, the United States is taking a fresh look at what’s under the nation’s soil right now.
For example, there is the Perpetua’s Stibnite Gold Project. Located near Cascade and Yellow Pine, Idaho, it is the only domestic antimony reserve.
Antimony is a primer in hundreds of munition types, a doping agent in semiconductors and printed circuit boards, and a central component in solar panels and wind turbines.
“Antimony is essential for national defense, technology, and energy security,” said Marty Boughton, a spokesperson for Perpetua Resources. “With a reserve of 148 million pounds of antimony, it is one of the largest antimony reserves not under Chinese influence and is expected to supply about 35 percent of total U.S. antimony demand in the first six years of operations.”
The Stibnite Gold Project is expected to receive its final approval from the U.S. Forest Service in the coming weeks. The Department of Defense has awarded the project $75 million, and the U.S. Export-Import Bank issued a $1.8 billion letter of interest to debt finance construction.
And Nyrstar, a global mining company, says it can generate up to 80 percent of America’s supply of germanium and gallium at an old zinc factory in Tennessee that’s been turned into a smelter.
Experts say there are two major obstacles to expanding U.S. mining. One is opposition from environmental groups that promote heavy regulation and often oppose any expanded mining. That includes for rare earth metals essential to building the green technology needed to end America’s reliance on fossil fuels.
In Maine, state laws backed by environmentalists prevent the mining of the world’s richest known lithium deposit. Lithium is used in batteries for electric vehicles and other green tech, and global demand is expected to grow by 575 percent by 2028.
By 2028, it is projected that the global demand for nickel for battery production will grow by 1,237 percent. In that time, lithium demand for batteries is expected to grow by 575 percent. However, regulations will keep this massive domestic supply in the ground.
“You cannot overstate the importance of strong coordination and communication between permitting agencies,” Boughton said. “A rigorous interagency permitting review process that prioritizes efficiency is needed to advance responsible mining projects and end our critical mineral dependence on China.”
Not everyone is fond of mining. Even though it may be key to a renewable energy future filled with wind turbines, solar panels and electric vehicles, environmentalists warn that rare earth mining may also lead to things such as pollution, toxic waste, destruction of ecosystems, and human health problems allegedly linked to nearby production efforts. Still, Perpetua Resources said the United States can do it right.
“The United States has incredible mineral resources, as well as some of the most robust environmental and human rights protections in the world,” Boughton said. “Where we can produce these minerals safely and ethically in our backyard, we should.”
The Biden administration has taken steps to promote domestic production, including an announcement in April that it was investing more than $17 million toward the construction of a domestic supply chain for critical minerals and materials. But America is still losing ground, as the threatened boycott by China shows.
To date, the Stibnite Gold Project has been the subject of 14 years of study and public engagement. The project — which also promises to clean up and restore the area — also went through eight years in the National Environmental Policy Act permitting process and received thousands of public comments, the majority of which were in support of the project.
“We believe that the Stibnite Gold Project is a win-win-win,” Jon Cherry, the president and CEO of Perpetua Resources said of the project. “It’s a win for Idaho, it’s a win for the environment, and it’s a win for America’s national security.”
