Whatever the outcome of the infamous Oval Office blowup between President Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelinsky, mining experts say it won’t change one fact about the minerals needed to keep America’s economy moving.
We have them, and we need to start mining them. Now.
“Mining those resources could significantly contribute to ensuring that the U.S. has the critical materials needed for our technology and defense industries, freeing us from China’s current lock on the market,” said Melissa ‘Mel’ Sanderson, board director of American Rare Earths.
The U.S. Geological Survey has identified 50 minerals critical to America’s ability to manufacture technology vital to the economy and national defense. Among them are cobalt, graphite, lithium, titanium and uranium. Ukraine has significant reserves of all these and the rare earth elements — a group of 17 similar elements with properties like luminesce and magnetism that make them critical in the technology supply chain.
Ironically, rare earth elements aren’t actually “rare.” They’re found all over the world. However, they are rarely in concentrated deposits that are economically viable for mining. The real metric, experts say, is how much a country is able to process for commercial use.
While the United States ranks second in rare earth mining output behind China, it produces very little of the processed materials. As a 2024 report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies noted, “China produces 60 percent of the world’s rare earths but processes nearly 90 percent, which means that it is importing rare earths from other countries and processing them. This has given China a near monopoly.”
If the United States wants to break that dependency, says Pini Althaus, the founder of USA Rare Earth, “the United States must invest substantial capital in both exploration and the development of downstream processing capabilities.”
When it comes to expanding mining and production, the United States is often its own worst enemy.
Rich Nolan, the president and CEO the National Mining Association, recently identified a series of actions by the Biden administration that set back America’s ability to access domestic supplies of critical minerals. For example, last April, the Department of the Interior reversed its previous approval of Alaska’s Ambler Access Project, which would have allowed access to deposits of cobalt, copper and rare earth elements.
“China dominates global mineral supply chains and is the leading supplier of 24 of the 49 minerals the U.S. has deemed critical. This dependency poses significant risks to the U.S. economy, security and the nation’s energy future,” Nolan said.
Getting access to U.S. mineral deposits is just the beginning. An S&P Global report last year found it takes 29 years for a U.S. mine to go from discovery to production. That’s the second longest timeline in the world, behind only Zambia.
Even worse, federal regulators from four agencies can return to mining companies with duplicative and repetitive questions at any time during the permitting process. The frustrating process can sometimes add millions of dollars to production costs. That doesn’t count action involving state and local governments.
For example, lithium is one of the minerals vital to modern battery production, and one of the world’s largest known lithium deposits was found in western Maine in 2021. However, the state’s mining laws won’t allow the lithium to be extracted. Washington appears to be noticing.
Trump issued an executive order in January meant to encourage rare earth mineral development and strengthen supply chains. It included a review of all agency actions from previous years. Agency heads were ordered to rescind actions that were “identified as unduly burdensome.”
Althaus of USA Rare Earth has argued that the United States should look into creating a critical minerals task force or a czar to come up with a national strategy. He recommended Vice President JD Vance for the role, citing his work to increase American manufacturing.
Congress is also looking at permitting reform. Last year, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee passed the Energy Permitting Reform Act by a 15 to 4 vote. The proposal would have imposed a two-year permitting timeline for mineral, traditional and renewable energy projects.
“Hopefully, the current Congress will resurrect these bills or craft new ones to unshackle America’s mining potential,” Sanderson said.
Another reason the United States should boost its domestic mining and processing capacity is national security. China and Russia are major suppliers of critical minerals, giving them both leverage over America’s allies and assets for adversaries.
“In recent years, China and Russia have gained strategic advantages in critical mineral global supply chains, introducing unacceptable risks to the U.S. industrial base,” according to the Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy.
Among their recommendations are incentivizing domestic mining production and permitting reform to increase competitiveness.
Nolan agrees. “American competitiveness, national security and our advanced energy ambitions rest on our ability to build the secure, responsible mineral supply chains we know must have.”
