DV Journal

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.”

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.”

China’s strong hold on the supply chain for rare earth elements is well known.

Beyond stating that we need to shift our reliance on China and begin building robust domestic supply chains, what are the tangible, actionable steps that will get us there?

To minimize our dependency on China, which controls 85 percent of the world’s production of rare earth elements (REE), we need to explore alternative supply sources. Identifying and developing alternative mining sites or regions abundant in REEs yet underutilized could provide a much-needed diversification strategy.

Significant reserves of REE in the United States, Canada and Australia that remain largely untapped and present promising opportunities for exploration and development. Prominent REE mines in Australia include Mount Weld and Browns Range, while notable Canadian mines include Mount Pleasant and Strange Lake. In the United States, notable mines include the Mountain Pass Mine in California, historically one of the world’s largest producers of REE, and the Bokan-Dotson Ridge project in Alaska holds significant REE deposits.

Fostering international collaboration and trade agreements to diversify supply chains beyond a single dominant source is paramount for strengthening global REE market resilience.

Here’s the thing: All supply chains start with mining — because, of course, we need to secure the critical raw materials — but it’s not enough to get the materials; we also need processing facilities that can handle the materials in an environmentally sustainable way and at a competitive cost. 

An issue in our existing REE supply chain is that we may be able to mine the materials, but then there is a lack of infrastructure for processing. As a result, much of our REE is sent to China for processing. Until we can address this chink in the chain, we will not see a completely secure and resilient national supply chain for REE.

In addition to increasing mining and processing capacity domestically, we must focus on technological innovation to improve processing efficiency and sustainability. Advancements such as novel extraction techniques, recycling technologies, and automation in processing facilities hold promise for reducing costs, minimizing environmental impacts and enhancing overall supply chain resilience. 

Moreover, investing in specialized education and training programs focused on material processing is crucial for building a skilled workforce capable of innovating new technologies and processes to enhance supply chain resilience. By fostering collaboration between industry, academia and government, we can accelerate the development of sustainable and efficient methods for processing critical raw materials while mitigating environmental effects and ensuring long-term availability.

Addressing transparency and traceability issues in the REE supply chain is critical for ensuring ethical sourcing practices and mitigating risks associated with environmental degradation and human rights abuses. Initiatives such as blockchain technology for supply chain transparency and certification schemes for responsible sourcing can play a critical role in promoting accountability and trust across the supply chain.

Efficiently streamlining the permitting process for mining operations is another thing that is imperative to bolster the competitiveness of the Western mining sector. Governments must focus on developing regulatory frameworks that balance stringent environmental standards with expedited approval timelines. 

Additionally, directing government funding toward research grants and tax incentives while fostering public-private partnerships is vital for catalyzing innovation within the mining industry.

Finally, addressing the environmental effects associated with REE mining and processing is crucial for sustainable supply chain management. Initiatives for environmental restoration, pollution prevention measures, and community engagement programs demonstrate a commitment to balancing economic development with environmental stewardship and social responsibility.

In the end, none of this change will happen overnight — it will be a gradual process that requires concerted efforts from governments, industry stakeholders and the public. However, committing to these tangible steps, we can lay the foundation for a secure and resilient national supply chain for REE. 

It’s not just about reducing our dependency on external sources; it’s about fostering innovation, sustainability and long-term prosperity for future generations.

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America needs to adopt a bold strategy to ramp up mining. The aim should be to solve a major problem in the fight against climate change — a shortage of minerals vital to clean energy technologies like electric cars and transmission systems for renewable power.

Mining is the foundation of a green economy. Countries require minerals, and that means mining. The world’s growing economies and population will demand a lot more minerals like copper, nickel and lithium. The International Energy Agency says that global production of battery minerals needs to expand tenfold to meet projected critical minerals needs by 2030. Hundreds of new mines are needed, the IEA says.

But beyond our horizon of attention, trouble is brewing.  Several resource-rich countries, led by Indonesia, are considering forming a cartel to control the global supply and pricing of battery metals, similar to what OPEC does for oil.  With demand for lithium, nickel and other vital raw materials rising, the idea that some mining countries would like to take advantage of their mineral deposits and control the future market is gaining ground. The so-called lithium triangle of Chile, Argentina and Bolivia has considered forming a lithium cartel — and may yet do so. But we know from our experience with OPEC that the best way to counter cartels is to ramp up production in the United States.

But domestic mining inspires in many groups a deep aversion — and they have been able to block efforts in Congress to streamline the mine permitting process. It may be hard to believe, but it takes 15 years or more for a mining project in the U.S. to become operational. In most other mining countries, it takes less than half that time.

With global demand for raw materials soaring, we should stop pretending that we can depend on imports of minerals from other countries to meet our needs. Such dependence carries a huge risk from a potential cartel and from our heavy reliance on Russia for uranium and China for rare earths and other vital minerals.

Make no mistake, the United States has abundant mineral resources beneath the ground, but they’re out of reach.  Paradoxically, if environmentalists continue to have the upper hand and block mining, the transition to clean energy technologies will be slowed and carbon emissions from using fossil fuels will climb, which would be terrible news for the environment.

As climate change unfolds, the minerals challenge will be felt acutely by U.S. industries, especially the automobile industry. A typical electric car requires six times the mineral input of a conventional vehicle. Each EV battery has hundreds of pounds of minerals imported mainly from overseas. Auto industry analysts warn that a mineral shortfall could stop electric car production.

We dare not stick our heads in the sand and pretend we can do without mining.  Domestic production and processing of minerals is a hedge against volatility in mineral prices and protection against potential cartels fixing prices and imposing embargoes.

Now is the time for the administration and Congress to create a sound regulatory policy so that new mines in the United States can open without further delay. Only then will we be able to deal with the economic and security challenges of a carbon-affected world. The need for collective action is unmistakable.

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