New Funding Initiatives Propel U.S. Towards Greater Self-Sufficiency in Critical Minerals
VANCOUVER, BC, May 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In an effort to bolster the domestic supply chain for critical minerals and materials, the Biden Administration recently announced a $17.5-million investment to develop more affordable, sustainable production processes throughout the USA. The announcement came just days after the Center for Strategic & International Studies's (CSIS) Project on Critical Minerals Security launch, meant to build the resilient supply chains needed for national, economic, and energy security. These initiatives are meant to build out a more robust supply of the 50 mineral commodities within the current United States Critical Materials List, each representing materials essential to economic and national security, however, for 43 of these critical minerals, the USA imports more than half of its supply. The mining industry is pushing forward to develop these types of commodities with miners making progress, including Ares Strategic Mining Inc. (CSE: ARS) (OTCQX: ARSMF), MP Materials Corp. (NYSE:MP), Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE-A: UUUU) (TSX: EFR), Arcadium Lithium plc (NYSE: ALTM), and Freeport-McMoran Inc. (NYSE: FCX).
- Among the more overlooked commodities on the critical minerals list is fluorspar , the only non-metallic commodity on the list that's 100% imported into the USA— according to the USGS .
- Consisting of 353 claims spanning a 5,982-acre area, the Lost Sheep Mine is in the process of construction towards commercial production.
- Back in March, Ares announced the completion of its mine planning, and the commencement of its mine's installation construction.
- But before his departure, Adkerson is strongly encouraging the US government to improve its mine permitting process if it hopes to boost domestic supplies of critical minerals.