Trump orders mining on federal land, more funding

U.S. President Donald Trump has boosted American critical mineral projects with an executive order accessing government funding and loans while pushing for faster permitting.

The new order signed Thursday sets up a dedicated mineral and mineral production fund that could be in the billions of dollars from the International Development Finance Corp. (IDFC) and the Department of Defense.

Trump’s order also directs the Interior Department to list all potential mining projects on federal land and says mining should be the primary use for those areas. Permitting agencies are required to list all mining projects that have pending approvals, and also suggest which projects could be approved immediately.

The efforts are designed to counter China’s dominance in a range of minerals needed from electric cars to precision-guided bombs. The Asian giant also controls most of the world’s processing capacity for minerals. The measures to speed projects comes after an S&P Global Market Intelligence report last year showed the U.S. was second only to Zambia in approval times, with mines taking 29 years on average from discovery to production.

“The United States was once the world’s largest producer of lucrative minerals, but overbearing federal regulation has eroded our nation’s mineral production,” Trump says in the order. ” Our national and economic security are now acutely threatened by our reliance upon hostile foreign powers’ mineral production. It is imperative for our national security that the United States take immediate action to facilitate domestic mineral production to the maximum possible extent.”

Korean War

The order invokes the 1950s era Defense Production Act, which president Harry Truman used then to ramp up steel output for the Korean War. Trump tapped it in his first term to speed production of surgical masks during the pandemic. This time the focus is on energy and security as China installs export limits on minerals such as graphite, germanium, gallium and antimony.

The Trump administration is coordinating with the private sector to secure domestic supplies of uranium, copper, potash and gold, according to the order. The National Energy Dominance Council could also name other elements, compounds or materials it determines should be included, even coal.

The IDFC’s 2025 budget request includes $1 billion for programs, which cover various sectors including critical minerals. The Pentagon’s 2023–2024 budget included about $1.3 billion for critical minerals, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals and other strategic materials.

While the U.S. has funded Canadian mining projects with tens of millions of dollars, its unclear if the new fund will follow that course given Trump’s America-first stance and anti-Canadian comments since taking office in January.