In the depth of the Rolling hills near Superior in Arizona, a giant copper deposit is more than one underground mile. It could be one of the first important mining projects to obtain approval, since the Trump administration seeks to boost the production of American national minerals.
Since he assumed the position in January, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, has focused on ensuring access to critical minerals worldwide, from Greenland to Ukraine and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
But now, mining executives are eager to see how and if this administration will be so determined to develop the vast internal resources of the United States.
Rio Tinto, BHP, Antofagasta, Freeport-McMoran and Barrick Gold are among the companies prepared to benefit from the White House Pro Mining Policies.
Trump and Interior Secretary, Doug Burgum, have indicated their support for domestic mining in general terms, although few concrete policies have still emerged.
Burgum said Wednesday that the government wants to accelerate permits for extractive industries and cut bureaucracy. “If we are going to” drill, baby, drill ‘, we also have’ mine, Baby Mine ‘, “he told the wax conference in Houston.
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In the next few days, Trump is expected to firm an executive order on critical minerals, which will probably include permits reform and support for metal refining facilities, according to people familiar with plans.
One of the largest projects that could be approved during Trump’s mandate is the Copper Rio Río Copper Mine near Superior, Arizona, which could meet a quarter of American copper needs. Another is the copper-nickel twin mine, owned by Antofagasta, in Minnesota.
An analysis of benchmark Minerals found that if all copper mines were developed in the US pipe., Including the resolution and twin metals, that would add almost 2 mn tons annually to the supply of copper, equivalent to a tenth of the global production.
Mark Bristow, executive director of Barrick Gold, who runs several large gold mines in Nevada, said he was optimistic about the mining of the United States under Trump.
“The last time he was in the White House, it took time to get to the mining side, but he definitely changed things,” Bristow said. “And so we hope you do something like that in the mining industry again.”
The United States has huge reserves of natural resources, but strict regulations and their legal system have made it difficult for mines to open today.
29 years are needed on average to allow a new mine in the United States, which makes it the second longest wait in the world behind Zambia, according to a report published in June for S&P Global, which also pointed out that only three mines have opened in the United States since 2002.
“The United States is not achieving its mineral potential,” wrote Frank Hoffman, associate director of S&P Global and the author of the report. “It has a huge and strategically important mineral endowment, whose development is too long and, ultimately, too uncertain, to attract the investment that their peers receive.”
According to the Biden Administration, the Inflation Reduction Law provided fiscal credits for certain mining projects and provided loans for critical mineral projects.
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Some changes that the government could make to accelerate national mining include the issuance of new rules for the National Environmental Policy Law, which governs how federal agencies make decisions, and support more mines in federal lands, where historically it has been difficult to build them.
The White House could also reverse the proclamations of the national monument that protect the land of development, opening them for extraction.
“The bold vision to advance with domestic mining is certainly there,” said Morgan Bazilian, a professor of public policy at the Colorado Mining School, and added that permits reform will be key.
“There have almost no new mines in the United States in recent decades, and almost all were arrested under the last administration,” he added.
One of the only mines that was recently allowed was the stibnite mine of perpetual resources in Idaho, which will produce gold and antimony, an essential metal for defense and will be used in alloys and semiconductors.
When China, which controls most of the world’s antimony processing, placed edges in exports last year, sent alarm bells in Washington.
“The government has realized that we have spared so much manufacturing. . . There is recognition that we need to reinvest in mining in the United States, ”said Jon Cherry, Executive Director of Perpetual.
The perpetual mine, which received federal approval in January under the Biden administration, has acquired funds from the Department of Defense and is requesting a loan from the US Export Bank.
Mines that produce critical minerals, which include copper, rare earths and battery metals, such as lithium and nickel, will probably enjoy the greatest support under the Trump administration, which considers access to these minerals a national security problem.
The national copper production, which is essential for wiring, public services networks and electric vehicles, will obtain great impulse if the mine resolution, joint property of Rio Red and BHP, obtains approval.
The fate of the project falls to the Supreme Court, which will soon issue a verdict on a case of religious freedom presented by the Apache tribes. They oppose the mine because it would destroy a sacred site in Oak Flat in the Nacional Forer Forest of Arizona.
If the verdict of the Supreme Court is favorable for the project, it would eliminate an important obstacle and the final permits meaning would probably continue.
“Under the Trump administration, there is a growing recognition of the need for national copper sources and other critical materials in the United States,” said Katie Jackson, the copper head of Rio Tinto. “We can play an important role in helping to deliver these materials.”
Another great change under the Trump administration could be in the area of the canoa of the border waters, an area of nature in Minnesota, near the Canadian border.
The Biden administration imposed a 20 -year prohibition on mining in the area, which is appreciated by its picturesque river paths. A bill in Congress seeks to reverse that.
If the prohibition is raised, which would benefit the Copper-Nickel of Metals of Antofagasta, which is close to the boundary waters, as well as the nearby projects of Newrange Copper-Nickel, which are joint property of Tck Resource and Glencore.
“The problem of global copper scarcity could be solved by the United States. It is a country rich in resources, ”said Chris Lafemino, a mining analyst at Jefferies. “The problem is to obtain permits to develop new mines.”
Last month, the Department of the Interior, Bajo Burgum, began a review of the national monuments, as well as a review of “all national mining and processing of non -combustible minerals to restore the critical mineral domain of the United States.”
However, not all executives are so optimistic, and some say they are tired of US policies that Flip-Flop every four years when the government changes.
“There was a lot of talk, on the last lap [the last administration]And not much action, “said Randy Smallwood, executive director of Wheaton Priceus Metals.” They simply seemed to find ways to drag things and drag them. “
Additional Malcolm Moore reports.
