The Biden administration spent four years kowtowing to the green blob by blocking major mining projects and making resource-rich federal lands off-limits to development, even as China tightened its grip on minerals vital to American industry and national security. Now, the Trump administration is shifting gears, focusing on critical mineral extraction and rebuilding our supply chain to make the U.S. far less dependent on China. —CCD ed.
The Department of Energy announced Tuesday that it awarded $162 million to nine selected projects across the country to recover critical minerals and materials from industrial feedstocks, part of the Trump administration’s effort to diversify the U.S. supply chain. [some emphasis, links added]
“The focus of this particular funding opportunity was to use government dollars to enable the private sector to extract those critical minerals in new and innovative ways,” Assistant Energy Secretary Audrey Robertson told the Washington Examiner.
The nine selected projects will seek to recover a range of critical minerals, including scandium, copper, antimony, and rare-earth elements, from existing infrastructure and industrial activity.
Critical minerals and rare earths are essential for developing technology-based applications in the energy and defense sectors, as well as everyday items such as smartphones, tablets, and microwaves.
The Trump administration has sought to reduce U.S. reliance on critical minerals from other countries like China due to national security concerns.
The selected companies include Anactisis, Still Bright, Nusano, SiTration, Thompson Creek Metals Company, Felix Gold, DISA Technologies, Alcoa Corporation, and Trigg Minerals.
Most of these companies are pursuing unconventional streams as sources of critical minerals.
“We are taking something that was previously discarded and had to be managed, and turning it into a process where we can extract valuable resources,” Robertson said. …snip…
The funding announcement is part of the DOE initiative to provide up to $275 million to companies capable of producing minerals from existing industrial and coal byproducts.
In July, the department announced $75 million for five projects that use coal and coal-based feedstocks to produce rare-earth elements and other critical materials.
Read full story at Washington Examiner
