The US Bureau of Land Management has been highlighting more mine-permitting activity in recent weeks, with a flurry of announcements starting in late February.
BLM, a part of the US Department of the Interior, manages federally owned lands where companies can explore and develop the nation's resources, including coal, metals, oil and gas. Under former President Joe Biden, vast swaths of the nation's coal reserves in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming were closed for development.
Since President Donald Trump took office in January, there has been an increase in the pace of mining-related press releases from the BLM. However, the federal government did not answer a question about whether these announcements had been accelerated due to the administration's policies.
"In just over one month in office, President Trump fully unleashed American energy and embraced our natural resources, including the vast quantities of clean, reliable coal in communities across the country," Anna Kelly, a spokesperson for the White House, told Platts, a part of S&P Global Commodity Insights. "As the President has said, America has more coal than anyone, and nothing can destroy it. He will continue to fight to unlock all of our country's immense energy potential."
The statement did not address other forms of mining or clarify whether the projects had been accelerated beyond typical mining deadlines. Also, none of the recently announced BLM projects were related to coal. BLM did not respond to questions, nor did any of the companies involved.
Between Feb. 14 and March 6, BLM issued seven press releases detailing updates on gold, trona, copper and lithium mining or exploration projects. Additionally, BLM issued a press release about a land exchange that transferred 5,000 acres of sub-surface mineral, oil and gas and coal-only estate to the state of Utah with the intent of "advancing American energy production."
In contrast, in 2024, the Biden administration issued seven press releases about specific mining projects, but that included just three unique mines. While the administration announced a generalized plan to improve mine permitting and early engagement, including specific plans for engaging with Tribes, it also initiated plans to block mining in the Pecos River Watershed and sought to pause federal coal leases in the Powder River Basin, the nation's most productive coal region.
The BLM's flurry of announcements included developments around the proposed Spring Valley gold mine in Nevada, a project of Solidus Resources LLC; Rattler Resources Ltd.'s proposed gold mine in Arizona; Pacific Soda LLC's proposed Dry Creek Trona Mine in Wyoming; new copper exploration by Redhawk Copper Inc. in Arizona; a new lithium exploration project from Surge Battery Metals Inc. in Nevada and expanded gold mining operations at a Ruby Hill Mining Company LLC mine in Nevada; and expansion of Albemarle Corp.'s Silver Peak lithium mine in Nevada.
Albemarle did not directly respond to a question about whether the new administration had sped up the permitting process but did note that the company submitted an amended plan of operations to expand Silver Peak in June 2022 and that "elements of the expansion project have been completed, and others are pending completion of the permitting process, which is subject to agency timelines."
Trump told Congress in a March 5 speech that there would be "historic action" to expand domestic production of critical minerals and rare earth minerals.
"The US does mining and mineral processing more efficiently and with greater environmental care than any nation in the world," said Mark Smith, executive chairman and CEO of NioCorp Developments Ltd., in a March 5 statement. "Let's restore and unleash the American entrepreneurial spirit and Mine, Baby, Mine our way to a more prosperous and secure future."
NioCorp Developments has permits to construct the Elk Creek project to mine niobium, scandium, titanium, and rare earths in Nebraska. The company, along with domestic critical minerals advocacy organization GreenMet, has pushed the Trump administration to offer low-cost loans to the mining industry, waive certain environment reviews for defense critical minerals, set permitting timelines, and encourage the US Export-Import Bank to accelerate domestic mining projects investment.
The Trump administration also released several announcements on oil and gas leasing in Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.
