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United States Mining

An American mine still has millions of tons of copper, if companies can get to it (Bloomberg/Mining Weekly – April 2, 2025)

https://www.miningweekly.com/

Carved into a mountain range in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert, where temperatures often reach 118F (48C), a vast mining complex more than a century old is on the front lines of a race to unlock millions of tons of copper.

After 154 years of digging at Morenci, all the easily recoverable copper has been mined. Left behind are towering piles of waste rock that hold nearly ten-million tons of the metal seen as critical to global electrification. It’s a cache that could prove key to President Donald Trump’s ambition to boost US production of critical minerals.

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China hits back at US tariffs with rare earth export controls – by Amy Lv, Lewis Jackson and Eric Onstad (Reuters – April 4, 2025)

https://www.reuters.com/

China placed export restrictions on key rare earth elements on Friday as part of its sweeping response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs, potentially squeezing supply to the U.S. and the West of minerals vital to everything from defense to electric cars.

China produces around 90% of the world’s refined rare earths, a group of 17 elements used across the defense, electric vehicle, clean energy and electronics industries. The United States imports most of its rare earths, and most come from China.

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On Minnesota’s Iron Range, Trump’s Tariffs Could Be Boom or Bust – by Charles Homans (New York Times – March 30, 2025)

https://www.nytimes.com/

A region near the Canadian border, whose mines provide most of the new ore used in producing domestic steel — and cars — has a lot at stake as trade wars intensify.

Once a week, most weeks, the ground in Chisholm, Minn., shudders underfoot. “When they blast over here, we can feel it in town over there,” Jed Holewa, a City Council member, explained as he looked out over the pit of the Hibbing Taconite mine, a machine-made canyon of flint-colored earth extending to the hills just southwest of town.

The low rumble of controlled explosions is reassuring in an area where few livelihoods are more than a couple of degrees removed from the mines. But this month the ground beneath the Iron Range has begun to shift in a very different way.

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Prospect of U.S. tariffs haunting Canadian copper sector – by Gabriel Friedman (Financial Post – March 2025)

https://financialpost.com/

Could send shockwaves through eastern part of sector and ultimately benefit China

United States President Donald Trump is laying the groundwork for tariffs on copper that could send shockwaves through the eastern part of Canada’s sector and ultimately benefit China. Canada in 2023 produced 2.2 per cent of global mined copper, less than half of what’s produced in the U.S., which accounted for five per cent.

Nonetheless, more than half the copper produced in Canada, mainly from the eastern part of the country, was shipped to the U.S., making up a large portion of the imports there.

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The US Uranium Dilemma: Domestic Production Challenges in an Era of Growing Nuclear Energy Demand – by Scot Anderson (Womble Bond Dickinson.com – March 20, 2025)

https://www.womblebonddickinson.com/

At present, Kazakhstan, Canada and Namibia account for nearly two-thirds of global uranium production. The United States produces less than one percent of the world’s uranium, and most of the uranium used in the United States is imported, primarily from Canada. As discussed elsewhere in this series, there is increasing commitment to nuclear energy as a fundamental component of domestic and global energy production.

Despite its emphasis on the development of fossil fuels, the Trump administration is likely to support more nuclear energy development, especially in the form of small modular reactors. The Executive Order on “Unleashing American Energy” includes a direction to the U.S. Geological Service to consider adding uranium to the list of critical minerals.

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Trump to expand critical mineral production using wartime powers – by Ari Natter and Joe Deaux (Bloomberg News – March 20, 2025)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

President Donald Trump is invoking emergency powers to boost the ability of the US to produce critical minerals — and potentially coal — as part of a broad effort to ramp up the development of domestic natural resources and make the country less reliant on foreign imports.

An executive order signed by the president Thursday taps the Defense Production Act as part of an effort to provide financing, loans and other investment support to domestically process critical minerals and rare earth elements, according to a White House official. The US International Development Finance Corporation, working with the Department of Defense, will provide financing for new mineral production projects.

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CMJ Feature: Can Idaho’s SPEED Act serve as a model for mine permitting reform? – by Joseph Quesnel (Canadian Mining Journal – March 17, 2025)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

Canadian mining companies and most domestic mining associations seem to agree on one idea: The permitting and approvals process in Canada needs to be vastly improved so that mining projects come into production much quicker than they do now.

Canada’s focus on securing critical minerals to overcome the Chinese monopoly has led many politicians and policy makers to give mining approvals a second look. Critical minerals are low hanging fruit. The International Energy Agency says demand for copper, nickel and zinc will explode over the next 15 years.

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Opinion: No, Trump isn’t out to get our resources. It’s worse than that – by Doug Saunders (Globe and Mail – March 14, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

One popular theory about Donald Trump’s seemingly random acts of economic punishment and threats of imperialistic conquest is that they’re part of a calculated resource grab. In this view, the U.S. President is engaged in a plan to seize rare and valuable sources of underground wealth for the enrichment of his country and its companies.

After all, most of the places Mr. Trump is targeting with threats of annexation or abandonment, including Ukraine, Greenland and Canada, are known for having a lot of potentially valuable resources.

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The Impact of Trump Tariffs on US-Canada Minerals and Metals Trade – by Tom Moerenhout (Center on Global Energy Policy Columbia – March 12, 2025)

https://www.energypolicy.columbia.edu/

In an escalation of trade tensions, Donald Trump threatened to double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum to 50 percent this week. This increase would have been in response to Ontario’s 25 percent surcharge on electricity exports to the United States. The threat rattled markets and several major indices continued to decline after the announcement, increasing fears of a recession[1]. [MRR1]

While Trump has at least temporarily backed down from the plan to raise the tariff to 50%, the 25% aluminum and steel import tariffs are still a big blow to North American supply chain interdependency and resilience. The following Q&A discusses the impact of Trump’s tariffs on US-Canada minerals trade and its ripple effects on supply chains, prices, and policy.

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US considers emergency powers to restart closed coal plants – by Ari Natter (Bloomberg News – March 10, 2025)

https://www.bloomberg.com/

The US is eyeing emergency authority to bring back coal-fired plants that have closed and stop others from shutting, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Monday.

“Under the national energy emergency, which President Trump has declared, we’ve got to keep every coal plant open,” Burgum told Bloomberg Television in an interview on the sidelines of the CERAWeek by S&P Global conference in Houston. “And if there had been units at a coal plant that have been shut down, we need to bring those back.”

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Dig, baby, dig: the global resources groups betting on a Trump mining revival – by Leslie Hook (Financial Times – March 12, 2025)

https://www.ft.com/

It takes 29 years to get approval for a new mine in the US but the industry is hoping that will change

Deep below the rolling hills near Superior in Arizona, a giant copper deposit lies more than a mile underground. It could be one of the first major mining projects to get the go-ahead as the Trump administration seeks to boost US domestic mineral output.

Since taking office in January, US President Donald Trump has focused on securing access to critical minerals around the world — from Greenland to Ukraine to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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U.S. states rely on B.C. to export thermal coal. Should the shipments be taxed? – by Yasmine Ghania (CBC News British Columbia – March 12, 2025)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/

Proposal also brings fear of retaliation after U.S. president lashed out at Ontario

As President Donald Trump’s tariff threats continue to hang over Canada, B.C. Premier David Eby wants the federal government to impose a tax on U.S. thermal coal shipped out of the province as a way to pressure the White House.

But after the president lashed out at Canada for Ontario’s levies, there are also fears that any more retaliation from provinces could backfire.

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Trump threatens to double tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum after Ontario electricity surcharge – by Antoine Trépanier and Stephanie Taylor (National Post – March 11, 2025)

https://nationalpost.com/

The latest outburst from the American president appears to have been triggered by tariffs imposed by Ontario Premier Doug Ford

OTTAWA — U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he will impose a 50 per cent tariff on Canadian steel and aluminum, up from his previous 25 per cent threat, starting on Wednesday. If Canada does not reverse its retaliation and “immediately” remove its dairy tariffs, he said he will “significantly” increase tariffs on cars coming from Canada to the United States on April 2.

“(That would) permanently shut down the automobile manufacturing business in Canada,” the president wrote on his Truth Social platform.

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Tariff battle set to escalate this week with U.S. levies on Canadian steel and aluminum – by Clare O’Hara (Globe and Mail – March 10, 2025)

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/

The U.S. says 25-per-cent tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum are still set to take effect on Wednesday, a move that would escalate the trade war between the two countries that President Donald Trump launched last week.

Mr. Trump initiated 25-per-cent tariffs on all Canadian goods last Tuesday, with energy and critical minerals facing a 10-per-cent tariff. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau quickly retaliated with 25-per-cent tariffs on $30-billion worth of imported goods from the U.S., rising to $155-billion if the U.S. levies aren’t lifted.

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Exclusive: Trump seeks minerals refining on Pentagon bases to boost US output, sources say – by Ernest Scheyder and Jarrett Renshaw (Reuters – March 10, 2025)

https://www.reuters.com/

March 10 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump aims to build metals refining facilities on Pentagon military bases as part of his plan to boost domestic production of critical minerals and offset China’s control of the sector, two senior administration officials told Reuters.

The move is one of several planned for an executive order Trump could sign as soon as Wednesday after he told the U.S. Congress last week he would “take historic action to dramatically expand production of critical minerals and rare earths here in the USA.”

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