President Donald Trump on Thursday unleashed an ambitious and fast-paced plan for accelerating domestic mining and processing of minerals, copper, uranium and possibly coal — a strategy that faces potential legal risks, complicated coordination with states and myriad questions around funding.

It’s also unclear whether agencies with limited and frozen funding that have faced months of hollowing out under the Trump administration can meet the president’s zealous goal of fast-tracking permitting and financing projects to pump out the raw materials.

Environmental groups quickly warned the language could open up large swaths of public land to extraction and pollution, from Indigenous lands in Arizona to areas near Minnesota’s pristine Boundary Waters. But think tanks, companies and groups like the National Mining Association that have long warned the nation is too reliant on China for raw materials applauded the order.

“This is a lot to navigate, but this is also an executive order that [calls on] so many different agencies to clearly work together in a cohesive industrial strategy,” said Abigail Hunter, executive director of SAFE’s Center for Critical Minerals Strategy, a think tank and advocacy group focused on energy and national security issues.

Most immediately, Trump’s order starts a 10-day clock for agencies to submit lists of “priority projects” to the newly formed National Energy Dominance Council (NEDC) to be “immediately approved.” Within 15 days, lists of projects will be submitted to possibly move through a streamlined permitting process, dubbed FAST-41.

The order arrives amid ongoing changes in Trump’s lineup. According to multiple people in the critical minerals sector, the White House has tapped David Copley, a former executive with Texas-based Newmont, to oversee the administration’s mineral push. Copley is listed as an employee at the Interior Department, according to documents viewed by POLITICO’s E&E News, but the Interior Department declined to comment on personnel matters, and the White House did not immediately respond when asked about his role on the council.

At the same time, a key author of Trump’s executive order — Oliver McPherson-Smith — recently left the council, according to one industry insider (see related story).

Under the order, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has 10 days to provide White House officials with a list of mineral-rich federal lands to be prioritized for mining-related activity. The order also states that land-use plans under federal law support “ancillary uses,” which could include roads, buildings or storage of waste.

The order also lays the groundwork for possible mineral projects at military sites through leasing arrangements, and financing — loans, capital assistance, technical assistance and working capital — for domestic projects.

But Trump’s order is poised to face stiff pushback from a slew of conservation groups already fighting multiple mining projects across the country in court. Those cases touch on everything from endangered species to water quality and threats to land that some tribal members consider sacred.

“This executive order is yet another effort to sell out the American people and our public lands to industrial polluters,” said Blaine Miller-McFeeley, a senior legislative representative for Earthjustice.

“This EO is clearly about enriching mining companies and their shareholders, not enhancing national security,” added Rachael Hamby, policy director for the Center for Western Priorities. “Removing safeguards for mining on our public lands is a bad move that puts wildlife and communities in danger and will be met with fierce resistance across the West.”

First movers?

Trump’s order could usher in accelerated approval and billions of dollars in federal funding under the Defense Production Act for mineral projects that have long been percolating — from Alaska to Minnesota — a prospect that could deepen legal and funding fights.

Already moving through the pipeline is Perpetua Resources’ Stibnite project in Idaho’s Salmon River Mountains, which has secured billions of dollars in federal funding despite raising concerns among members of the nearby Nez Perce Tribe.

The project received a letter of interest from the U.S. Export-Import Bank last year for $1.8 billion, and Jon Cherry, Perpetua’s president and CEO, said the company is now evaluating new programs in Trump’s order for possible eligibility. Cherry added that “between its national security implications, eight years of permitting review, and a comprehensive environmental restoration plan, this project is ready to move forward.”

Trump’s executive order could lay the groundwork for other projects to move in Perpetua’s wake, given that it calls on agencies to consider leasing land and provide new financing like grants.

Trump also tapped into wartime powers under the DPA. In doing so, Trump empowered Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “advance mineral production,” and gave a host of agencies the power to offer loans, loan guarantees, grants and equity to advance projects — domestically and abroad — in the name of national security.

The president also authorized the head of the U.S. International Development Finance Corp., or DFC, to tap into its loan authority under the DPA for mineral production, in consultation with Hegseth and other agency heads.

Mining companies nationwide are already working with the federal government, including Caldera Holding, which is working with federal labs to build a demonstration plant at a former iron ore mine in Missouri with plans to recover rare earths and critical materials from mine tailings there.

The order is poised to fuel conversations within the administration and on Capitol Hill about how much loan authority exists at agencies like DFC and the Ex-Im Bank, and how — and if — money the Trump administration is freezing should be redirected toward minerals.

“They’re freeing up funding to move toward their initiative,” said one person in the mining sector granted anonymity to speak freely.

Public land, coal and anxiety

As soon as the beginning of next month, the Trump administration could reveal which mineral-rich federal lands will be prioritized under the order — a move that’s already riling conservation groups.

From opening up public lands to leaving the door open for coal to be made critical, environmental groups say the order could undermine the management of federal lands and allow for more extraction and pollution.

The order directs Burgum to “prioritize mineral production and mining-related purposes as the primary land uses in these areas,” said Hamby with the Center for Western Priorities. “This flies in the face of federal land management agencies’ enabling laws, which clearly state the intent of Congress that national public lands be managed for multiple uses and that it is up to the agencies, with input from the public, to balance those uses to ensure a sustained yield of natural resources.”

“The EO also directs that existing land use plans be amended or revised to align with the prioritization of mineral production demanded by this EO,” Hamby added.

A fact sheet that accompanied the order notably leaves the door open for the Trump administration to elevate the mining and production of coal.

“’Minerals’ covered by the order include critical minerals, uranium, copper, potash, gold, and any other element, compound, or material as determined by the Chair of the NEDC, such as coal,” the order states.

Hamby said such language could also allow Trump to avoid the nation’s existing processes at the Energy Department and the U.S. Geological Survey for determining which minerals and materials are critical, all while cutting out public input.

point of contention, Hamby noted, is language in the order that directs Burgum, as chair of the NEDC, to help craft a proposal for Congress to “clarify the treatment of waste rock, tailings, and mine waste disposal under the Mining Act of 1872.”

Charlie Olsen, the National Parks Conservation Association’s energy and public lands policy manager, said the order puts national parks and surrounding landscapes “directly in the crosshairs of harmful and unchecked mining development.”

NPCA in a press release noted that more than 120,000 active mining claims exist within 30 miles of national parks and monuments.

“Outdated mining laws allow companies to stake claims with minimal oversight, leaving taxpayers responsible for costly cleanup of abandoned mines and scarred landscapes,” said Olsen. “Accelerating mining approvals and listing gold and copper as critical minerals, as outlined in this new order, further jeopardizes the thorough environmental review needed to prevent irreversible damage.”

By: DocMemory
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