source:MarketWatch
The COVID-19 pandemic aid and spending package that was signed by outgoing U.S. President Donald Trump in the last weeks of 2020 is inclusive of more than $800 million to finance strategic minerals and rare earths research. This fund will help mining firms to neutralize China’s dominance in the natural resource industry sector.
The bill, which is worth $2.3 trillion and is 5,573 pages long, is a compilation of Trump’s executive orders on rare earths. Rare earth minerals are a category of minerals used to make magnets for electric cars, weapons and other green technologies. They are made up of minerals such as holmium, cerium, yttrium, terbium, scandium, dysprosium, samarium and many others.
The bill not only supports the improvement of programs that have to do with mining education and funds studies that focus on the processing and recycling of these rare elements but also requires that better geological studies be carried out on federal lands.
Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU) (TSX: EFR), the industry trade group called The National Mining Association, as well as other rare earth firms commended the mineral clauses cited in the bill.
Since the United States’ relations with China went south, reviving the production of domestic critical minerals has become a priority for the United States. The chair of the Senate’s energy committee, Senator Lisa Murkowski stated that the bill would allow the United States to grow the production and processing of these rare earth minerals. Murkowski had introduced minerals legislation in 2019, which had been included in this larger bill.
The law mandates that the U.S. Geological Survey predict the demand for metals, just like the Energy Department predicts the demand for oil. Miners say that the mineral demand forecast will assist them in planning their mining projects.
Medallion Resources LTS CEO Mark Saxon said that the bill was something that the country needed in the short term to renew its investment in renewable energy, particularly after the effect the coronavirus pandemic had on the economy. Currently, Medallion Resources Ltd is thinking of building a rare earth elements plant in Texas.
USA Rare Earth CEO Pini Althaus stated that the bill was a watershed policy and a two-party win for a United States mine-to-magnet supply chain. USA Rare Earth is working in collaboration with the Texas Mineral Resources Corp to develop a rare earths project.
Senator Mitt Romney of Utah also added a condition to the bill that would require a report to be submitted annually on China’s mining investments abroad from the director of national intelligence. All we can wait for are the results of the implementation of this bill.