NMA-TV Mining Minute 7-16-2025
NMA Mining Minute
President Trump was in Pennsylvania yesterday for an AI and energy summit where some of the world’s biggest companies pledged tens of billions of dollars to accelerate the development of artificial intelligence infrastructure in Pennsylvania. One phrase that kept coming up time and time again was “clean, beautiful coal,” as the President touted its indispensable role in the baseload energy mix that will power the massive data center energy demand that is now upon us—and growing. The good news keeps coming for rare earths producer MP Materials, which yesterday announced a deal with...
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NMA Mining Minute 7-14-2025
NMA Mining Minute
The House Foreign Affairs East Asia and Pacific Subcommittee is holding a hearing today on "Breaking China's Chokehold on Critical Mineral Supply Chains." The hearing follows a ribbon-cutting event Friday with Energy Secretary Chris Wright and other officials for a Ramaco Resources coal and rare earths mine in Wyoming—the first new U.S. rare earth mine in more than 70 years. Testifying at the hearing will be none other than Former Senator Joe Manchin, now a member of Ramaco’s board. And Lockheed Martin, the defense giant, says it’s holding talks with several mining companies about...
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NMA Mining Minute 7-14-2025
NMA Mining Minute
Was last week’s deal between the Defense Department and rare earths company MP Materials a new blueprint for government support for other critical minerals? That’s the question Politico asks this morning. The landmark deal includes a combination of government equity and debt financing, a price floor and long-term offtake agreements—a collection of industrial policy tools that taken together are expected to have a significant impact. At least one industry expert believes this announcement and the use of these tools could be “start to a massive campaign of similar announcements.”...
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NMA-TV Mining Minute 7-11-2025
NMA Mining Minute
The Chinese government yesterday announced the discovery of 38 new sites of mineral reserves this year, adding to its already rich mineral reserve, which gives the country huge leverage in global trade and relations. The sites reportedly include large and medium-sized deposits of everything from uranium to cobalt. The announcement is a clear sign from China that, despite international efforts to shore up alternate mineral supply chains, China has no intention of giving up its global mineral dominance anytime soon. In meetings in Washington this week, President Trump hailed West...
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NMA Mining Minute 7-10-2025
NMA Mining Minute
The headlines say, “They came for the coal and stayed for the rare earths.” And in Wyoming, tomorrow, Ramaco Resources will break ground on the nation’s first rare earth mine in decades—and it’s also a coal mine. Back in 2011, the company bought an existing coal mine that was first opened in the late 1800s but had been out of service for decades. Then they discovered large deposits of rare earth and critical minerals needed for national defense gear and semiconductors. The event takes place tomorrow at 1 p.m. Rare earths miner MP Materials has a new massive shareholder: the...
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NMA Mining Minute 7-9-2025
NMA Mining Minute
President Trump said in yesterday’s cabinet meeting that he has decided to impose a 50% tariff on imports of copper, an announcement that pushed U.S. copper prices to an all-time high. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick later in the day said that the new tariffs will go into effect by Aug. 1 or sooner. The Department of the Interior yesterday gave the green light to a new coal mine in Tennessee under its new, expedited environmental review procedures designed to speed up reviews of energy projects in response to the national energy emergency declared by President Trump earlier this...
info_outlinePresident Trump was in Pennsylvania yesterday for an AI and energy summit where some of the world’s biggest companies pledged tens of billions of dollars to accelerate the development of artificial intelligence infrastructure in Pennsylvania. One phrase that kept coming up time and time again was “clean, beautiful coal,” as the President touted its indispensable role in the baseload energy mix that will power the massive data center energy demand that is now upon us—and growing. The good news keeps coming for rare earths producer MP Materials, which yesterday announced a deal with Apple for $500 million in rare-earth magnets. The magnets will come from MP’s Texas facility, using recycled materials processed at a site MP will build in California.
And during a House hearing yesterday, experts warned the House Foreign Affairs Committee that China’s dominance of minerals supply chains has become the "life or death matter" of this century. China's export restrictions on minerals required for everything from technology to defense have prompted concern in the U.S. and among international leaders. During the hearing, lawmakers pressed the experts on how the U.S. can best counter the increasingly dire situation that has not only become an increasing economic concern but a top national security issue. Former Senator Joe Manchin, who was testifying, put it simply: "[We’ve] got to produce.”
That’s your mining minute for this morning, highlighting some of the mining-related matters that are on our minds here in Washington and beyond. Follow us on the National Mining Association’s channels, as well as on Minerals Make Life and Count on Coal, for more on the latest news and policies impacting mining.