Search Results

“Out with the old, in with the new” goes the old adage, and — particularly against the backdrop of a rabidly partisan climate in Washington, DC, the Biden Administration, which begins tomorrow, will likely be pressured to swiftly undo many policy changes the outgoing Trump Administration made per executive action.

Yet as this Constitutionally-mandated date arrives, ARPN suggests our friends and followers observe a different date, established by a social study utterly lacking in legal authority: Today – January 19 – marks the day that, on average, people abandon their New Year’s resolutions. We hereby challenge friends of ARPN to buck the trend, and resolve anew to make 2021 a strong year for resource development.

And there is reason to hope. Begin with the observation that — all partisan politics aside — several of the executive steps taken during the Trump presidency were in fact a continuation of initial actions taken during the Obama Administration, under which the Department of Energy began formulating a Critical Minerals Strategy and the Critical Materials Institute, a leading authority on critical minerals R&D, was founded.

One of the most consequential steps taken by the outgoing Trump administration was probably E.O. 13953, which declared a critical minerals national emergency and instructs the Department of the Interior to explore the application of the Defense Production Act. That EO is one of a number of relevant executive actions taken during the past few years (for examples see our Year in Review posts here).

Rather than broadly rescinding executive actions (minus those that were codified into law in late December/early January) or initiating new rule-making processes to undo them, we will be watching to see whether the Biden Administration undertakes a merit-based review of individual actions, to ensure that our nation continues down the path towards a more comprehensive mineral resource policy begun under the Obama Administration and kicked into high gear over the past few years.

And on this day when so many statistically slide back to old ways best left in the past, ARPN hereby resolves to renew our resolution to add our efforts to those that will make 2021 a banner year for domestic resource development.

If you’ve read our Year in Review post last month, you know 2020 was a busy year on the mineral resource policy front — so much so that even the last few days of December had several important developments.

Most notably, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021.

While most of the media’s attention was focused on the COVID relief provisions of the package, the behemoth 5,000+ page bill also included the Energy Act of 2020, which is not only the first comprehensive modernization of the nation’s energy policies in over a decade, but also contains a number of critical minerals provisions.

Among them — included under Title VII are:

Section 7001. Rare earth elements, which, according to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources summary, “requires the Secretary of Energy to carry out an R&D program to develop advanced separation technologies for the extraction and recovery of rare earth elements (REEs) and other critical materials from coal and coal byproducts, as well as mitigate any potential environmental and public health impacts of such activities. It also directs the Secretary of Energy to provide a report to Congress that evaluates the development of advanced separation technologies for the extraction and recovery of REEs and other critical materials from coal and coal byproducts.”

Section 7002. Mineral security, “promotes a secure and robust critical minerals supply chain by (1) requiring the executive branch to designate a list of critical minerals and update that list every three years; (2) requiring USGS to conduct domestic resource assessments of critical minerals and to make that information publicly available; (3) requiring the Department of the Interior and Department of Agriculture to publish critical mineral Federal Register notices within 45 days of being finalized; (4) directing the Secretary of Energy to conduct an RDD&CA program on the development of alternatives to, recycling of, and efficient production and use of critical materials (which may be carried out by DOE’s Critical Materials Energy Innovation Hub); (5) directing the Secretary of Energy and the Director of the Energy Information Administration to develop analytical and forecasting tools to evaluate critical minerals markets; (6) requiring the Secretary of Labor and the Director of the National Science Foundation to develop curriculum and a program for institutions of higher education to build a strong critical minerals workforce; and (7) reauthorizing the National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program through fiscal year 2029.”

Section 7003. Monitoring mineral investments under Belt and Road Initiative of People’s Republic of China, “requires the Director of National Intelligence to study and submit to Congress a report of investments in minerals by the People’s Republic of China. It further directs the Director to make recommendations to the Secretary of the Interior when designating minerals as critical per the designation criteria in Section 7002.”

The President signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, and with that the Energy Act of 2020, into law on December 30, 2020.

More critical mineral-related developments took place over the following days in the context of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2021, the conference report of which also included several critical minerals provisions. President Donald Trump vetoed the defense bill on December 23, 2021, but, in a first for the Trump presidency, Congress overrode his veto on December 28, 2020 in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate on January 1, 2021, respectively.

Among other provisions, the now-enacted NDAA mandates that – within five years – most Pentagon systems use rare earth that have been mined and refined outside of China. It further requires the federal government to give preference to U.S. suppliers of these materials in government acquisitions.

With these provisions enshrined into federal law, the Defense Department’s recent efforts to enter into contracts and agreements with several rare earth element producers will likely continue in 2021 and beyond.

Overall, it remains to be seen what the coming months will bring once the incoming Biden Administration assumes office later this month. We can reasonably expect some changes in emphasis and priorities when it comes to mineral resource policy, such as a greater emphasis on leveraging partnerships with allied nations, as well as recycling and possibly reclamation of new minerals from old mine tailings.

The concept of a circular economy — a system which thrives on sustainability and focuses mainly on refining design production and recycling to ensure that little to no waste results — will likely gain traction.

What will not change, as we have previously stated, is the urgency with which we need to treat the United States’ critical minerals challenge. With that goal in mind, it is encouraging to see that — even in the waning days of an arguably crazy year — stakeholders enacted several meaningful changes towards an “all-of-the-above” critical minerals policy.

ARPN’s Year in Review — a Cursory Review of the United States’ Critical Mineral Resource Challenge in 2020 It feels like just a few weeks ago many of us quipped that April 2020 seemed like the longest month in history, yet here we are: It’s mid-December, and we have almost made it through 2020. It’s [...]

From a U.S. perspective, arguably the biggest news in the critical minerals sector in recent weeks has been U.S. President Trump’s latest executive order on critical minerals, which, according to analysts, is the first one in this field “that has the potential to bring some meaningful changes.” Aside from calling on the Department of the [...]

As diplomatic and trade relations between the United States and China continue to deteriorate against the backdrop of the current coronavirus pandemic, the buildout of 5G technology is quickly becoming the new frontier in the tech war between the two global players.  5G is considered vital not only for 21st century telecommunications but also self-driving [...]

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic tearing through our communities is more than a health crisis — it has “exposed the fragility and flaws of globalized supply chains and extensive offshore production, especially drugs and medical gear,” writes Austin Bay in a new column for Townhall with a special emphasis on China.   Hopes that China would liberalize in the [...]

***posted by Daniel McGroarty*** As demand for renewable energy continues to grow despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. Department of State hopes to expand the Energy Resource Governance Initiative (ERGI) – an initiative launched last year by the United States and joined by ten other countries, including Canada, Australia and Brazil – aimed at improving supply chain security [...]

Over the past few weeks, the spread of the coronavirus has begun to expose the supply chain challenges associated with an over-reliance on foreign raw materials, the effects of which will be felt across broad segments of manufacturing. In a new piece for PennLive Patriot-News, Michael Stumo, CEO of the Coalition for a Prosperous America [...]

While many first think of the human dimension and health implications of the recent outbreak and ongoing spread of the coronavirus — and quite rightly, given the potentially  fatal consequences — the crisis with pandemic potential has ramifications that reach far beyond the health sector. In a new piece for Tech Metal News, Shane Lasley takes a [...]

As followers of ARPN know, the United States has finally embarked on a quest to look for ways to reduce its over-reliance on foreign mineral resources, and in doing so, reduce the leverage it has yielded to nations like China over our national security. In a new series for the Capital Research Center, geologist and [...]