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U.S. Rep. Mark Amodei (R, Nev.) has reintroduced his critical minerals legislation. Identical to last year’s bill (H.R. 4402), which passed the U.S. House of Representatives in the summer but stalled in the U.S. Senate, the National Strategic and Critical Minerals Production Act of 2013 (H.R. 761) would:

• Require the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture to more efficiently develop domestic sources of strategic and critical minerals and mineral materials; including rare earth elements;
• Define strategic and critical minerals as those necessary:
(a) for national defense and national security requirements;

(b) for the nation’s energy infrastructure including pipelines, refining capacity, electrical power generation and transmission, and renewable energy production;

(c) to support domestic manufacturing, agriculture, housing, telecommunications, healthcare and transportation infrastructure; and

(d) for the nation’s economic security and balance of trade;

• Facilitate timely permitting process for mineral exploration and mine development projects by clearly defining the responsibilities of a lead agency; and
• Ensure American mineral mining projects are not indefinitely delayed by frivolous lawsuits by setting reasonable time limits for litigation.

The bill ties into the overall context of mineral resource security and our growing minerals deficit, an issue we have covered extensively in the past – most recently in the Wall Street Journal. Invoking a study we have frequently cited in our own publications -the renowned Behre Dolbear “Where Not to Invest” report – Rep. Amodei points out, that “[i]n the 2012 ranking of countries for mining investment, the United States ranked last in permitting delays,” and goes on to explain that “[d]ecade-long permitting delays are standing in the way of high-paying jobs and revenue for local communities. This bill would streamline the permitting process to leverage our nation’s vast mineral resources, while paying due respect to economic and environmental concerns.”

Perhaps pointing to increased momentum and greater awareness of the seriousness of the underlying issue, with 28 co-sponsors having signed onto the legislation, this year’s bill already has more original co-sponsors than the final total number of sponsors of H.R. 4402 last year (27). It has been referred to the Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee on the Judiciary, where hearings are yet to be scheduled.

In his State of the Union Address, the President said the following:

At the foundation of our economic growth are the raw materials and energy produced from our minerals and fuels, lands and forests, and water resources. With respect to them, I believe that the nation must adhere to three fundamental policies: first, to develop, wisely use and conserve basic resources from generation to generation; second, to follow the historic pattern of developing these resources primarily by private citizens under fair provisions of law, including restraints for proper conservation; and third, to treat resource development as a partnership undertaking — a partnership in which the participation of private citizens and State and local governments is as necessary as Federal participation.

While these words would indicate an increased focus on access to critical metals and minerals, there’s a catch: this statement was made in 1955 by then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower, at a time when our country successfully transitioned to a peacetime economy with resource development at the core of this transition.

Today, we find ourselves at yet another critical juncture in time – as the global race for resources is in full swing, many U.S. policy makers have yet to realize the critical importance of mineral resource security. With some positive signs coming from the White House in this regard earlier this year, we were curious to see if the acknowledgement by the White House that “’critical materials’ run the risk of falling into short supply” would somehow find its way into President Obama’s State of the Union address this year.

It did not – in spite of multiple references of clean energy technologies, all of which are heavily reliant on critical minerals, the terms “critical minerals” or even “resources” in the context of mineral resources, was nowhere to be found.

Now, actions speak louder than words, and whether or not our mineral supply issues make the State of the Union address may be irrelevant – as long as the necessary changes in policy – i.e. the development of a coherent and comprehensive mineral strategy – are tackled, but for the sake of our strategic and economic future this has to happen sooner rather than later.

In a letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal, a reader from Arizona responds to American Resources Principal Daniel McGroarty’s op-ed “America’s Growing Minerals Deficit.” Citing Canada-based Augusta Resources’ Rosemont copper mine project in southern Arizona as an example, the reader alleges McGroarty “overlooks one very important consideration. There isn’t any assurance that [...]

We’ve seen a flurry of new studies focused on mineral resource security over the past few months, an encouraging signal that the issue is increasingly getting the attention it deserves. While we would be remiss not to include our Critical Metals Report and our Gateway Metals Report, two of the more recent studies were released [...]

In yet another comprehensive piece for Resource Investor Aheadoftheherd.com host and Northern Venture Group President Rick Mills discusses the issue of global resource insecurity. Pointing out a long list of “serious concerns in regards to global resource extraction that we need to consider,” Mills’ piece zeroes in on costs, resource nationalism, civil unrest directed towards [...]

With the stated goal of kicking off a“new conversation—a better conversation” about energy, U.S. Senator and Senate Energy and National Resources Committee Ranking Minority Member Lisa Murkowski (R-Alas.) has released a set of policy priorities in a report she developed with the committee’s staff. The blueprint’s key premise is that energy should be “abundant, affordable, [...]

If you think hard enough, you can find something wrong with anything. Case in point: If there’s anything remotely wrong with having an op-ed appear in the Wall Street Journal, it’s that, for some topics, sometimes 750 words just isn’t enough. So I’ll step back here to the Internet for a bit of prequel and [...]

The following op-ed by American Resources Principal Dan McGroarty was published in the Wall Street Journal on January 31, 2013. The original text can be found here. America’s Growing Minerals Deficit The U.S. is now tied for last, with Papua New Guinea, in the time it takes to get a permit for a new mine. By [...]

The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) is stepping up its research efforts in the field of critical and strategic materials. As announced on January 9, the Department is funding the establishment of an “Energy Innovation Hub” through Ames Laboratory in Ames, Iowa. Named the Critical Materials Institute (CMI), the new research center will “bring together [...]

In a comprehensive piece for Resource Investor, Aheadoftheherd.com host and Northern Venture Group President Rick Mills discusses the issue of the United States’ overreliance on foreign mineral imports in the context of steep increases in mineral commodity demand and prices. We at the American Resources Policy Network were thrilled to see him reference our study [...]