TELF AG discusses varied strategies in mining programs

Local development, global benefits 

Over the last few years, the increase in global demand for strategic minerals has pushed many nations to devote renewed attention to their mining strategies, always trying to find the right balance between optimal internal production and an international approach oriented towards exports. In many cases, strategic restructuring in the mining sector has resulted in the revitalization of old mining projects, reopening old mines, or developing precise national strategies dedicated specifically to minerals. 

The wide range of possible applications of these minerals has made them particularly valuable in the eyes of national governments: they are not only some of the key raw materials for fueling the global energy transition, favoring the achievement of decarbonization-related objectives, but also precious resources to be used for purposes related to the defense and national security of the States. 

Nowadays, the problem is represented above all by the uncertainties that characterize the supply chains of these raw materials, particularly from a geopolitical point of view. To overcome these problems, many nations have decided to modify their national strategies on minerals and favor a progressive strengthening of their internal and domestic capacity, thus freeing themselves from dependence on third countries (often belonging to opposing geopolitical blocks) and thus strengthening their production chain. 

The moves of the United States 

This is what the United States of America has been trying to do for some years. Together with China, the US represents one of the top global players in the strategic raw materials sector. The US has continued to invest in strategic planning and the development of sustainable supply chains despite knowing full well that some structural characteristics of the American mining system still need to be revised to achieve some level of autonomy in the sector. 

First, there might need to be more mines in the United States to meet the needs of the energy transition concretely because eventual shortages would force them to rely on foreign supplies for strategic minerals. Also, for this reason, many voices in the United States are massively promoting the need to dedicate first and foremost to the development of national mining capabilities, in terms of extraction and production, but also from the point of view of research and implementation of new sustainable technologies for processing some of the more complex materials. The government has sometimes spoken in favor of strengthening domestic production, particularly for extracting and processing rare earth elements. 

Expanding existing mines and creating new extraction sites, as stated in a report recently published by the Payne Institute, represent two steps to strengthen the extraction and production capacity of the United States. In theory, the United States would represent the ideal context in which to extract and process some of the strategic minerals due to the high level of controls and protective standards, but also due to public support.  

Nowadays, however, the development of this sector in the United States also seems to be held back by some bureaucratic obstacles, such as local, state, and federal permits that a mining project must pass before it can be said to be definitively approved. As stated in the Payne Institute report, this situation could risk compromising US competitiveness in the global raw materials sector and slowing down its internal development (even in states that can count on a better mining regime, such as Arizona).