America’s minerals future isn’t constrained by the resources beneath the ground. It’s constrained by the policies that prevent us from reaching them.
For years, policymakers and project developers have circled the same question: why does a country with vast mineral resources, world-class operators and deep capital markets still struggle to bring new mines online? The answer is increasingly clear. The United States has a permitting problem, and that problem has real consequences for supply chains, economic growth and national security. Resources are abundant. Demand signals are strong. Project economics work. What’s missing is the policy certainty that turns geology into production.
America’s Critical Minerals Resource Base is World Class
Contrary to narratives of mineral scarcity, the U.S. sits on abundant resources. In November 2025, the Department of the Interior and U.S. Geological Survey released an updated 2025 Critical Minerals List, adding copper, silver, lead, potash and uranium to reflect updated strategic priorities tied to electrification, defense and industrial competitiveness. These additions underscore both the depth and breadth of America’s resource endowment and its relevance to 21st-century supply chains.
Consider the scale. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, the United States has one of the world’s largest copper endowments when both identified and undiscovered resources are considered, placing it in the same tier as leading producers such as Canada and Australia, despite far lower production levels. The McDermitt Caldera, spanning Nevada and Oregon, may hold the world’s largest lithium deposit, with the Thacker Pass project now under construction. Utah recently announced a discovery of 16 critical minerals in a single deposit. Even legacy mine waste is emerging as a resource base for minerals we need but aren’t yet producing domestically.
These aren’t speculative assets. They’re long-life, large-scale deposits in stable jurisdictions. Yet many remain stuck at the starting line. The constraint isn’t geology. It’s policy.
How 29 Years Freezes Billions in Private Capital
The defining statistic for U.S. mining is stark: it takes an average of 29 years to bring a mine into production in the United States, the second longest in the world. That timeline alone makes project finance nearly impossible to structure. Mining is capital intensive. Investors need predictability to model returns, allocate capital and secure financing. When development horizons stretch into decades, investments shift to jurisdictions where timelines are measured in years, not generations.
In December 2025, the House of Representatives passed two bipartisan bills that directly address these constraints. The Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act would establish firm review deadlines, reduce duplicative analysis and limit the misuse of litigation as a delay tactic. The Mining Regulatory Clarity Act would restore regulatory certainty by reaffirming long-standing interpretations under the General Mining Law, removing uncertainty that has plagued the sector thanks to a flawed 2022 legal decision.
Reform Unlocks Production When Global Supply Chains Demand It
The cost of delay is compounding. Every stalled project is one fewer domestic source when supply chains are already under strain.
The Trump administration has moved quickly to clear regulatory obstacles and signal commitment to domestic minerals production. Robust industrial policy, like loans, grants and incentives, creates important momentum. But executive action alone won’t provide the long-term certainty the market requires. That requires legislative change.
The Senate Can Turn Promise Into Production
Passing the SPEED Act and Mining Regulatory Clarity Act in the Senate would streamline processes and restore confidence that projects can move forward on a predictable schedule. That changes the calculus for everyone evaluating where to deploy capital, where to invest in processing capacity and where to build supply chain infrastructure. Certainty is the foundation on which everything else is built.
The United States has the resources, the technical expertise and the capital markets to meet mineral demand domestically. Mining supports hundreds of thousands of jobs, generates billions in economic activity and provides the raw materials for technologies essential to modern life and national defense. What the industry needs now is a permitting system that allows those assets to be developed responsibly and on a reasonable timeline.
The House has done its part. The path forward is clear. The Senate can turn decades of mineral insecurity into domestic strength by passing reform that unlocks the full potential of America’s resource base. The opportunity is real. The moment to act is now.