1, 2020).Īlmost immediately after Trump’s order was issued, the Defense Department began doling out millions to rare earths producers, and funds for rare earths have continued to flow from the agency under the Biden administration.īiden’s order appeared to be the first use of the DPA to obtain supplies explicitly for use in clean energy products, as the order under Trump applied expressly to defense applications.ĭemand for the minerals Biden identified as essential is expected to skyrocket as the world transitions away from fossil fuels. Former President Donald Trump used the Defense Production Act to fund more at-home production of rare earth elements, a category of minerals used for military-grade products, as well as clean energy technologies ( Energywire, Oct. used the law to invest in more onshore mining for rocks commonly used to make electric vehicles. It wouldn’t be the first time that the U.S. mining more attractive by giving firms subsidies that improve the economics of new mines and mine expansions ( E&E Daily, April 1). The order does not explicitly fund more hardrock mineral extraction but could make U.S. For example, a copper mine that could also produce nickel. Those activities include paying for feasibility studies to determine the economic viability of a proposed mine, or to finance “co-product and byproduct production,” a term used to describe the process of taking valuable materials from a mine that typically yields other minerals. Under the order, the Pentagon will be authorized to use Defense Production Act funds to inject capital into a host of mining business activities. largely relies on other nations for the mining and processing of these metals. This is because they are required to make the batteries used in clean energy technology, and the U.S. President Joe Biden’s recent move to invoke a Cold War-era law to boost mineral development will provide federal money to help jump-start new mines or expand existing ones.īiden on Thursday ordered the Defense Department to consider at least five metals - lithium, cobalt, graphite, nickel and manganese - as essential to national security under the Defense Production Act.
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