Federal officials have selected a second Black Hills mining proposal for an expedited permitting process. The Bear Lodge Rare Earth Mining Project is on the Wyoming side of the Black Hills, and it’s expected to produce rare earth elements critical to alloy and magnet production. It will be included in FAST-41, a federal process meant to improve coordination among permitting agencies and hold them accountable to deadlines. The 25-person federal Permitting Council says it can shave 18 months off a project’s review time. The project has been stalled for several years by permitting, market saturation from China and challenges raising…
Author: TJ Markle
Two miners in West Virginia — one in Raleigh County and another in Marshall County — died in separate mining incidents between Thursday evening and Friday morning at mines facing dozens of federal citations for safety violations since the beginning of the year, according to information from the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. In Raleigh County, 53-year-old Aaron Warrix died after being struck by a rock at the Horse Creek Eagle Mine — which is listed as Panther Eagle Mine by MSHA — around 5 p.m. on Thursday, according to a news release from Alpha Metallurgical Resources. The Chapmanville…
Highland Copper (OTCQB: HDRSF) was acknowledged in a White House April 6, 2026 Fact Sheet as a contributor to expanding U.S. copper mining, smelting and fabrication. The Fact Sheet ties this buildout to strengthened Section 232 tariffs on steel, aluminum and copper. Highland said it has visibility with U.S. agencies and noted a $250 million Letter of Interest from the U.S. Export-Import Bank toward its Copperwood project as it advances toward a near-term construction decision. Highland Copper Company Inc. (TSXV: HI; OTCQB: HDRSF) (“Highland Copper” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has been acknowledged as a contributor…
The largest known deposit of the critical mineral fluorspar in the United States is underneath parts of far western Kentucky and southern Illinois. Some say its applications in artificial intelligence could reawaken the region’s mining industry. Over 100 years ago, several communities in far western Kentucky near the Ohio River were booming with mining activity. But unlike many mines in Kentucky, these sites weren’t home to coal. Instead, miners were digging for a mineral called fluorspar – also known as fluorite – a mineral that in its purest form is transparent and colorless but with impurities can appear in a…
As China runs away from the rest of the world in developing renewable energy, its coal mining industry is facing the prospect of major change Yang Haiming didn’t stop working when he retired from the coal mines at age 60. Instead, he jumped into a new industry. Yang is part of a generation of workers that powered China’s growth by digging coal from underground mines in Datong, a city known as China’s coal capital in the northern province of Shanxi. Now, as China prioritizes renewable energy over coal, Yang is ahead of the change his fellow workers are being forced…
Swiftly reemerging as a strategic mineral in the United States, antimony has begun to cast new light on Alaska’s past and potential role as a domestic source, particularly in the Fairbanks area, where stibnite emerged as part of the district’s early 20th century gold mining history. Falling somewhere between a metal and a non-metal, antimony is one of those elements most people rarely think about but use every day in products that depend on heat resistance, hardness, or specialized performance. Primarily recovered from a mineral called stibnite, antimony has been used for centuries in everything from medicines and pigments to…
Traditional trades essential for underground operations Mining companies across Northern Ontario are scrambling to fill thousands of skilled trades positions as they work to extract the critical minerals Canada desperately needs, according to Skills Ontario officials who spoke with Northern Ontario Business, as well as from new industry data. The mining sector needs a mix of old-school trades workers and tech specialists to keep modern extraction facilities running. Mining operations rely heavily on industrial electricians to maintain the complex electrical systems that power everything from massive extraction equipment to life-saving ventilation systems and processing facilities. According to the Mining Industry…
Following new environmental monitoring near a mining waste pile in Cottonwood, state agencies say contamination is not widespread and health risk for the community is minimal. But some residents still have concerns. For a century, a 50-foot mountain of mining waste, called slag, has sat in the center of town, left over from copper processing in the early 1900s. In the 1930’s, the heap was abandoned. Homes and business sprang up around it. Now, the slag looms over the Verde Valley Fairgrounds, a playground, a low-income housing apartment complex and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post. In 2015, a Tucson-based…
The global lithium mining market is valued at USD 1.40 billion in 2025 and is projected to grow to USD 1.49 billion in 2026, reaching USD 2.78 billion by 2036, expanding at a CAGR of 6.45% over the forecast period. This growth trajectory reflects a structural transformation in global energy and mobility systems, as lithium becomes a strategic raw material underpinning electric vehicles (EVs), energy storage systems, and next-generation electronics. The market is expected to generate strong incremental value growth, supported by expanding battery supply chains and government-backed electrification targets worldwide. Executive Summary: Market Dynamics Lithium mining is transitioning from…
Copper resumed losses after a brief bounce in the previous session, as global inflation and growth concerns triggered by the Middle East war weighed on the metals complex. Fighting between the US-Israeli alliance and Iran raged unabated, even as President Donald Trump claimed talks are under way to end the conflict. The US is planning to deploy about 3,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division to the region, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, as the White House weighs options to ease Iran’s choke-hold on the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has started charging transit fees on some commercial vessels passing…