The House Foreign Affairs East Asia and Pacific Subcommittee is holding a hearing today on "Breaking China's Chokehold on Critical Mineral Supply Chains." The hearing follows a ribbon-cutting event Friday with Energy Secretary Chris Wright and other officials for a Ramaco Resources coal and rare earths mine in Wyoming—the first new U.S. rare earth mine in more than 70 years. Testifying at the hearing will be none other than Former Senator Joe Manchin, now a member of Ramaco's board. And Lockheed Martin, the defense giant, says it's holding talks with several mining companies about partnerships to access its long-held seabed licenses in the Pacific Ocean. The licenses were granted by U.S. regulators in the 1980s, during an initial flirtation with deep-sea mining but they have remained unused. And as President Trump heads to Pittsburgh for an AI and energy event, PJM Interconnection, which serves Pennsylvania and the surrounding region, has issued maximum generation and load management alerts across its territory. This is the second time this summer PJM has sent these alerts as high heat and surging power demand threaten supply. That's your mining minute for this morning, highlighting some of the mining-related matters that are on our minds here in Washington and beyond. Follow us on the National Mining Association's channels, as well as on Minerals Make Life and Count on Coal, for more on the latest news and policies impacting mining.
