The Washington Times has a story on President Trump's combined trade-peacemaking-and job creation push and specifically the thing that ties the three together: mining. The story points out that, from his peace deals in Africa to talks with China and other countries, quote "hardly a day goes by without Mr. Trump or someone on his team bringing up the natural resources that fuel manufacturing and the president's Made-in-the-USA dreams." end quote. So how is the President's push impacting specific mining companies in the U.S.? Well, the Wall Street Journal features a podcast with the CEO of the much-covered MP Materials, in which he discusses his goals for the mine, and the company's deals with the Pentagon, General Motors, and Apple. And while MP Materials is getting a great deal of attention, there's good news across the U.S. mining sector. Today NioCorp, which has seen its stock surge nearly 140% over the past six months, announced plans to ramp up pre-construction activities at its Elk Creek Critical Minerals Project following successful fundraising efforts over the past three months. The company indicated the new capital will support various initiatives as it advances the project, including additional land acquisition, engineering, site prep, and more. The Elk Creek Project is expected to produce niobium, scandium, and titanium. The company is also evaluating the potential to produce rare earth elements from the site. All good news, for U.S. mining and U.S. supply chains. 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.
