NMA Mining Minute

Following the Trump administrations announcement that it would stop offshore wind projects, top Senate Democrats are threatening to derail permitting talks that have been picking up momentum in recent weeks, with hope for action in January.  In a statement yesterday, Senate Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Energy and Natural Resources ranking member Marti...

Gold surged passed the $4,400-an-ounce mark today, with investors expecting more U.S. interest-rate cuts next year and heightened geopolitical risks. It's risen about 70 percent this year, on track for its biggest gains in nearly 50 years. E&E reports that, while state regulators consider electricity rate structures next year, rising electricity prices are expected to be a hot topic during next ye...

Santa came a little early this year. Yesterday, the House passed the Speed Act and Mining Regulatory Clarity Act. Both bills passed with strong bipartisan support. NMA president and CEO Rich Nolan called yesterday's vote a huge step forward on permitting reform and urged the Senate to take up these bills when Congress returns from after the holidays. And the shaky state of the nation's power suppl...

In a record-breaking year for mining, global coal demand is set to reach a new record high in 2025, according to the International Energy Agency. Here in the US, coal use is set to jump 8% in 2025, reversing declines over the last 15-years. Precious metals futures are also surging, with both gold and silver setting new highs. Analysts expect these trends to continue in 2026. And over on the Hill,...

While some are winding down for the holidays, the Department of Energy is working overtime to keep the lights on and electricity prices affordable. DOE yesterday ordered a Washington state coal plant to delay retirement and continue operating through the winter marking the second time it has used emergency authority to keep coal generation online. Secretary Chris Wright cited reliability and affor...

It's being called the rare issue where Democrats, Republicans, the White House and industry are all aligned, and that's securing our minerals supply chains. This morning there's reporting that members of Congress from both Chambers and parties are working with the White House on a critical minerals legislative package to reduce Chinese supply chain dominance. The package will be rolled out in Janu...

Korea Zinc, the world's largest zinc smelter, is building a $7.4 billion plant in Tennessee under a JV aimed at strengthening the supply chain between Seoul and Washington. Construction of the smelter will begin in 2027, with completion scheduled for the end of 2029. The U.S. government and U.S. investors are throwing in $1.94 billion for the project, more than 26% of the total cost. On the hill,...

NMA TV Mining Minute 12-12-25 The House yesterday passed the "PERMIT Act," which would reforming the Clean Water Act by establishing new procedures to reduce lawsuits and limit states' authority to block certain projects. In good news for the grid, also passing the House yesterday was the "State Planning for Reliability and Affordability Act," which would require state utility regulators to consid...

NMA TV Mining Minute 12-11-25 This week we've been focusing on permitting-related legislation being considered in Congress in the final run up to the holidays. In addition to the SPEED Act and the PERMIT Act that we've already discussed, lawmakers are also considering the State Planning for Reliability and Affordability Act and the Electric Supply Chain Act, two bills that address grid reliability...

President Trump was in Pennsylvania yesterday talking, in part about his economic policies and top of his mind was mining and coal. In his speech he said, in part, "One of the most important ways we're defeating inflation is by unleashing American energy, including oil gas and clean beautiful coal right here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania." Yesterday we told you that, for the next two weeks i...

President Trump was in Pennsylvania yesterday talking, in part about his economic policies and top of his mind was mining and coal. In his speech he said, in part, "One of the most important ways we're defeating inflation is by unleashing American energy, including oil gas and clean beautiful coal right here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania." Yesterday we told you that, for the next two weeks i...

Across the country, utilities are shelving plans to retire coal plants. Why? Pulling reliable, around-the-clock generation while power demand surges simply doesn't work. This summer, three more utilities hit the brakes. Arizona Public Service says the 1,500-megawatt Four Corners coal plant, once set to close in 2031, will now run until 2038. APS says coal remains critical to keeping electricity co...

Here's a little German for you: "dunkelflaute" – it translates to dark doldrums, or literally those windless and sunless moments when renewable energy disappears. No wind for turbines, no light for solar panels. As the Germans will tell you, these moments are more common than you might think. And unfortunately, they often happen during periods of peak power demand. Take the heatwave that blanketed...

Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said yesterday that the U.S. needs to accelerate mapping for minerals to better compete with China. "It's not just 'drill baby drill,' it's 'map baby map,'" Burgum said. He added that building everything our country needs is quote "entirely dependent on critical minerals that exist in our country, but they're not mined or processed in our country, because we s...

U.S. natural gas prices are closing out the year on an upward trend, which may lead to more coal use this winter.  The Energy Information Administration expects in its latest Short-Term Energy Outlook that the 2025 annual average price of natural gas paid by electric power plants to jump by 37% and the price paid by industrial sector customers to increase by 21% compared with the 2024 averages.  ...

The US is seeking agreements with eight allied nations to work together to secure supply chains for the computer chips and critical minerals needed for AI. The US will host a meeting at the White House on Dec. 12 with representatives from Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the UK, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Australia Europe has a cautionary tale for countries looking to chan...

Electricity demand from U.S. data centers is projected to be 36 percent higher over the next decade than forecast just a few months ago, according to BloombergNEF.  AI power demand is slated to surge by 106 gigawatts by 2035, up from 78 GW estimated in April. And speaking of things expected to surge next year, nearly 70% of institutional investors expect gold prices to continue to climb next year,...

Yesterday the EPA proposed to extend a deadline from October 2028 to October 2031, for certain coal combustion residuals surface impoundments—essentially preventing some coal plants from forced closure. EPA said the extension will ensure electric grid reliability by allowing a small subset of baseload coal-fired power producers to continue operating for an additional three years beyond the origina...

As we begin to close out 2025, its worth taking a look at some of the headlines from the last 24 hours and considering what they say about this last year for mining. The US Export-Import Bank said it is set to invest $100 billion to secure supply chains for critical minerals, nuclear energy, and natural gas. The bank's chair described a major shift in global resource strategy with investments in g...

How much electricity does the growing artificial intelligence market need? Well it's enough that Meta is seeking federal approval to enter the electricity trading business. By becoming a trader in wholesale power markets, Meta hopes to make long-term commitments to purchase electricity from emerging plants and explore resale options. Meta's head of global energy told Bloomberg that, without active...

Yesterday, the Senate approved a Congressional Review Act resolution to reverse a Biden-era land management plan in Wyoming, which effectively banned coal leasing. The House approved the legislation on Tuesday. The action restores the government's ability to allow responsible economic activity on federal lands that are designated for multiple use. And a positive milestone from the Federal Permitti...

Yesterday, the Department of the Interior announced four proposed rules to revise Endangered Species Act regulations, reviving a suite of changes from the first Trump administration. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said, "These revisions end years of legal confusion and regulatory overreach, delivering certainty… while ensuring conservation efforts remain grounded in sound science and common...

Minerals will be front and center today on Capitol Hill with the House Select Committee on China holding a hearing on China's Predatory Pricing, exploring How Beijing Manipulates Global Mineral Prices to Maintain its minerals dominance.   And China and minerals are also the focus in Brussels where U.S.-E.U. cooperation on the minerals challenge is giving way to competition. The Financial Times rep...

Yesterday, the Trump EPA and the Army Corps proposed a narrower definition of the "waters of the U.S.". Trump administration officials said the proposal conforms with Sackett v. EPA, the 2023 Supreme Court ruling that asserted that only wetlands that directly touch a relatively permanent waterway – like a river or lake – fall under the scope of the Clean Water Act. The EPA believes the new definit...

Both the House and Senate are back to work for a full week this week and there's one thing all seem to agree on: the need to make progress on permitting reform. During the shutdown, lawmakers continued to discuss legislation that could address longstanding permitting issues. First up? This week there will be a markup of the "Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development – or Speed A...