US rare earth market potential, page-168

Right place, right timeSwartz says Wyoming’s well-established infrastructure alongside its mining-friendly culture and political landscape bode well for a streamlined government permitting process, especially given rare earths’ strategic importance.“I’ve spent a lot of my career in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin and there is very considerable mining capability,” Swartz says.“You’ve got there a highly skilled workforce, plus capital and readily available equipment that can be redeployed from coal into rare earths mining. That’s particularly the case with the truck-and-shovel open pit mining we can do at the large-scale and shallow Halleck Creek deposit.”Currently the Mountain Pass Mine in California is the only US-based rare earths producer. But federal backing that’s part of the $370 billion Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) aims to boost investment in more mines and downstream processing.“While the IRA is a Biden Administration initiative, there’s a rare bipartisan backing in Washington for its goals and there are macro factors driving this,” Swartz says.“Republicans highlight the need for domestic job creation and national security, while Democrats rally behind magnet metals as they’re crucial for the electric vehicle and green energy technology.“But whoever wins the next US election the increasing electrification of so many things, from our cars to grid-scale renewable energy storage, will continue apace.“This means there’ll be ongoing accelerating demand for magnet metals and we believe we’re well-positioned to play a significant role in meeting that demand.” QUOTE from article in * We are entering a long term market that will be very beneficial to the US economy IMO