Trump Adds Copper, 9 Others to Critical Minerals List

On Thursday, the Trump administration updated the list of critical minerals by adding copper, uranium and other minerals to that designation. That list indicates the minerals that the country regards as essential to national security and the economy.

The list of critical minerals guides the way in which permitting decisions and federal investments are made, in addition to influencing the overall strategy of the country regarding minerals. The expansion of this list is driven by the need to boost mining domestically and reduce the country’s dependence on imports, especially from the country’s rival China.

This updated list will work as a blueprint upon which Washington will direct its efforts aimed at securing adequate mineral supplies for its manufacturing, clean energy technology and defense needs. The list is referenced as priority ranking is given to some projects and not others when incentives are being considered or awarded. It also influences research priorities and national stockpiling. Investors also look at this list to glean what the government is according long-term strategic importance as investment decisions are made.

Currently, China dominates the processing of most critical minerals, and officials say boosting local production of these minerals could go a long way towards shielding the country from the possible supply shocks that could result in case foreign sources like China impose restrictions on exports.

The updated list now features uranium, boron, phosphate, lead, potash, silver, silicon, rhenium, met coal and copper.

The inclusion of copper comes at a time when the industry has for long been bedeviled by low profitability due to the poorer grade of copper deposits in the country. Adding this metal to the list of critical metals offers companies an opportunity to receive incentives from the federal government to shore up their bottom lines.

To put this in context, if the mineral had previously been included on the list of critical minerals, Freeport-McMoRan would have qualified for tax credits of at least half a billion dollars as stipulated in the Inflation Reduction Act that came into force back in 2022. The company runs seven copper mining operations in the country and operates one of the only two facilities in the country refining copper.

Freeport-McMoRan’s copper operations in the U.S. are the least profitable of all the regions in which it undertakes copper mining. Any incentives would therefore motivate the company to keep operating domestically and make additional investments in its activities there.

It remains to be seen how the revised critical minerals list will translate into tangible increases in the domestic production of various minerals. Exploration companies like Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSX.V: BAY) (OTCQB: ATBHF) that conduct some of their operations in the U.S. could also benefit from the designation of copper as a critical mineral.

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSX.V: BAY) (OTCQB: ATBHF) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/ATBHF

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