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The mining industry has close ties to the Trump administration—and is already seeing the benefits. The administration has reportedly tapped David Copley, a former executive at the Colorado-based mining company Newmont, to lead the new National Energy Dominance Council's (NEDC) efforts to increase domestic mining and mineral processing. The NEDC was created by President Donald Trump through an executive order in February with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum appointed as chair, and has been given a leading role alongside the Interior department in implementing Trump's recent executive order on minerals.
The minerals executive order has already helped Northern Dynasty Minerals, the sole owner of the controversial Pebble Mine project in Alaska's Bristol Bay. Northern Dynasty was a client of Ballard Partners, where Trump's current chief of staff, Susie Wiles worked as a lobbyist, including on behalf of Northern Dynasty. And current Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick previously served as chair of Cantor Fitzgerald, which helped raise more than $123 million to help Northern Dynasty move the Pebble Mine forward. Following the signing of the minerals executive order, Northern Dynasty's stock price increased significantly, according to reporting by Sludge.
The order is already affecting on-the-ground projects as well. Since the order was signed on March 20, the Bureau of Land Management is already attempting to fast-track at least one mine—the McDermitt lithium project in Oregon—by quickly releasing an environmental assessment and initially giving the public a mere five days (two of which were a weekend) to review and comment on it, though BLM later extended it to 30 days after intense public backlash.
Speaking of close ties...
...Katharine MacGregor, Trump's nominee for Deputy Interior Secretary who also served in that role during the first Trump administration, is scheduled to appear before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee for a confirmation hearing today.
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Gardiner is a company town and Yellowstone is the mill. If somebody starts screwing with the mill, we have no choice but to be concerned.”
