The funding allows construction of Phase I of the project to proceed, expected to produce 40,000 metric tons of battery-quality lithium carbonate each year.
President invoked the Defense Production Act to strengthen the domestic supply chain, as senators and industry debated strategies and risks to cut reliance on Russia, China and other “unreliable foreign sources” for key metals needed in U.S. manufacturing, clean energy.
Interior Dept. says prior administration's environmental analysis of the Ambler mine access road across national park and federally managed land had “significant deficiencies.”
If a favorable record of decision is issued for the Pebble project, developers say it will take two to three more years to obtain necessary state permits.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will leave in place Obama-era protections against mining in Alaska’s Bristol Bay as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reviews Northern Dynasty Mineral’s permit for the Pebble Mine, the agency said on Jan. 26.
