Mining company Ionic Minerals Technology announced that it uncovered what may be the nation’s largest reserve of critical minerals, possibly transforming the domestic supply chain for defense and energy technologies.
The discovery could boost the Trump administration in its efforts to source the key minerals domestically and reduce reliance on China.
Ionic MT said it discovered a trove of critical materials at its Utah Silicon Ridge site while digging for nanosilicon, which is used in lithium-ion batteries that power electric vehicles. The company discovered high-grade deposits of 16 different minerals, including lithium, alumina, germanium, rubidium, cesium, vanadium, niobium, and several rare earths.
“This confirmation is a watershed moment for American resource independence,” Ionic MT founder and CEO Andre Zeitoun said in a statement. “For the first time, we have a domestic, shovel-ready source for a full spectrum of critical minerals, all extractable with a faster, cleaner process than traditional hard rock mining and extraction.”
“With our mining permits and processing facility in place, we can now move rapidly to production, reducing a key strategic vulnerability for the United States,” he said.
China currently dominates the global supply of critical minerals and rare earths, and has leveraged this dominance against the U.S. in trade talks.
As President Donald Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on Chinese goods, China has responded by imposing export controls on several rare earth metals. The export controls have affected industries such as the magnet and automotive sectors across the U.S. and globally.
In 2024, China placed a ban on gallium, germanium, and antimony. Then, in April, it placed export controls on rare earths, including lutetium, scandium, and yttrium, among others. In October, it put export restrictions on an additional five rare earths.
Later that month, Trump reached a truce with China to suspend the restrictions on the most recent export controls for one year. However, the agreement did not address the restrictions placed in April.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, between 2020 and 2023, the U.S. imported nearly 56% of its rare earth compounds and metals from China.
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The Trump administration explored ways to reduce U.S. reliance on China by implementing policies that would make it easier for companies to mine nationwide. It has also taken direct ownership stakes in several companies that mine for critical minerals, an unusual intervention in the private sector.
Ionic MT told the Wall Street Journal that it has had several meetings with the Trump administration, which it said has expressed “clear enthusiasm about our work and its potential national impact.”
