Chris Temple, Editor and Publisher of the National Investor, joins us to delve into the renewed interest in base metals, gold, uranium, and other critical minerals and the implications and potential benefits to the US as a mining jurisdiction on the back of the new executive order from Trump issued on March 20th titled “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production.”

This executive order will utilize the Defense Production Act (DPA) to focus on sourcing more domestically mined, processed, or refined critical minerals and strategic mineral as a matter of national security.  There appears to be a joint effort between the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation and the Department of Defense to provide investment support, loans, and possibly grant for mining projects.  There is also an expedited priority on reviewing the permitting on projects seeking development from usual base metals like nickel aluminum and copper, but also includes rare earths, gold, and uranium.

Chris outlines what impact these initiatives may have on permitting timelines and regulations around developing new mines, as well as how this could affect opening up more funds, loans, and grants to bring in the necessary capital for moving these projects forward.  However, while there are many positives, Chris points to how many hurtles are still in place at various levels of government and from legal actions from NGOs; in addition to how much more real work is needed to earnestly impact the extractive industries in the United States.  We also layer on how this executive order squares with other policy initiatives like tariffs on many metals and countries, and a reduction in government workers and cost cutting measures.

This leads into a nuanced discussion of the spotlight and investor interest back on many of the large advanced projects that have been stalled for decades like Northern Dynasty’s Pebble, Trilogy’s Rambler road access to the Upper Kobuk mineral project, Rio Tinto’s Resolution Mine in Arizona, and the Teck-Glencore JV at NorthMet in Minnesota.  Chris reminds listeners that with all those projects, if they do ever get approved, they would still be many years from producing more of these critical minerals. 

He also highlights examples of how the government and manufacturers have a poor track record of acting in on these kinds of initiatives in a timely manner. Chris points to the disconnect in the long permitting process where the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) finally approved Lithium Americas Thacker Pass Lithium Project, and then automotive giant General Motors announced it would invest $650M in the mine project, giving GM exclusive access to the first phase of production.  When everything did finally start lining up for project development, the lithium prices which had been high for years reversed course and cratered in price, with an oversupply of lithium flooding the market and expectations being lowered for EV adoption rates and future demand.

We wrap up with Chris sharing why his top 3 commodities areas for this year are still gold, uranium, and traditional energy with oil and gas companies.   He is encouraged by the record all-time high prices in gold during the first quarter of 2025, but feels the biggest opportunity for resource investors at present is in the deeply discounted uranium equities, which he stated “are a gift at these levels.”

Click here to follow along with Chris at the National Investor website.

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Click here to view a copy of the new executive order from the Trump administration issued on March 20th titled “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production.”