New Report Finds, Compared with Global Competitors, U.S. Has Abysmal Record in Process to Bring Mines Online

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A new report, Mine Development Times: The U.S. in Perspective, released today by S&P Global found that it takes an average of 29 years to bring a mine online in the United States - longer than any other country except Zambia, which takes 34 years. [1]

"To say that the U.S. is underperforming when it comes to domestic mineral production is putting it kindly," said Rich Nolan, president and CEO of the National Mining Association (NMA). "We have the proven reserves to be a global leader in producing the full range of minerals needed for our manufacturing and energy future, but our permitting and legal systems have imposed an unacceptable three decades - on average - of impediments to that potential. Given the urgent global mineral demand, and China's determination to only tighten its stranglehold on mineral supply chains, we must do better."

The report also finds:

• The U.S. mineral resource base is vast: The U.S. copper endowment is comparable to those of Canada and Australia combined. The United States' endowment of lithium is more than twice that of Australia, which currently accounts for half of the world's lithium production.
• The development of a mine in the U.S. is not only long and costly, it's unusually uncertain. While mine development times in Canada and Australia average 27 and 20 years, those mines more reliably enter production.
• Compared with those peers - which have similarly high environmental, labor and safety standards - both federal and state/provincial governments have some jurisdiction over mining permits in all three countries. Canada and Australia, however, have dedicated ministerial offices for mining, while the U.S. has none.
• Since 2002, the period covered by the report, only three mines have come online in the U.S. - and none are on federal lands, where most of the U.S. endowment is located.
• Even if a U.S. mine receives all required permits, it is subject to higher litigation risk[2]. Uncertainty and litigation risk are factors that may explain why exploration budgets committed by investors to Canada and Australia over the last 15 years have been 81% and 57% higher than the US.

Given the urgent need for the U.S. to secure its supply chains, reduce its reliance on China, and respond to the pressing domestic materials needs of the energy and transportation sectors, the NMA recommends that Congress and the administration work together to:

• Enact permitting reform that includes limits on litigation timelines.
• Create a centralized U.S. government office/official to coordinate and promote the development of the nation's mineral supply chains and advance mining research and development.
• Pass the Mining Clarity Act of 2024 to reaffirm decades of mining law and precedent and provide certainty for America's mineral producers.
• Provide responsible interpretation of section 45X of the Inflation Reduction Act to fully incentivize development of the nation's mineral resources.
• Improve access to the nation's vast mineral resources and reject ill-advised withdrawals of important mineral deposits on selected federal lands.
• Implement reforms to the National Environmental Policy Act enacted through the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023.
• Revisit and revise the nation's "critical minerals" list to provide consistency across agencies and better recognize the minerals essential to the nation's manufacturing base and economic, energy and national security.
• Invest in and support the development of the next generation of miners beginning with passage of the Mining Schools Act of 2023.

About the Study

Mine Development Times: The U.S. in Perspective is available here. S&P Global's study offers an independent and objective assessment of the time taken first discovery to first production for mines. Its focus is the U.S. which is compared with peers Canada and Australia. It aims to provide a full perspective of development times by considering both mines that have come online and those still in development.

[1] Time taken from discovery to production, per S&P Capital IQ Pro data for 268 mines globally whose exploration and/ or development began in 2002 or later. For all projects that have begun but are not yet producing, the report assumes they will do so by 2030.

[2] S&P Global's metals and mining database contains 32 mentions of litigation against US properties, more than those for Australia (19) and Canada (2) combined. These mentions, however, are not from a structured field and do not include all legal actions. They are not conclusive by themselves.

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