The order aims to coordinate government efforts to fast-track permitting and accelerate funding to enhance critical minerals value chains from the mine to finished products.

By Nikki Buffa, Devin M. O’Connor, and Austin J. Pierce

On March 20, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order titled “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production” (the Order). The Order, which we noted in our blog post Week 9 in Review, represents another step by the Trump administration to expand the supply of domestic critical minerals and reduce reliance on other nations for these supplies. It includes a wide range of initiatives to mobilize the development of US-centered value chains for critical minerals and their downstream products.

The Order prioritizes “Mineral Production” (as defined below) on federal lands with mineral deposits, utilizing the Defense Production Act (DPA) to expand domestic production capacity, and provides financial support for new projects through a dedicated critical minerals fund and encouragement of favorable financing terms and private-sector support.

Under the Order, agencies are tasked with expediting permitting and review of Mineral Production projects in coordination with the recently established National Energy Dominance Council (NEDC)¹ and collaborating with private industry to ensure a stable domestic supply chain for various minerals, including uranium, copper, and gold.

This blog post answers six questions to help stakeholders understand key aspects of the Order.

1. What is the scope of Mineral Production addressed by the Order?

The Order defines “mineral” to include any critical minerals designated by the Secretary of the Interior (acting through the US Geological Survey),² as well as uranium, copper, potash, gold, and “any other element, compound or material” as determined by the Chair of the NEDC.

The Order defines “mineral production” more broadly, including not only mining but also post-mining steps to transform minerals into products, such as “processing, refining, and smelting of minerals” as well as “the production of processed critical minerals and other derivative products” (collectively, “Mineral Production”).

These “derivative products” include both “semi-finished goods” (e.g., “semiconductor wafers, anodes, and cathodes”) and “final products” (e.g., “permanent magnets, motors, electric vehicles, batteries, smartphones, microprocessors, radar systems, wind turbines and their components, and advanced optical devices”). The inclusion of these post-mining steps signals an emphasis on developing the complete critical mineral value chain.

2. How does the Order intend to streamline permitting and other regulatory processes?

The Order establishes several near-term deadlines for agencies to begin streamlining permitting and submitting plans to carry out the Order.

• Within 10 days of the Order: Heads of each executive department or agency involved in the permitting of Mineral Production must provide the Chair of the NEDC a list of all Mineral Production projects for which any approval application has been submitted to such agency.
  • Within 10 days after those lists are submitted: Agency heads must identify priority projects that can be immediately approved and “take all necessary or appropriate actions within the agency’s authority to expedite and issue the relevant permits or approvals.”
• Within 15 days of the Order: The Chair of the NEDC must submit to the Executive Director of the Permitting Council any Mineral Production projects to be considered as “transparency projects” on the Permitting Dashboard established under the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (referred to as the FAST Act); following that step, the Executive Director has 15 days to publish any projects selected and establish schedules for expedited review. According to the Permitting Council, “transparency projects” are projects the Executive Director finds should be posted on the Dashboard in the interests of transparency, and may not necessarily be eligible to be “covered projects” under the FAST Act.³
• Within 30 days of the Order: The Chair of the NEDC and the Director of the Office of Legislative Affairs must jointly submit recommendations to the President for Congress “to clarify the treatment of waste rock, tailings, and mine waste disposal under the Mining Act of 1872.”

The Order also requires the Chair of the NEDC to solicit industry input “on regulatory bottlenecks and other recommended strategies for expediting domestic mineral production.”

3. How does the Order address land use for Mineral Production?

The Order requires several departments (including Defense, Interior, Agriculture, and Energy) to prioritize the identification and development of suitable sites for Mineral Production. For example, within 10 days of the Order, the Secretary of the Interior is required to identify a list of “all federal lands known to hold mineral deposits and reserves.” The Order directs the Secretary of the Interior to prioritize Mineral Production and mining-related purposes as the primary land uses in these areas, consistent with applicable law, including by amending or revising federal land management plans as necessary. Various agencies are also required to identify suitable sites for the construction and operation of private-sector Mineral Production enterprises.

4. How does the Order address capital flows for Mineral Production?

The Order aims to facilitate the use of a range of financial tools, such as loans, DPA funds, and private-sector coordination, to boost domestic Mineral Production. The Order designates Mineral Production as eligible for priority treatment under various federal programs. For example, the Order directs the Secretary of Defense to “add mineral production as a priority industrial capability development area for the Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment Program.”

The Order builds on the “National Energy Emergency” declared in Executive Order 14156, including by waiving certain requirements under the DPA and delegating to the Secretary of Defense the authority under 50 U.S.C. § 4533 to advance Mineral Production in the United States. This section of the DPA authorizes the president to make purchases and commitments to purchase, to provide certain subsidies, and to take other actions to support long-term industrial planning in sectors essential for the national defense.

The Order also delegates certain authority under the DPA to the CEO of the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) for “domestic production and facilitation of strategic resources … to advance mineral production.” Additionally, the CEO of the DFC and the Secretary of Defense must propose a plan to establish a dedicated Mineral Production fund.

The Order instructs agencies that provide loans, working capital, or certain other assistance to domestic Mineral Production project sponsors to ensure that private parties to lease or commercial agreements with the Departments of Defense or Energy “can utilize as many favorable terms and conditions as are available under public assistance programs,” consistent with applicable law.

Additionally, the Order seeks to facilitate private capital investment, such as through:

• Investment: The Secretary of Defense is instructed to use the National Security Capital Forum (NSCF), established under Section 1092 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025 (2025 NDAA), to “facilitate the introduction of entities to pair private capital with commercially viable domestic mineral production projects.”
• Financing: Within 45 days of the Order, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration is required to prepare and submit “recommendations for legislation to enhance private-public capital activities to support financings to domestic small businesses engaged in mineral production.”
• Mineral demand: Within 30 days of the Order, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy is required to “convene buyers of minerals and work towards an announced request for bids to supply the minerals.”

5. Are there any international implications of the Order?

While the Order is focused on domestic Mineral Production, it also directs the US Export-Import Bank (EXIM) to “release, within 30 days of the Order, program guidance for the use of mineral and Mineral Production financing tools authorized” under the Supply Chain Resiliency Initiative. This initiative, approved by the EXIM board of directors on January 8, 2025, aims to diversify the United States’ access to global minerals supply chains by financing overseas mining projects with signed long-term “off-take” contracts with US companies.

This provision further underscores the Order’s attention to the post-mining stages of critical minerals value chains and provides potential opportunities for mining projects in allied and partner countries.

6. How can my organization participate in the programs that facilitate Mineral Production under the Order?

• Analyze potentially applicable programs. Given the range of agencies and programs implicated by the Order, as well as the complex nature of many of these programs, organizations can map out what programs they may qualify for, associated timelines, and relative benefits. The Order focuses on expeditiously unlocking as much Mineral Production as possible; however, some directives in the Order may involve additional regulatory actions for implementation, impacting the relative speed and availability of various initiatives.
• Engage with government agencies. The Order directs agencies to develop policies, clarify or revise regulations, and take other actions to facilitate Mineral Production. Organizations can participate in public processes and seek to engage with relevant government agencies taking actions under the Order.
• Prepare for finance opportunities. The Order aims to mobilize capital in multiple directions to support Mineral Production. In many cases, organizations that are prepared may have a first-mover advantage, whether in accessing funds or in identifying favorable financing opportunities. For example, as a novel body, the NSCF presents an opportunity for investment funds that are members to target Mineral Production initiatives that may benefit from tailwinds under the Order. Guidance on diligence and selection of funds for the NSCF is required within 180 days of the passage of the 2025 NDAA (i.e., in the first half of 2025).

Organizations might consider how programs facilitated by the Order could affect other aspects of their financial strategy. For example, federal leasing has the potential to lower capital expenditure for mining projects. In some situations, creative financing or de-risking structures may also be available, including to the extent an organization secures an offtake/payment guarantee under one of the Order’s programs. For any of these approaches, an understanding of the underlying legal authorizations and limitations of agency authority will be important to developing the most effective strategy.

For more updates on the environment, visit our Environment, Land & Resources Blog.

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1. The president recently established the NEDC through Executive Order 14213. ↩︎
2. In 2022, the US Geological Survey finalized a list of 50 critical minerals including: aluminum, antimony, arsenic, barite, beryllium, bismuth, cerium, cesium, chromium, cobalt, dysprosium, erbium, europium, fluorspar, gadolinium, gallium, germanium, graphite, hafnium, holmium, indium, iridium, lanthanum, lithium, lutetium, magnesium, manganese, neodymium, nickel, niobium, palladium, platinum, praseodymium, rhodium, rubidium, ruthenium, samarium, scandium, tantalum, tellurium, terbium, thulium, tin, titanium, tungsten, vanadium, ytterbium, yttrium, zinc, and zirconium. 87 Fed. Reg. 10,381 (Feb. 24, 2022). ↩︎
3. https://www.permits.performance.gov/projects/fast-41-covered. ↩︎