Alaska Should Lead in U.S.’s Mining of Rare Earths and Critical Minerals

January 11, 2022

Alaska.  Our nation’s 49^th state.  The Great Land.  The Last Frontier.  The Mining Capital of America?

While fossil fuel use and extraction of oil, gas, coal and other traditional energy sources will remain for decades, that isn’t going to stop the calls to halt production sooner. If the radical environmentalists who demand a rapid transition from fossil fuels to ‘green’ energy solutions are serious about their desires and aren’t just using their talking points for fundraising efforts, then they should be embracing Alaska as the U.S.’s leading source of rare earths and critical minerals.

Alaska has nearly a dozen known projects with world-class amounts of those deposits across the state – with more likely, based on inferred geology.  If the environmental lobby got out of the litigation business and worked with industry to permit those mines, their dreams of a ‘green’ revolution would be closer to reality. 

Not surprisingly, you won’t see the various ENGOs and environmental zealots embracing the jobs, revenues and resources brought forth by responsible development of Alaska’s mineral resources.  They’re too busy chanting ‘save the Earth’ to see that the path they want for the future already exists right under their noses.