\u201cI would argue that a large portion of the projected need [for rare earth minerals] is in clean energy,\u201d said Steve Feldgus, former principal deputy assistant secretary for land and minerals management at the Department of the Interior.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Despite his disdain for renewable energy, Trump has been eager to mine more rare earth minerals, signing an executive order<\/a> expediting the permitting process for mines to extract the elements in March.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Ramaco intends to sell some of the coal present in the mine, a costly form of energy and a major contributor to the climate crisis, but it should amount to less than one percent of all the coal exported from Wyoming, Jeremy Sussman, Ramaco\u2019s chief financial officer, said in an email.<\/p>\n That small portion of coal didn\u2019t stop Wright from touting the mineral as the mine\u2019s major achievement. In a video posted on X<\/a>, formerly Twitter, the secretary of energy said, \u201cYou\u2019re going to see a lot more of big, beautiful, clean coal!\u201d and noted that he was celebrating not only the opening of a mine for rare earth minerals, but also the first coal mine to open in Wyoming in 50 years.<\/p>\n Ramaco has analyzed one-third of the mineral deposit, according to a July letter to shareholders signed by CEO Randall Atkins, and Ramaco\u2019s pilot project will test processing techniques for rare earths.<\/p>\n Broadly, \u201cthere is a rare earth element resource [in coal],\u201d said Lauren Birgenheier, a professor of geology and geophysics at the University of Utah. In the Brook Mine\u2019s case, \u201chow excellent it is is still probably to be determined, but it appears excellent enough for them to feel like they can move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n With only a third of the mine mapped and rare earth prices subject to change\u2014Ramaco\u2019s price estimate for scandium, a crucial component of fuels cells used in hydrogen-powered machines<\/a>, was over 200 percent higher than the U.S. Geological Survey\u2019s (USGS) estimate<\/a> of $1.2 million per metric ton\u2014Feldgus said it was too soon to say for sure what the mine\u2019s future holds.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s still going to be a little bit longer before they can say that \u2018this is actually what we\u2019re going to mine,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Sussman said Ramaco\u2019s estimates were for 2028 and accounted for attempts from China \u201cto manipulate pricing\u201d by keeping rare earth values low, thereby \u201cdisincentivizing western projects.\u201d He said he expects the market to improve as the U.S. tries to source rare earth minerals domestically, and pointed to a recent Department of Defense contract for neodymium at $110,000 per ton\u2014twice the mineral\u2019s typical spot price, according to Sussman\u2014as evidence that the market for western critical minerals was improving.<\/p>\n Despite its support for policies that depress U.S. renewable energy markets, Wyoming\u2019s congressional delegation, made up entirely of Republicans, lauded the effort to extract rare earth minerals in statements released after Ramaco\u2019s groundbreaking ceremony.<\/p>\n Wyoming Senator John Barrasso said the mine will \u201csupport American industries, and strengthen our supply chains.\u201d Cynthia Lummis, the state\u2019s other senator, added that the mine \u201cwill produce resources needed to achieve energy independence and grow our economy.\u201d<\/p>\n But where the domestic demand for those minerals will come from is uncertain, as many of the industries they would supply face questionable near-term futures in the U.S. after President Trump signed legislation earlier this month gutting many incentives for renewable energy technologies.<\/p>\n \u201cThe excitement over rare earths is sort of at odds with the destruction of demand for clean energy,\u201d Feldgus said. \u201cThe magnets that a lot of these minerals go into, I mean, those are critically important for electric motors, for turbines, for anything that is built off the clean energy economy.\u201d<\/p>\n The policy whiplash in the U.S. has left Sussman unfazed. \u201cOur rare earth elements and critical minerals are vital to national defense,\u201d he said. And those same technologies Feldgus outlined \u201care still projected to grow at a meaningful pace,\u201d he said. \u201cIn fact, the [U.S. Department of Energy]<\/a> projects wind capacity in the U.S. to grow from 113 [gigawatts] in 2020 to 404 [gigawatts] in [2050].\u201d<\/p>\n This story was updated July 23, 2025, with comments from Ramaco\u2019s Jeremy Sussman. <\/p>\n \t\tAbout This Story<\/p>\n Perhaps you noticed: This story, like all the news we publish, is free to read. That\u2019s because Inside Climate News is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. We do not charge a subscription fee, lock our news behind a paywall, or clutter our website with ads. We make our news on climate and the environment freely available to you and anyone who wants it.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not all. We also share our news for free with scores of other media organizations around the country. Many of them can\u2019t afford to do environmental journalism of their own. We\u2019ve built bureaus from coast to coast to report local stories, collaborate with local newsrooms and co-publish articles so that this vital work is shared as widely as possible.<\/p>\n Two of us launched ICN in 2007. Six years later we earned a Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting, and now we run the oldest and largest dedicated climate newsroom in the nation. We tell the story in all its complexity. We hold polluters accountable. We expose environmental injustice. We debunk misinformation. We scrutinize solutions and inspire action.<\/p>\n Donations from readers like you fund every aspect of what we do. If you don\u2019t already, will you support our ongoing work, our reporting on the biggest crisis facing our planet, and help us reach even more readers in more places? <\/p>\n Please take a moment to make a tax-deductible donation. Every one of them makes a difference.<\/p>\n Thank you,<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t![\"Graphic](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/RamacoMineGilletteWY750px.png\"\/)
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