America’s Critical Mining Industry Finds Itself in a Deep Hole

On July 11, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Wyoming’s top elected officials were in the Cowboy state celebrating something that last happened when Dwight Eisenhower was president and the Brooklyn Dodgers won the World Series: The United States opened a rare earth mine.

Ramaco’s Brook Mine in Ranchester, Wyoming , is the first such domestic mine in 70 years. The Trump administration is touting it as part of a critical effort to free the U.S. from China’s stranglehold on the minerals and elements that are essential components in products ranging from smartphones and electric vehicles to advanced medical devices, oil refining, and missile guidance systems.

“We are going to get those rare earth elements that are going to break our dependence on China,” Wright said.

Wright’s shovel