Senator Young introduces bill to strengthen mineral mapping
Sen. Young says critical minerals are essential to producing technologies for the defense, semiconductor and automotive sectors—industries that will determine America's economic future and global influence. Sen. Young notes although the country has an abundance of domestic mineral resources, demand already outstrips this supply, so officials say they must work with allies and partners to achieve mineral security. Additionally, the U.S. is heavily dependent on China for production and processing of many key critical minerals. The Finding ORE Act would leverage the strengths of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in geological mapping of critical mineral reserves while helping U.S. firms with developing global mineral resources around the world.
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'Many countries are unmapped or reliant on outdated geological surveys. Our bill would create opportunities for collaboration between the United States and these countries to update geological mapping with the goal of locating critical mineral deposits. These partnerships would be mutually beneficial and provide the United States access to more critical minerals, reducing our dependence on China,' said Senator Young.
Officials say the Finding ORE Act would authorize the Director of USGS to enter into memoranda of understanding (MOU) with foreign partner countries related to mapping of critical minerals. The bill identifies four objectives for these MOU:
Committing USGS to assist the partner country with a range of critical mineral mapping activities
Committing the partner country to offer a right of first refusal to private companies based in the United States or an allied country in the further development of mapped critical minerals
Facilitating investment in the development of critical minerals in the partner country, including by leveraging financing from the U.S. Development Finance Corporation and Export-Import Bank
Ensuring that mapping data created through partnership with USGS is not disclosed to governmental or private entities in non-allied countries
Sen. Young says the bill also requires USGS to collaborate with both the State Department and the private sector in identifying which countries to prioritize for negotiation of an MOU and would involve the State Department in the negotiation and implementation process.
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'The United States has too often watched from the sidelines as our adversaries explored, invested in, and secured the world's most promising mineral deposits,' said Abigail Hunter, Executive Director of SAFE's Center for Critical Minerals Strategy. 'This bill changes that. It positions the United States—our geological experts and industry—to help identify and potentially develop the next generation of great deposits. It ensures we show up in resource-rich nations, rather than leaving them to deepen their ties with China.'
The full bill can be viewed below.
ore_bill_textDownload
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