Money and ‘a lot of noise’: how the US’ critical-minerals industry is vying with China’s

Patriot Critical Minerals of the US plans to dig into a long-abandoned mining site in the sparsely populated state of Nevada to extract tungsten, an important raw material with industrial uses ranging from aerospace gear to common cutting tools.

The company, with only that single asset, is applying to the US departments of defence and energy for funding – now more readily available as President Donald Trump tries to bring critical-minerals production onshore in case China makes the resources harder to obtain following export curbs imposed over the past year.

“Obviously the current administration is very pro-development and driving a lot of these things,” Patriot CEO Brodie Sutherland said in an interview.

But Patriot’s target to begin operations by mid-2029 at the US$300 million, 300-acre (121-hectare) project has run up against a shortage of government staff available to process applications, which in his case includes an environmental assessment. Trump cut federal government civilian employment by more than 10 per cent in 2025.

Patriot’s story appears to reflect a broader trend.

Since Trump returned to the presidency last year, the critical-minerals sector has been flooded with money, much of it from government agencies. Yet, analysts contend that the industry is too young, that the funding is too scattershot, and that environmental rules are too strict in some places for US producers to compete with Chinese imports on price.