Kristie Batten: ASX's US mining hopefuls get another Trump Bump

An executive order to ramp up domestic metals production in the United States could bring new mines to life
A number of ASX stocks are getting ready to benefit from an increasingly attractive investment landscape
Copper, silver, uranium, antimony and even gold developers stand to win

US mining projects got a further boost last week with the signing of President Donald Trump’s latest executive order. And a number of ASX stocks are in line to benefit.

On Friday Aussie time, Trump released an executive order entitled ‘Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production’.

“The United States was once the world’s largest producer of lucrative minerals, but overbearing federal regulation has eroded our nation’s mineral production,” the order reads.

“Our national and economic security are now acutely threatened by our reliance upon hostile foreign powers’ mineral production.

“It is imperative for our national security that the United States take immediate action to facilitate domestic mineral production to the maximum possible extent.”

Aside from critical minerals, which have already been a focus for the Trump administration, the order also specifically mentions uranium, copper, potash, gold “and any other element, compound or material” as determined by the newly established National Energy Dominance Council (NEDC).

Action looming

According to the order, by March 30, the head of each executive department and agency involved in project permitting will provide the NEDC with a list of all mining projects for which a plan of operations, a permit application or other application for approval has been submitted.

Priority projects to be immediately approved will be identified a further 10 days after that.

Agencies have been instructed to identify federal land known to host mineral deposits and prioritise those projects for approval.

Federal departments will also support project financing by pairing private capital with projects, while the US International Development Finance Corporation, Export-Import Bank and Small Business Administration have been instructed to support mineral production through loans and investments.

“While the order itself is decidedly lacking in detail on how it will be applied, it’s hard to see how this is not generally a positive for companies looking to develop and finance projects in the US,” Canaccord Genuity analysts said.

Benchmark Mineral Intelligence noted that while the US has one of the largest project pipelines globally, few projects get developed.

“Only time will tell if the new actions by the Trump administration will make a meaningful impact on the rest of the project pipeline.”

Copper

The copper sector already received a boost last month when Trump signed a separate executive order to launch an investigation into how copper imports threaten America’s national security and economic stability.

The investigation will assess the national security risks arising from the US’ increasing dependence on imported copper and the potential need for trade remedies to safeguard its domestic industry.

Shares in US developer Northern Dynasty Minerals have doubled over the past month off the back of the two executive orders.

Northern Dynasty owns the massive, but stalled, Pebble project in Alaska, one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper projects.

Closer to home, shares in near-term developer New World Resources (ASX:NWC) are up by nearly 30% over the past five trading days and Canaccord said it could be a company to benefit from the order.

Even before the latest executive order, New World managing director Nick Woolrych told a webinar last week about “unprecedented support right now for domestic production in the US”.

New World owns the Antler brownfields copper project in Arizona, which has a resource of 11.4 million tonnes at 2.1% copper, 5% zinc, 0.9% lead, 32.9 grams per tonne silver and 0.36g/t gold, or 4.1% copper equivalent, making it one of the highest-grade copper deposits in North America.

Federal, state, county, tribal and community representatives have all visited the Antler site in the past few months.

New World has been steadily ticking off the list of permits required and is aiming to get the US$298 million project fully permitted by the March quarter of 2026, ahead of first production in 2027.

Gold

Gold’s inclusion in the executive order was significant as it hasn’t been considered a critical mineral in the past.

“Despite gold’s relatively low exposure to industrial supply chains, its role-status as a strategic asset is likely a reflection of safe-haven appeal as geopolitical tensions increase, in our view,” Canadian bank Stifel said.

James Bay Minerals (ASX:JBY) holds the Independence gold project in Nevada, which has a resource of 1.36 million ounces of gold, including a high-grade skarn resource of 984,412 ounces at 6.67g/t gold.

James Bay executive chairman Andrew Dornan told Stockhead Nevada was already the best place in the US to do business.

“Whether it’s exploration or more advanced project development, there (are) pressures coming from above now to make things happen quicker, which is good,” he said.

“I think they’re trying to apply what they do in Nevada across the rest of the country – that’s what we’re seeing.”

James Bay’s sister company, Sun Silver (ASX:SS1) , of which Dornan is managing director, holds the Maverick Springs silver project, also in Nevada.

While silver isn’t considered a critical mineral, the deposit also hosts a 2Moz gold resource and widespread antimony mineralisation.

Felix Gold (ASX:FXG) and Nova Minerals (ASX:NVA) each have gold projects in Alaska but both also have antimony mineralisation on their ground.

US company Perpetua Resources Corp last year received a letter of interest from the Export-Import Bank of the United States for potential debt financing of up to US$1.8 billion for the Stibnite gold-antimony project in Idaho.

Dornan believes there will be further cheap, US government-funded debt for projects following Trump’s executive order.

“That’s kind of what we’re hearing is going to come to support the development of these projects, which obviously we want to put ourselves right in front of at the appropriate time,” he said.

Sun Silver has re-engaged expert partner Holland & Knight, which assisted last year with the application for a USD$60 million government credit to support the establishment of a domestic silver paste facility.

“They will be able to basically assist us with the angles that we need to approach to ensure we’re at the front of the queue for any project funding or support that’s going to get rolled out,” Dornan said.

“So there’s a big shift from … green energy to any minerals.”

Uranium

As well as the executive order, the US uranium industry got a potential second boost this week when the US Department of Energy re-issued a US$900 million solicitation to support the deployment of small modular reactors.

“America’s nuclear energy renaissance starts now,” US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in a statement.

Stifel noted that the US was home to the world’s largest fleet of nuclear power plants yet accounted for less than 1% of global uranium production, leaving it “especially vulnerable”.

“The nation’s dependence on foreign producers underscores the pressing need for resilient, Western-aligned supply chains that safeguard its energy security,” the bank said.

Canaccord said existing Australian producer Peninsula Energy (ASX:PEN), owner of the Lance project in Wyoming, and dual-listed Laramide Resources (ASX:LAM), which holds the Crownpoint-Churchrock project in New Mexico, could be among the companies to benefit from Trump’s order.

Another company to potentially benefit is GTI Energy (ASX:GTR), which is planning to release a scoping study for its Lo Herma in-situ uranium project in Wyoming in the June quarter.

GTI managing director Bruce Lane told Stockhead that Trump’s executive order was helping by providing clear intent to support, and where possible accelerate, uranium mining and processing.

He noted that Wyoming was one of four ‘agreement states’ in the US that manage permitting at a state level, so the company doesn’t anticipate any permitting issues at Lo Herma.

“However, the executive order may help with speeding up the process and eventually some other form of federal support – hard to tell just yet,” Lane said.

“It’s certainly positive.”

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While New World Resources, James Bay Minerals, Felix Gold and Sun Silver are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.