Utah makes its case to become America’s critical minerals haven

• Utah Governor Spencer Cox made his first visit to Australia last week with a huge entourage in tow.
• Critical minerals were heavily on the agenda notwithstanding the deal signed between Donald Trump and Anthony Albanese
• Australian companies have flocked to Utah in droves and are set to benefit from its endowment and business friendly agenda

Utah Governor Spencer Cox made his first trip Down Under last week as part of an 80-strong trade delegation, the largest in the state’s history.

The main topic on the agenda during Cox’s visit to Sydney was critical minerals.

Speaking at IMARC last week, Cox said he couldn’t have picked a better time to be in Australia, given it coincided with the signing of a critical minerals deal between US President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

“We actually have been planning this trip for over a year. It just happened that we arrived on the same day that Prime Minister Albanese and President Trump signed an historic deal,” he told the event.

While there were many government delegations at IMARC, Utah was the only US state to attend.

“For those of you that are not as familiar with the state of Utah, you should know that that we have led the United States in business and GDP growth for the last 10 years,” Cox said.

“Last year, we were the fastest growing state in the United States at the last census.

“That means that the opportunities that exist in Utah are tremendous right now, and this agreement that was signed between Australia and the United States is going to unlock opportunities that we have never seen before.”

Highly endowed

“Utah is fortunate that of the 50 critical minerals that that have been designated by the United States government, 40 of those are found in Utah, more than any other state in the United States,” Cox said.

“Utah is the sole domestic producer of beryllium concentrate, and accounts for over 55% of estimated global production of beryllium concentrate. Utah is the only domestic producer of magnesium metal, and we are one of two states currently producing lithium as a byproduct, and one of only two states producing high valued potash as well.”

One of Rio Tinto’s (ASX:RIO) largest copper mines, Kennecott, is in Utah and is being expanded to extend its mine life, as well as to produce by-products including platinum, palladium and rhenium.

Energy Fuels’ White Mesa mill in Utah is the only conventional uranium mill operating in the US.

The mill will also process rare earths from Energy Fuels and Astron’s (ASX:ATR) Donald project in Victoria as soon as the second half of 2027.

Pro-business agenda

One of the setbacks of the US for explorers and developers in the past has been lengthy permitting times.

“We have some of the most important elements and critical minerals that exist and now we have an administration that is helping us to unlock that,” Cox,  a Republican who changed tune on his previous criticisms to endorse Donald Trump at the 2024 US Election, said.

“Traditionally, and with past administrations, it’s been a little hard to sometimes do business when on public lands that are owned by the Federal Government. That is changing.”

Cox said Utah had significantly ramped up its capacity to permit projects.

“We have moved permitting on state lands from about 200 days down to about 45 days,” he said.

In May, the US Department of the Interior approved Anfield Energy’s Velvet-Wood uranium and vanadium mine in Utah, which was the country’s first project approved under a newly accelerated 14-day environmental review process.

“Normally, it would take two years to get them the permit that we needed for a mining operation on those federal lands,” Cox said.

“So, we are open for business, and we hope to see you there.”

Growing Aussie contingent

Australian companies including Trigg Minerals (ASX:TMG), Anson Resources (ASX:ASN), American Uranium (ASX:AMU), Diablo Resources (ASX:DBO), American West Metals (ASX:AW1), Hawk Resources (ASX:HWK) and Red Mountain Mining (ASX:RMX) have flocked to Salt Lake City to take advantage of the opportunities.

Trigg, which holds the Antimony Canyon project, was lucky enough to be invited to meet with Cox in Sydney last week.

Trigg managing director Andre Booyzen told Stockhead the company had met senior government representatives, but it was his first time meeting Cox.

“He asked a lot of good questions like how many people were going to work there, when are we going to have it in operation, etc. I think he asked several times, what can he do to help? So, he’s really keen for the project,” he said.

Trigg has a team on the ground undertaking sampling and mapping and recently completed an archaeological survey as part of the process to get approvals to drill.

“In fact, the governor asked us, do we have any applications in? Because he’ll try to move them along pretty quickly, so I think we’ll get approval for that within a couple of weeks, and then we can hit the ground and start drilling,” Booyzen said.

The company is hoping to drill in December, which should feed into a resource estimate early next year, which in turn, will feed into an advanced scoping study.

Trigg is aiming to do some pilot-scale work next year and start full-scale mining in 2027, pending the outcome of studies and permitting.

“The other thing I did mention to (Cox) was, we’re thinking quite seriously about building a smelter at some stage, but Utah is one of the states that we’re thinking about putting the smelter in,” Booyzen said.

“He’d like an update on that as well to see how we’re progressing, because we’re working with some of his people at the moment to see where a good spot would be, and also what kind of benefits they could offer us for keeping the business in Utah.”

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Trigg Minerals, Anson Resources, Astron, American Uranium and Red Mountain Mining are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.