Mine Waste to Mineral Wealth: Inside America’s New Plan to Reclaim Rare Earth Dominance

Highlights

• Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued an executive order to convert billions of tons of mine waste into a domestic supply of critical and strategic minerals.
• The order aims to fast-track permitting, prioritize environmental cleanup, and extract valuable minerals from abandoned mine sites across the United States.
• The initiative seeks to strengthen national security and energy independence by creatively repurposing mining waste without opening new mining operations.

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In a bold move to tackle both national security and energy independence, U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum issued a sweeping executive order on July 23 titled “Unlocking Critical and Strategic Minerals from Mine Waste (opens in a new tab).” The goal? Convert the billions of tons of discarded mine waste across America into a domestic supply stream of rare earths and other strategic minerals—without opening new mines.

The order, covered earlier by Rare Earth Exchanges (REEx),  is more than a policy memo. It’s a blueprint for turning environmental liabilities into industrial assets. By targeting coal ash, tailings, and abandoned mine sites—often written off as toxic junk—the administration is betting big on waste recovery as the next front in the global minerals race.

Red Tape, Meet the Bulldozer

To make this happen, the Department of the Interior is directing its agencies—including the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) (opens in a new tab)—to fast-track permitting and revise outdated rules that slow down mineral recovery from waste.

One major shift: coal waste projects that extract critical minerals may soon avoid the full permitting gauntlet required under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA). Instead of being treated like new mining operations, they’ll be classified as environmental cleanup—unless courts say otherwise.

What Counts as Waste Now Counts as Gold.

The order singles out abandoned uranium mines in the U.S. West for urgent action. BLM is instructed to prioritize recovery projects that also provide environmental benefits—particularly those that don’t require taxpayer dollars. Fast-track mechanisms under the Mining Law of 1872 will be implemented to expedite approvals, along with emergency procedures under environmental and historic preservation laws.

Follow the Money

Interior agencies now have 60 to 90 days to clarify which mine waste projects qualify for funding under federal programs like AMLER (Abandoned Mine Land Economic Revitalization) and AHMR (Abandoned Hardrock Mine Reclamation). Meanwhile, the U.S. Geological Survey has just 30 days to launch a national mapping and inventory effort of mine waste deposits suitable for recovery.

But Is It Legal?

That’s where things get tricky. The order pushes agencies to interpret existing laws creatively—especially when it comes to streamlining environmental reviews under bedrock laws like NEPA, the ESA, and NHPA. That could provoke pushback from environmental groups, tribes, or state officials who argue that the order cuts corners.

Also controversial: using emergency procedures to bypass standard consultation processes. While technically legal, this fast-tracking could be challenged as federal overreach or failure to respect tribal sovereignty, especially on lands with unresolved jurisdictional questions.

The order also walks a fine line with federal funding. By blurring the line between reclamation and extraction, critics may argue that cleanup dollars are being redirected toward mining—potentially triggering congressional scrutiny.

To its credit, the order includes guardrails: no new mining on protected federal lands managed by the National Park Service or U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It also clarifies that the order creates no new legal rights—just a new policy posture. That means stakeholders will still have their day in court if agencies go too far.

REEx Reflection

Burgum’s order is a moonshot: extract critical minerals from waste, accelerate permitting, attract private investment, and strengthen supply chains—all while cleaning up America’s mining scars. Whether it delivers on that vision depends on execution—and how courts, Congress, and communities respond to this high-stakes regulatory shift.

At Rare Earth Exchanges, we’ll be watching every inch of that legal and mineral ground.