The federal government has just added two major mining projects in Alaska and Montana to a priority permitting list, signaling a push to secure critical minerals like nickel, cobalt, gallium, and rare earths that are essential for defense, energy, and modern manufacturing.
Washington’s move to prioritize these projects under the FAST-41 framework is a welcome step toward reducing dangerous dependence on foreign suppliers. Prioritizing Nikolai in Alaska and Sheep Creek in Montana shows a clear focus on rebuilding domestic supply chains for materials used in EVs, semiconductors, and defense hardware. This is the kind of policy that creates American jobs and strengthens national security at once.
As part of the Trump administration’s push to bolster domestic supplies of minerals critical to American automotive, defense, energy, and high-tech manufacturing, the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (Permitting Council) has added the Nickolai in Alaska and Sheep Creek in Montana as transparency projects on the Federal Permitting Dashboard.
“I am excited to welcome the Nikolai Nickel and Sheep Creek projects to the FAST-41 program,” said Permitting Council Executive Director Emily Domenech. “We are proud to support more mining projects that will strengthen the U.S. economy and reduce our reliance on foreign nations.”
Established in 2015 by Title 41 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41), the Permitting Council is a federal agency charged with improving the transparency and predictability of permitting critical infrastructure projects – including mines, natural gas pipelines, renewable energy, electricity transmission, telecommunications, and certain emerging technologies.
The Nikolai deposit in Alaska is massive and strategically important. The numbers are hard to ignore: billions of tons of indicated and inferred resources rich in nickel, with substantial copper, cobalt, platinum group metals, chromium, and iron byproducts. Those minerals are on the official critical list for 2025, and getting them onshore would shrink leverage held by adversaries who control much of the global supply chain.
Lying on the southern flanks of the Alaska Range, approximately 130 miles southeast of Fairbanks, Alaska Energy Metals’ Nikolai project hosts one of the largest known nickel-cobalt-platinum group metal (PGM)-chromium deposits in North America.
Based on drilling completed by Alaska Energy Metals and previous exploration companies, the Eureka deposit at Nikolai hosts:
• 1.19 billion metric tons of indicated resource averaging 0.21% (5.61 billion pounds) nickel.
• 2.09 billion metric tons of inferred resource averaging 0.2% (9.38 billion lb) nickel.
• Large quantities of copper, cobalt, PGMs, chromium, and iron byproducts are found in both resource categories.
The chromium, cobalt, copper, nickel, palladium, and platinum found in this world-class-sized deposit are all on the 2025 list of minerals critical to U.S. economic development, energy, and national security.
Montana’s Sheep Creek brings its own set of critical strengths, especially in rare earths and gallium. Independent lab results show very high total rare earth element concentrations and gallium readings that matter for high-tech manufacturing. Those rare earths, like neodymium and praseodymium, are key for powerful magnets in EV motors and defense applications.
High-grade critical mineral values at Sheep Creek were confirmed by Idaho National Laboratories in 2024. Highlights from nine rock samples collected over a two-mile-long mineralized corridor at Sheep Creek include:
• 13.45% total rare earth elements (TREE) and 250 parts per million gallium.
• 13.82% TREE and 300 ppm gallium.
• 17.78% TREE and 350 ppm gallium.
On average, the samples returned 9.9% TREE, including 2.4% neodymium and praseodymium – the key rare earths used in high-power magnets for EV motors, defense systems, and other high-tech devices.
Gallium deserves special attention because of how concentrated its production is overseas. Right now China supplies roughly 98 percent of the world’s gallium, and the U.S. imports all of what it uses. Bringing production home reduces a single-country choke point for components used in semiconductors and LEDs.
These projects are more than numbers on a technical report; they are potential job factories for places that need good work and economic growth. Mining and processing these minerals supports supply chains that stretch across manufacturing, defense, and clean energy sectors. That local economic boost also helps keep communities resilient and invested in America’s future.
Politically, prioritizing domestic minerals is common-sense conservative policy: less reliance on hostile suppliers, a stronger economy, and more American jobs. Policy must keep moving to smooth permitting without cutting corners on environmental protections, so projects can proceed predictably and responsibly.
We should back projects that secure critical inputs for our military and industry while insisting on smart, transparent permitting. That balance protects both the environment and American interests. Getting these resources developed here at home is the pragmatic path to long-term strength.
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