5 JUL 2025 · Energy Fuels, a leading United States producer of uranium and rare earth elements, announced that its Pinyon Plain uranium mine in Arizona has significantly outperformed expectations for the second quarter of 2025. During this period, the mine produced 638,700 pounds of uranium, with June alone providing over 230,000 pounds. This surge is attributed to high uranium grades at the site, which averaged around 3.5 percent in June, making Pinyon Plain one of the highest-grade uranium deposits mined in the country’s history. The company’s president Mark Chalmers emphasized that only about a quarter of the prospective ore zone is currently being mined, suggesting substantial future potential at the site. This renewed uranium production is expected to lower unit costs, benefiting both the company’s bottom line and the broader push for domestic supply of fuels vital to clean energy and national security efforts, as reliance on foreign sources remains a pressing concern.
Elsewhere in the United States, American Tungsten Corporation has advanced the revival of the historic Ima Mine Project in Idaho. The company expanded its land holdings and is reopening old mine workings with plans to start shipping tungsten ore. Demand for tungsten remains tight as the West invests in domestic microchip, wind, and nuclear infrastructure, seeking to reduce dependence on Asian suppliers. Investors have taken notice, and American Tungsten is preparing to scale production and generate revenue, adding momentum to the nation’s strategy to secure critical minerals essential for modern technologies.
On the policy front, the International Energy Agency recently published its 2025 Global Critical Minerals Outlook, warning that global mineral supply chains remain highly concentrated and vulnerable to disruption. The United States, together with G7 partners, has responded by adopting a new Critical Minerals Action Plan which focuses on improving diversification, supporting new mining and refining projects, and promoting recycling innovations. The plan is seen as a necessary step to prevent supply shocks and to support the accelerating demand for minerals like lithium, cobalt, graphite, and rare earths, which are indispensable for electric vehicles, renewable energy technologies, and advanced manufacturing.
According to DataM Intelligence, the global critical minerals market is experiencing rapid growth, projected to increase from 328 billion dollars in 2024 to nearly 587 billion dollars by 2032, driven by the clean energy transition and supply chain initiatives. The United States government, through its latest quadrennial supply chain review, has highlighted new investments and international partnerships aimed at making supply chains more resilient against geopolitical disruptions and climate-related challenges. These efforts reflect an emerging pattern where mineral security is now tightly woven into broader economic and national security policies, shaping decisions from mining operations in Arizona and Idaho to global market strategies.