The United States’ effort to build a secure domestic supply of copper is running headlong into environmental review and legal disputes – illustrating the tension between energy transition goals and a permitting process analysts say is plagued by bottlenecks.
In Arizona, Rio Tinto (ASX, LSE, NYSE: RIO) and BHP (ASX: BHP) continue to await federal approval for the Resolution Copper project. In Minnesota, Teck Resources (TSX: TECK.A, TECK.B; NYSE: TECK) and Glencore (LSE: GLEN) are advancing the NorthMet copper-nickel project through a new round of permitting. And in Alaska, Vancouver-based Northern Dynasty Minerals (TSX: NDM; NYSE: NAK) remains locked in a regulatory fight over the Pebble deposit.
Market research firm Wood Mackenzie forecasts global copper demand to surge 24% by 2035, rising 8.2 million tonnes per year to 42.7 million tonnes, driven by global economic development and electrification. U.S. President Donald Trump views expanded domestic copper production as key to reducing import reliance, strengthening U.S. manufacturing and securing materials critical to power infrastructure and defence supply chains.
However, even as Washington pushes to secure critical minerals, legal, regulatory and community hurdles mean the path from policy to production remains uncertain.
Permitting reform
A cornerstone of the Trump administration’s energy dominance agenda is FAST-41, a federal designation for projects that is designed to accelerate decisions on outstanding permit applications and move critical mineral projects toward production. As of October, there are 34 mining projects on the list, including NorthMet and Resolution Copper.
Scot Anderson, an office managing partner at Womble Bond Dickinson US in Denver, is focused on arbitrations, litigation and regulatory enforcement actions related to energy, mining, oil and gas. He said the FAST-41 designation could help reduce some of the permitting bottlenecks slowing U.S. mine development.
“It hasn’t been used enough to know exactly how effective it’s going to be,” Anderson told The Northern Miner. “But it’s a productive use of a structure that’s fairly acceptable to both sides of the aisle at a high level…an unusual thing these days.”
Environmental concerns
Court challenges to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) also remain a major hurdle for U.S. mine development. Even relatively uncontroversial projects can be delayed up to eight years as opponents use legal appeals to slow permitting, forcing developers to spend time and capital before reaching a final decision.
“There’s a certain point where you can’t wait anymore,” Anderson said. “If the NEPA challenge runs on for a while, it can kill a project.”
In September, the U.S. Council of Environmental Quality, which coordinates federal environmental policy and activities, issued new guidance for NEPA review procedures to streamline the process. The aim is to set page and time limits for assessments and expand categories exempt from full review
“I don’t think anybody wants mining to occur irresponsibly,” Anderson said. “The idea is to keep the structure we have in place but get to a decision sooner.”
Resolution unresolved
Rio Tinto and BHP’s 55-45% joint venture Resolution copper project in Arizona has been tangled in legal limbo since an appeals court decision temporarily blocked a federal land transfer.
Rio Tinto and BHP continue to await federal approval for the Resolution Copper project. Credit: Rio Tinto
The $2-billion (C$2.76-billion) planned project, which secured FAST-41 designation earlier this year, is one of the largest undeveloped copper deposits in the world, capable of supplying over a quarter of U.S. demand for 40 years. The deposit, located partly beneath federal land, required a congressionally-approved land exchange, which was authorized in 2015.
In August, an advocacy group comprised of members of the San Carlos Apache Tribe of southeast Arizona and conservationists obtained an injunction to pause the project’s development at a site where Western Apaches have held sacred ceremonies for generations.
Trump blasted the court’s decision on social media platform Truth Social, saying the project was “delayed by a Radical Left Court for two months – 3,800 Jobs are affected, and our Country, quite simply, needs Copper – AND NOW!”
In an August statement, Resolution Copper said the company is “confident the court will ultimately affirm the district court’s well-reasoned orders explaining in detail why the congressionally directed land exchange satisfies all applicable legal requirements.”
NorthMet standstill
Meanwhile, NewRange Copper Nickel’s NorthMet project, a 50-50% joint venture of Teck and Glencore continues to face legal and regulatory headwinds at its NorthMet copper-nickel project in northeastern Minnesota.
Teck Resources and Glencore are advancing the NorthMet copper-nickel project through a new round of permitting. Credit: Teck Resources
The project, also on the FAST-41 list, is one of the most advanced critical minerals developments in the U.S. Midwest and expects to produce copper, nickel, cobalt and platinum-group metals over a 20-year mine life. But key state and federal permits remain under review after years of legal challenges.
In 2023, the Minnesota Supreme Court remanded several of NorthMet’s permits, including its water discharge and dam safety approvals, for further administrative review. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers revoked NorthMet’s Clean Water Act permit, ruling that the project failed to meet the water quality standards of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa rather than those of the state of Minnesota.
In November 2024, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources suspended proceedings on NewRange’s permit to mine until August 2025.
NewRange is currently preparing a new application for a Clean Water Act federal wetlands permit. The federal FAST-41 database estimates permitting for the project to be completed by June 2027, though the bottlenecks are mostly at the state level.
Pebble paused
While NorthMet faces state and federal hurdles, Northern Dynasty Minerals is pressing its legal fight to overturn the Environmental Protection Agency’s veto of the Pebble copper-gold project in southwest Alaska.
Pebble hosts one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper-gold-molybdenum resources, but advancement has been stalled over potential impacts to Bristol Bay’s salmon fishery. In 2023, the EPA blocked Northern Dynasty’s Pebble project under the Clean Water Act, citing the destruction of more than 2,000 acres of wetlands.
In October, Northern Dynasty filed a summary judgment brief alongside the state of Alaska and two Alaska Native village corporations, calling the 2023 Clean Water Act veto unlawful. The company argues that the veto is based on speculation rather than the project’s Final Environmental Impact Statement and violates the Alaska Statehood Act by blocking development on lands designated for mineral extraction.
The Department of Justice must respond by January, with final briefs due in late February. The federal government has requested a stay due to the ongoing shutdown, which Northern Dynasty opposes.
“We have waited a long time for our day in court in this case, and we should not have to wait any longer to vindicate our rights,” Northern Dynasty CEO Ron Thiessen said in a statement.
Further advanced
Despite years of delays and legal wrangling, Anderson said many of the country’s largest copper projects are in a stronger position than they were five years ago. And a flurry of policies over the past 10 months has helped resolve some key issues, redefine permitting and offer mechanisms like FAST-41 to cut through bureaucratic bottlenecks.
“Some projects are better positioned than others, and some, inevitably, are going to be controversial,” he said. “There’s more certainty and clearer pathways going forward for all of these projects.”
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