Now Reading: Nevada tungsten find of 1.78M tonnes blocked by NASA restriction
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Nevada tungsten find of 1.78M tonnes blocked by NASA restriction
Nevada tungsten find of 1.78M tonnes blocked by NASA restriction
A privately held critical-minerals developer, 3 Proton Lithium, has identified an inferred tungsten resource of approximately 1.78 million tonnes beneath the Nevada desert. The Railroad Valley Minerals Project, if confirmed, would be…
The Story in Brief
A privately held critical-minerals developer, 3 Proton Lithium, has identified an inferred tungsten resource of approximately 1.78 million tonnes beneath the Nevada desert. The Railroad Valley Minerals Project, if confirmed, would be the largest known tungsten deposit in the United States, five times bigger than the next largest, reports Times of India citing Mining.com. The company estimates the in-ground value at around $152 billion.
However, a NASA land restriction prevents the company from exploring part of its claims. At NASA’s request, the Bureau of Land Management withdrew about 17 square miles from new mining activity in 2023. The agency uses the flat desert landscape to calibrate satellite instruments and says excavation could interfere. The company is lobbying the Trump administration and Congress to reverse the withdrawal, arguing the find is a national security issue given China’s dominance of global supply.
The Indian Opinion
This story pits two government priorities against each other: strategic mineral independence and a sensitive NASA calibration site. The company calls it a national security issue, but national security also depends on functioning satellites. India, which relies on imports for most of its tungsten, should watch how the US resolves this. Will the Trump administration override NASA for the sake of domestic critical mineral supply? That decision will set a precedent for future conflicts between mining and federal land uses.
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
