by Roger Mitchell, Stevensville
“It’s a big club and you ain’t in it.” – George Carlin
I have been reading through the website at US Critical Materials (https://uscriticalmaterials.com/). Repeatedly, the statement was made that Sheep Creek is an extremely valuable and highly exploitable asset to the company. For example,
“We have confirmed that Sheep Creek is the highest-grade rare-earth deposit in the United States, with a multibillion-dollar resource value. Over the course of my career independently evaluating rare earth properties within the US, I have never encountered a property with the grades being generated by Sheep Creek …” — James Hedrick, President US Critical Materials
In an interview with S&P Global (https://www.spglobal.com/market-intelligence/en/news-insights/articles/2025/10/us-critical-materials-eyes-2026-production-from-montana-rare-earths-deposit-93990529), published on October 22, 2025, Harvey Kaye, Chairman of US Critical Materials had this to say. Emphasis added.
“We’re in discussions with private and governmental players to become a principal gallium supplier.
Our game plan is to be able to extract enough, process it, and stand on the White House steps within 60 days and be able to say, “In this bag are critical minerals, rare earths and gallium that are found in America, processed with environmentally friendly technology, and available for the defense of this country and indeed the free world. Mr. President, you can tell the Chinese whatever you want; that’s up to you.”
Furthermore, he admitted that the company is pushing hard for fast-track approval and permitting.
“It is a function of the speed of the permit. There is something called categorical exclusion. We are in discussions to make that happen. Because of the need for gallium, in particular, we said to them: “You give us an exclusion or a fast-track permit, and we can start delivering gallium in the next six months or less.” And because of the uniqueness of our deposit, we can mine through the winter.”
“We have a mining plan that starts almost immediately and gives us the ability to start bringing the materials in the next 60 days. We believe that, with a little bit of persistence, permits will come in the near term, enabling us to start bringing some volume production in 2026.”
Within 60 days. Exclusion. Fast-track permit. Six months or less.
Let me be blunt. This company, its stakeholders, and associated interests at all levels, up to and including high-ranking government officials, are determined to open this operation in the very near future, whether we like it or not. Ignorance is bliss, the saying goes, to which I add, until it bites hard and then it hurts. It is extremely important that you educate yourself about this proposed mine, which will be reality if it cannot be stopped. Follow these links to start.
Leave a Reply