Critical minerals used for building weapons and other essential electronics have been discovered in the sands of Utah‘s Silicon Ridge.
Some 16 different types of high quality minerals were uncovered in a 74,000 square foot mining site in Provo.
The find could give the US an edge over China which has long dominated the market.
Andre Zeitoun, chief executive of Ionic Mineral Technologies (IMT), which owns the mining site, told the Wall Street Journal: ‘You can’t make a vehicle without these, you can’t make a fighter jet without some of these metals.’
He added that the elements are also used for semiconductors, electronics and chips that power artificial intelligence.
Those discovered include lithium, alumina, germanium, rubidium, cesium, vanadium and niobium, the Journal reported.
Rubidium and cesium are used in atomic clocks, whereas scandium is essential for the development of aircraft and missiles.
Germanium is similar to silicon but is incredibly rare and is critical for developing semiconductors.
The discovery is an essential step toward eliminating reliance on other countries since the US currently imports rubidium, cesium and scandium.
IMT added that they have been in talks with the White House and the Trump administration has expressed ‘clear enthusiasm’ about the discovery and its potential national impact.
The US trails China significantly in the critical minerals market, with the latter supplying about 90 percent of the world’s rare minerals.
In November, the House select committee on the Chinese Communist Party released a bipartisan investigation arguing that the CCP was manipulating the critical minerals market.
Andre Zeitoun told the Wall Street Journal that the discovery was only the beginning
The investigation argued that the People’s Republic of China subsidized state-owned mining companies and established a legal framework that enabled them to alter prices to advance national security interests.
‘The PRC government, under the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), has engaged in a coordinated, decades-long scheme to control different critical minerals and bend the global market to their will,’ the investigation stated.
‘The PRC’s domination of critical minerals stems from its view of minerals in geostrategic terms, not as typical market commodities.
The committee accused the PRC of pushing down the prices of critical minerals, including lithium, used in batteries, electronics and military equipment.
The investigation concluded with several policy recommendations, including bolstering mining in the US and strengthening coordination with allied countries on mineral recovery.
The committee also recommended establishing a National Center for Rare Earths to develop an American rare-earth workforce.
The Trump administration has made American mineral production a priority, issuing an executive order in March instructing the Secretary of Defense, Interior, Agriculture, and Energy to make mineral production sites operational as soon as possible.
The President argued that federal regulation was preventing the US from dominance in the mineral industry, calling it a ‘national emergency.’
IMT said the discovery was just the beginning, with Zeitoun telling the WSJ: ‘We know this is a sizable deposit, and we know that’s just scratching the surface.’
The Daily Mail has reached out to the White House, Department of the Interior, and IMT for comment.