Trump Administration Announces Addition of Three New Critical Mining Projects to the Federal Permitting Dashboard

WASHINGTON (June 27, 2025) – The Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (Permitting Council) is pleased to announce the acceptance of three new critical mineral mining projects to receive the benefits of FAST-41 transparency status. These new projects now bring the total number of transparency projects added to the Federal Permitting Dashboard to 28 since President Trump’s March 20^th Executive Order on Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production. These new projects will receive the transparency, predictability and accountability of FAST-41, ensuring an efficient permitting process that will aid the nation in unlocking America’s energy abundance. 

“This is an exciting time as we work with our colleagues across the federal government to unleash America’s vast energy and mineral resources,” said Emily Domenech, Permitting Council Executive Director. “The Permitting Council stands ready to bring the transparency of our program to these projects, speeding the production of the critical minerals needed for our national and economic security.”

The covered projects include:

• Golden Mile Mine Project: The Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Land Management (BLM) leads environmental review and authorizations for this gold and copper-focused mining project located in Nevada. 

• Tonopah Flats Lithium Project: DOI-BLM will lead environmental reviews and authorizations for this lithium mining project located in Nye-Esmeralda Counties, NV.

• Superior Exploration Program: The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service (FS) leads the review for this copper and molybdenum mining project.

Learn more about these projects on the Federal Permitting Dashboard. Learn more about the Permitting Council at permitting.gov. 

About the Permitting Council and FAST-41

Established in 2015 by Title 41 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41), the Permitting Council is a federal agency charged with improving the transparency and predictability of the federal environmental review and authorization process for certain critical infrastructure projects. The Permitting Council is comprised of the Permitting Council Executive Director, who serves as the Council Chair; 13 federal agency Council members (including deputy secretary-level designees of the Secretaries of Agriculture, Army, Commerce, Interior, Energy, Transportation, Defense, Homeland Security, and Housing and Urban Development, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Chairs of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation); and the Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

The Permitting Council coordinates federal environmental reviews and authorizations for projects that seek and qualify for FAST-41 coverage. FAST-41 covered projects are entitled to comprehensive permitting timetables and transparent, collaborative management of those timetables on the Federal Permitting Dashboard. FAST-41 covered projects may be in the energy production, electricity transmission, energy storage, surface transportation, aviation, ports and waterways, water resource, broadband, pipelines, manufacturing, mining, carbon capture, semiconductors, artificial intelligence and machine learning, high-performance computing and advanced computer hardware and software, quantum information science and technology, data storage and data management, and cybersecurity sectors.

Transparency Projects: A transparency project is not a FAST-41 covered project, but rather a project that the Executive Director directs the lead agency to post to the Permitting Dashboard for transparency purposes. These projects receive the “transparency” that is at the core of the FAST-41 process but do not receive the other benefits of FAST-41 coverage, including the development of a coordinated project plan and dedicated project management by Permitting Council experts.