NASA Objects to Nevada Tungsten Project Over Space Communications Concerns

The race to secure supplies of critical minerals has intensified as the United States seeks to reduce its dependence on foreign sources, particularly China.

A drilling operation in Nevada is exploring a newly discovered tungsten deposit considered strategically important to the United States. [Photo: National Park Service]

However, efforts to develop new domestic mining projects continue to face regulatory and logistical challenges, Irina Slav reported for Oilprice.com.

Earlier this week, the Financial Times reported that a company had discovered what it described as the largest known tungsten deposit in the United States. Tungsten is a critical mineral used in electronics, defense and aerospace applications.

According to the report, NASA opposes further development because part of the proposed mining area in Nevada's Great Basin Desert is used to receive and track satellite signals from space.

The agency argues that mining activity could interfere with those operations and has already blocked drilling in portions of the site.

"This is a metal the U.S. stopped mining a decade ago and now imports, while China controls and manipulates the global market," Kevin Moore, chief executive officer of 3 Proton Lithium, told the Financial Times.

Moore described the discovery as "more than a mining story," calling it "a national security story."

Although the discovery could strengthen domestic supplies of a strategic mineral, the deposit has yet to be proven commercially viable.