原文:
https://apnews.com/article/wyoming-coal ... c99fa8ef0f
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — The developer of what would be the first new coal mine in Wyoming in decades is launching a potentially half-billion-dollar effort to extract rare earth metals from the fossil fuel that are crucial for tech products and military hardware.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, and Wyoming’s congressional delegation took part in a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday for Ramaco Resources, Inc.'s Brook Mine outside Ranchester in northeastern Wyoming.
“Not only do we get coal here, we are going to get those rare earth elements that are going to break our dependence on China,” Wright told Fox News from the mine site Friday.
Wright’s involvement underscores President Donald Trump’s determination to advance fossil fuel projects and mining and reverse former President Joe Biden’s moves to support for renewable energy.
Administration officials on Monday moved toward selling federal coal leases in the top U.S. coal-producing region in northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana. On Thursday, officials announced a proposal in Utah that they said would be the first coal exploration project on U.S. Bureau of Land Management property since 2019.
Those moves came on the heels of legislation signed last week that lowered royalty payments for companies mining coal on public lands and mandated officials make available for potential mining an area greater in size than Connecticut.
Meanwhile, local officials in Utah hope the administration will support plans to build a railroad spur to boost oil drilling. A coalition of eastern Utah counties wants Trump’s Transportation Department to approve $2.4 billion in bonds for the 88-mile (140-kilometer) spur to export oil from the Uinta Basin, a project that may proceed after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
On Friday, the minerals capturing the administration’s attention were not just coal but rare earths — a family of 17 metallic elements with unusual properties that make them useful in modern technology, from electric car batteries and wind turbines to military targeting devices.