Why It Matters
Foreign-owned companies are operating critical mineral mines on federal lands without a legal obligation to disclose that ownership to federal land managers, according to Critical Minerals: Limited Available Information on the Full Extent of Foreign Investment in Mining on Federal Lands.
Of the 43 claimants and operators the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reviewed, 14 of the 32 whose ownership could be determined, roughly 44%, were subsidiaries of foreign entities. In at least two of those cases, Chinese entities held a financial interest in the foreign parent company. GAO found no Chinese-owned parent companies among the 14 foreign subsidiaries.
The Big Picture
Critical minerals, including copper, lithium, and zinc, are essential to economic and national security and are key components in advanced technologies. The U.S. relies on imports for many of them, leaving supply chains vulnerable to disruption. The U.S. also exports large quantities of domestically extracted ore to Canada, Mexico, and China, among other countries, while domestic production faces constraints, including substantial capital requirements and limited processing capacity.
The 1872 Mining Law generally requires mining claimants to be U.S. citizens or U.S.-incorporated business entities, but a foreign business can meet that requirement by having a U.S. subsidiary serve as the claimant. Critically, the law contains no provision requiring the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) or the Forest Service to collect information on foreign parent companies, and it does not obligate claimants or operators to submit foreign-ownership disclosures. That structural gap means a foreign state-owned enterprise could hold a controlling interest in a mine extracting lithium or copper from public land without federal land managers necessarily knowing about that ownership.
BLM and the Forest Service together oversaw 632 approved hardrock mining plans of operation on federal land as of February. The 43 claimants and operators GAO reviewed represent a limited, non-generalizable sample rather than a comprehensive assessment of those operations. GAO could not determine ownership for 11 of the 43 companies it reviewed, underscoring the limitations of available ownership information. The findings cannot establish the percentage of all federal mining operations with foreign ownership.
The GAO report says the administration and congressional entities have expressed concern about U.S. dependence on imports and the role of potential adversary nations, including the People's Republic of China, in domestic critical mineral supply chains. Policymakers have also raised questions about the full amount and extent of foreign investment in federal-land mines.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), chaired by the Department of the Treasury, can review certain foreign investments in mining for potential national security concerns, providing one existing mechanism to scrutinize transactions within its jurisdiction. GAO notes that other federal agencies have some authorities and processes to identify foreign investment in mining, but the 1872 Mining Law does not require claimants or operators to disclose foreign ownership. Without a comprehensive ownership inventory, those mechanisms do not necessarily provide federal land managers with a complete picture of foreign investment in mining operations.
The Bottom Line
The GAO report does not include formal recommendations for executive action or identify recommendations requiring an agency response. However, a companion report, GAO-27-108196, recommends that BLM collect citizenship information from mining claimants and document whether they meet the legal requirements to hold mining claims. That recommendation remains open, and the Department of the Interior did not provide comments on the companion report.
The 1872 Mining Law does not require mining claimants or operators to disclose foreign ownership to BLM or the Forest Service, and CFIUS, chaired by the Department of the Treasury, has authority to review certain foreign investments in mining for potential national security concerns. Congress could address the disclosure gap legislatively by amending the 1872 Mining Law to require foreign-ownership reporting or considering appropriations conditions directing BLM and the Forest Service to collect that information, subject to applicable legal authority.
The companion report, GAO-27-108196, separately addresses BLM's failure to consistently collect and verify citizenship information from mining claimants. Advocates, congressional staff, and agency officials tracking this issue can follow related legislative and regulatory developments at Legis1.com.
A linked invitation to track related legislative activity on Legis1
Access the Legis1 platform for comprehensive political news, data, and insights.
Spot something wrong? Report an issue with this article
