According to a report on Mining.com, Dateline Resources (DR) has gained further political support. With the public endorsement of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, the company will develop the second rare earth mine in the US.
On the 8th, Burgum stated in an interview with Fox News that the resumption of production at Colosseum, California, is a "critical link" in expanding the US's critical minerals supply chain.
The project owner, DR, said that this endorsement "highlights the strategic significance of Colosseum in reducing the US's reliance on overseas rare earths." Previously, the Interior Department had already approved the company's mining plan.
Shortly after Burgum publicly expressed his support, the management team, led by company manager Stephen Baghdadi, met with Burgum at the Interior Department headquarters in Washington, D.C., to discuss the next steps for the project.
In a press release, DR stated that the discussion affirmed the significance of the mine to the US's rare earth supply chain, which is crucial for advanced technologies and national security, and that it is a known deposit in the US with the potential for "faster development."
The Australian miner said that with the support of high-level officials from the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the proposed National Energy Dominance Council by Trump, Burgum "reiterated his commitment to accelerating rare earth production in the US, reflecting his special concern for the Colosseum rare earth mine."
The Colosseum project is located along the WLT (Walker Lane Trend) in California, 10 kilometers north of Mountain Pass, the only operating rare earth mine in the US.
The project has a long history, having been mined as early as the California Gold Rush. In the late 1980s, LAC Minerals conducted large-scale gold mining activities here, producing a total of 344,000 ounces of gold from two pits. The mine was closed in 1993. Subsequently, Barrick Gold acquired the project but only carried out minimal work over the next 20 years.
In 2021, DR purchased the Colosseum project, reviewed the work of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and attempted to identify radioactive indications within the Colosseum-Mountain Pass corridor.
Based on the evaluation results, the company's team believes that its geological setting is similar to that of Mountain Pass. The Mountain Pass rare earth mine commenced production in 1952 and was a significant global rare earth producer from the 1960s to the 1990s.
Technical evaluations indicate that rare earth-bearing ore is present within the boundaries of Colosseum. However, due to its proximity to the Mojave National Preserve, the mine has been on hold in recent years.
Currently, Colossus has no rare earth resources, only gold resources compliant with the JORC 2012 standard, with two-thirds being measured and indicated resources. A 2024 scoping study indicates that the project has a mine life of over 8 years, with an annual gold production capacity of 75,000 ounces.
