The US Department of the Interior has proposed a rule through the Marine Minerals Administration to modernise federal regulations for exploratory oil and gas drilling on the Arctic Outer Continental Shelf.
The proposal is the latest signal of the administration’s drive to deliver President Trump’s commitment to US energy dominance.
The proposed ruling supports President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) 14153, ‘Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential’, as well as other federal orders focused on developing Alaska’s vast resources for the country’s economic and energy security.
Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum says that Alaska holds ‘significant resource potential’, and focus should be on exploiting those resources for the benefit of Alaskan and US citizens.
EO 14153 first passed in January 2026, highlighting the vast, largely untapped supply of natural resources in the State of Alaska and opportunities to unlock the resources, providing economic and national security for the state and the US overall.
The EO notes what it calls “punitive restrictions” on resource development on state and federal land in Alaska, with a call to immediately reverse restrictions, making Alaska’s land and resources available for development and production.
According to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources (DNR), 23% of US federal land open to mining is located in Alaska, with the state holding vast potential across a number of critical minerals.
Of the defined mineral resources globally, Alaska holds 7% of zinc resources, 7% of gold resources, 7% of silver resources, 12% of copper resources, 16% of molybdenum resources, 2% of lead resources, and 17% of coal resources, with the potential to produce 51 of 54 critical minerals identified by the US Geological Survey (USGS).
The state is also one of the premier investment destinations, with a 2024 survey by the Fraser Institute ranking it third globally for investment attractiveness and first globally for mineral potential independent of other considerations.
Integrated domestic supply chains are increasingly viewed as the backbone of US resource security, ensuring that the critical minerals mined in Alaska can be processed, refined, and manufactured within the country.
By linking upstream extraction with downstream refining and advanced materials production, emerging projects are aiming to reduce reliance on imports, strengthen national resilience, and capture more economic value at home.
Graphite One’s (TSX-V:GPH) Graphite Creek Project has been cited as the “largest known graphite deposit in the US” by the USGS.
The company notes that with its mine-to-manufacturing strategy, it aims to secure the US’ position as a global leader in the graphite materials supply chain.
The US is currently 100% dependent on imports for its natural graphite.
A recent EO by President Trump on 20 July 2026 reinforces the nation’s push to develop graphite and other critical minerals projects in the US. The order directly supports Graphite One’s strategy of building a fully integrated, domestic, and secure graphite supply chain.
CEO Anthony Huston says that while the company advances Graphite Creek, the focus is not just on developing a single project.
“We are building an integrated US graphite platform designed to connect the US’ largest known graphite resource with domestic advanced anode materials manufacturing and, ultimately, recycling,” Huston notes.
In addition to the Graphite Creek Mine, Graphite One is developing artificial and natural graphite facilities, having received permitting for its active anode materials (AAM) plant in Ohio on 18 July 2026.
The facility is designed to produce synthetic active anode materials for lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, grid-scale energy storage, and other applications.
The Ohio plant is expected to produce around 10,000 tonnes per year initially, with a gradual expansion to 25,000 tonnes.
Frontier refinery anchors Felix Gold’s US antimony strategy
On the antimony front, Felix Gold (ASX:FXG) is also developing a fully integrated domestic US supply chain, with materials from the Treasure Creek Antimony Project in Alaska flowing to the company’s wholly owned downstream platform, Frontier Antimony Refinery.
In early June 2024, Felix Gold commenced extracting and stockpiling its ‘high-grade’ antimony at Treasure Creek, with around 30 tonnes of massive stibnite vein material extracted at that point, as previously reported.
The material extracted comes from the same vein that returned a direct-ore assay of 71.9% antimony (Sb) and in-situ material grading up to 50.26% Sb and is the same vein that has previously delivered US military-grade antimony ore.
Executive Director Joseph Webb has said that Treasure Creek is entering a new phase of physically extracting and stockpiling ore as it advances a domestic processing pathway.
The Frontier Antimony Refinery — a platform focused on refining, metal production, marketing, and downstream development — will process material from Treasure Creek and eventually expand to include additional domestic sources of antimony feedstock.
With Washington backing Alaska’s vast mineral potential through new EOs and regulatory reforms, projects like Graphite Creek and Treasure Creek are emerging as cornerstones of US critical minerals strategy, developing integrated supply chain platforms.
Together, projects like these highlight Alaska’s role not only as an exploration destination but as an anchor in securing domestic supply chains for energy, defence, and advanced manufacturing.
Write to Amy Rotman at Mining.com.au
Images: Graphite One
