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Wright in Wyoming for First U.S. Rare Earth Mine Opening in Over 70 Years, Fox News Interview

July 11, 2025 · U.S. Department of Energy · 0:05:06

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

Energy Secretary Chris Wright spoke with Fox News’ Harris Faulkner on July 11, 2025 from Wyoming, where a ribbon cutting marked the opening of the first rare earth minerals mine in the United States in more than 70 years, as the program stated it; the project also includes Wyoming’s first new coal mine in more than 50 years. The operating company’s founder and CEO said the site holds higher concentrations of medium and heavy rare earth magnet materials than any place outside western China, as he stated the comparison, and called it America’s answer to China.

Wright said China controls the rare earth supply chain and that every device with a button contains rare earth elements, from phones and televisions to commercial and fighter jets, so the United States needs control itself. He said President Trump set out to reindustrialize America, which means mining in America and control over things critical to national and economic security. Asked why it had been seventy years, Wright said the country decided it did not like doing big, bold things some people thought were dirty, while China spent tens of billions of dollars to control mining, processing, refining and magnet construction and gain leverage over industrial nations, as he described it.

Wright also discussed the May critical minerals deal with Ukraine, calling it a win for both sides that brings American interests on the ground in Ukraine and sends a strong message to Russia, and said some supply would be friend-sourced from allies. Standing in what he called the largest coal mining district in the United States, he said the site would yield both coal and the rare earth elements that break dependence on China.

Why it matters

The Wyoming opening is the administration’s flagship proof point for its critical-minerals strategy: a domestic mine presented as the start of ending China’s leverage over materials used across consumer and military technology.

Sources: U.S. Department of Energy, “Secretary Wright Joins Fox News’ Harris Faulkner - July 11, 2025”, 2025-07-11 (official upload, embedded above; published 2025-07-11). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.