SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The U.S. government has approved a mining project near a river in central Utah to extract a mineral used in fertilizer under heightened pressure from the Trump administration to increase mining of dozens of minerals on American soil.
Bureau of Land Management officials held a news conference Tuesday to announce a project that will allow Crystal Peak Minerals to extract potassium-rich potash at a lakebed called Sevier Playa located about 180 miles (290 kilometers) southwest of Salt Lake City.
In June, the Trump administration announced plans to expand U.S. mining of nearly three dozen critical minerals including potash with streamlined permitting because such minerals bolster U.S. security and reduce the need for foreign imports.
Environmental activists and local leaders have expressed concern the project will threaten the area’s solitude and residents’ water rights.
