Gold bars in 44 gallon drum.
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One of the US government’s most important activities to increase domestic production of a critical mineral is being developed without much fanfare: gold.
As of last year, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management supported stable projects and sought public input into gold mining activities.
President Donald Trump named gold along with uranium, copper and potash and other critical minerals in a Executive Order issued on March 20, 2025 entitled “Immediate Measures to Increase US Mineral Production”.
“Our national and economic security is now gravely threatened by our dependence on the mineral production of hostile foreign powers. It is imperative to our national security that the United States take immediate action to facilitate domestic mineral production to the greatest extent possible,” the order said.
The top gold producing countries are China, Russia, Australia and Canada.
In 2025, U.S. gold mine production at more than 40 mines in 12 states yielded about 160 tons worth $17 billion, up 32 percent from the previous year, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
“Nevada was the top gold-producing state, accounting for about 64% of total domestic production, followed by Alaska, which produced about 22% of domestic gold. About 7% of domestic gold was recovered as a byproduct of processing domestic base metal ores, primarily copper ores,” USGS famous.
Trump’s order called on a wide range of federal agencies to increase critical mineral production in several ways, including the Interior Department prioritizing land use for mineral production and mining.
Since then, the BLM has developed several projects to enhance gold mining operations.
California
The BLM’s latest move to increase domestic gold production includes seeking public comment through June 1 on a proposed second expansion of an eastern Mojave Desert project at the Castle Mountain gold mine.
The plan is to expand the open pit mine by 1,800 acres so it will be able to extract four times more gold annually — increasing production from 18 million tonnes to 80 million tonnes. The mine is located about 40 miles from Needles and about 60 mines south of Las Vegas.
“If approved, Castle Mountain Venture could expand open pit mining operations within the existing 3,910 acre mine plan boundary.” BLM he says.
San Bernardino County Gold and Silver open pit mine is California’s second largest active gold mine with a proven potential to produce over 4 million ounces of gold.
In another project in California, the BLM announced on April 8 that it had approved a plan Mojave Precious Metals Inc. to alter existing operations to drill exploratory wells on public lands where it has mining claims. The project will gather information to guide future mining on known mineral deposits, including gold.
