In December 2025, a US mineral company declared the accidental discovery of a large deposit in the desert of Utah containing a significant amount of critical minerals. The deposit includes 16 rare earth and critical minerals with geological conditions similar to southern China’s rare earth mines, but with higher ore grades, making the extraction process easier and more environmentally friendly.
This marks the first commercial-grade deposit of its kind in the United States, described as “key minerals comparable to gold”. The deposit is expected to reduce America’s reliance on China for the supply of critical minerals used in national defense, artificial intelligence, and electric vehicle batteries. Strengthening US national security and reshaping the rare earth supply chain are crucial, potentially becoming a strategic turning point affecting national security and industrial vitality.
Ionic Mineral Technologies (Ionic MT), headquartered in Provo, Utah, is a US-based advanced materials producer focusing on extracting and producing high-value materials from the unique halloysite clay resources found in Utah.
Originally intending to lease lands containing halloysite clay deposits in Utah to produce nanosilicon and high-purity alumina products, Ionic MT unexpectedly discovered a rich deposit containing key minerals while exploring the Silicon Ridge mining area.
Independent tests revealed that the deposit is constituted of “halloysite-based ion-adsorption clays”, suggesting rich mineral content similar to China’s rare earth production, which accounts for a significant portion of global rare earth supply.
On December 11, 2025, Ionic MT officially announced the discovery of a critical mineral deposit while extracting clay at Silicon Ridge, highlighting its significance due to the similarity to geological structures that are major sources of China’s rare earth production.
The clay contains 16 key minerals used in electronic products, optical fiber cables, and lasers. Andre Zeitoun, the founder and CEO of Ionic MT, stated the importance of these minerals in various industries, from producing vehicles to fighter jets and driving artificial intelligence through semiconductor chips.
The discovery of the Silicon Ridge deposit, formed from ancient volcanic structures, offers significant potential for expansion, making it a unique deposit in the USA known to date.
With the region’s mineral wealth suspended in clay rather than solid rock, making extraction easier, Ionic MT plans to process these minerals in a nearby manufacturing facility with a patent-pending process that boasts low emissions and nearly zero waste production, achieving a high 95% recovery rate.
Amid concerns about global supply chains, China’s dominance in rare earth markets, and recent export restrictions, the discovery of new mineral reserves may help to diversify supply sources and bring back production of critical materials to the US in areas like artificial intelligence, defense, and battery technologies.
Utah leaders have praised the discovery, seeing it as a significant step towards providing energy resources for the nation’s future. By leveraging the new resources found in the Silicon Ridge deposit, Utah aims to lead the transition towards clean energy and reduce reliance on foreign sources, ensuring a stable future for American energy.
The confirmation of resources in the Silicon Ridge deposit represents a milestone in the development of US resource independence, offering a faster and cleaner extraction process compared to traditional hard rock mining, reducing strategic vulnerabilities.
For a long time, America’s high-tech and defense industries have relied on fragile external supplies, but the confirmation of 16 key minerals in a seemingly barren land in Utah presents a rare opportunity for independence.
The discovery of the Silicon Ridge rare earth deposit marks the first commercializable resource of critical minerals with controllable environmental costs, offering a historic breakthrough for the US in addressing past dependencies on key minerals.
With global disruptions and weaponization of supply chains becoming common, the emergence of this new deposit turns the concept of “resource independence” from a slogan into a reality.
In summary, the discovery of the Silicon Ridge deposit is not just about rare earth minerals but signifies a strategic turning point for the US concerning national security and industrial vitality—a true testament to the phrase often said: “God Bless America.”