MERICA Act Expands Mineral Leasing to Hardrock Mining on Federal Lands, Including Precious Metals

The MERICA Act of 2025 is making a significant change to how the federal government manages mining for things like gold, copper, and industrial minerals on certain public lands. Specifically, Section 1 amends the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands to include “hardrock minerals” under its leasing authority. Before this, that Act mostly covered energy resources like oil, gas, and coal on these specific parcels of federal land.

What Exactly Is Changing?

Think of federal land management as having different rulebooks for different types of minerals. For decades, hardrock minerals—like the precious and base metals necessary for everything from jewelry to electric car batteries—were often managed under a different system. This bill essentially moves the management of hardrock minerals on acquired lands (land the government bought, rather than inherited from the original public domain) into the same rulebook used for leasing oil and gas.

The bill provides a broad definition of “hardrock mineral,” explicitly including deposits of base metals (like copper), precious metals (like gold and silver), and industrial minerals. Notably, it specifically excludes fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) and common materials like sand and gravel, keeping those under their existing rules. The practical effect is that if a mining company wants to extract copper from a piece of acquired federal land, they will now apply for a lease under the Mineral Leasing Act, which traditionally requires paying royalties to the federal government.

The Real-World Impact: Streamlining vs. Scrutiny

For mining companies, this change could be a win. It potentially streamlines the process for accessing resources like lithium and nickel, which are crucial for modern technology and manufacturing. By applying an existing leasing framework, the government could make it easier and faster to secure rights to these materials, which could increase domestic supply and potentially create jobs in resource extraction.

However, this is where the policy rubber meets the road, and things get complicated. The Mineral Leasing Act was designed primarily for energy resources, which have different environmental impacts and regulatory histories than hardrock mining. The concern here is that by shoehorning hardrock minerals into this existing structure, the bill might inadvertently supersede or weaken the environmental protections and permitting requirements that were previously specific to hardrock mining projects. If the new leasing rules are less stringent regarding environmental review or public participation than the old rules, local communities near potential extraction sites—and the environment itself—could face increased risk.

For the average person, this means two things: first, potentially greater domestic access to the raw materials that go into everything we use; and second, the need for heightened vigilance regarding the environmental oversight of these new projects. We need to watch closely to see if applying this leasing structure to hardrock minerals leads to clear, effective regulation, or if it creates regulatory gaps that allow for less scrutinized extraction activity on federal lands.