America has a critical minerals problem. Washington knows it. China knows it.
And increasingly, mining companies know that having the right people in Washington, D.C. can matter almost as much as having the right rocks in the ground.
That reality helps explain why NovaRed Mining, a Vancouver-based junior exploration company, brought former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem onto its advisory board.
Noem was not hired because she can identify a copper deposit. She was hired because she understands Washington, and, more importantly, because she has relationships that a small Canadian mining company hopes can help it navigate an increasingly politicized critical minerals market.
There is nothing inherently unusual about a former cabinet secretary joining a corporate board, as government officials routinely take their experience, institutional knowledge, and contacts into the private sector.
But admittedly, critical minerals are different.
Copper, rare earths, and other strategic materials are today considered national-security assets. The United States is trying to reduce its dependence on China, strengthen domestic and North American supply chains, build strategic stockpiles, and encourage private investment in projects that Washington believes can advance American security.
For a junior miner, that makes political fluency valuable.
NovaRed’s Wilmac Copper-Gold Project in British Columbia is a case in point. The company is not a producing mining giant. In other words, NovaRed has a geological story to prove – and a lot of money to raise before it can prove it.
But the geological story is becoming more interesting.
NovaRed has reported copper concentrations as high as 1.67% and gold values reaching 0.433 grams per tonne from previously excavated trenches. Nine grab samples averaged 0.639% copper. The company says its exploration has identified porphyry-style alteration, veining, and mineralized stockwork.
Wilmac is also located in British Columbia’s Quesnel porphyry belt, roughly 10 kilometers from Hudbay Minerals’ producing Copper Mountain Mine. NovaRed believes Wilmac could represent part of a much larger buried alkalic copper-gold system.
NovaRed has assembled an intriguing advisory board that includes Noem, retired Army Colonel Mark Calabrese, and mining executive Ed Kostenski, who has advised the U.S. Export-Import Bank. The company’s strategy is plainly designed to combine mining expertise with government, national-security, and capital-markets experience.
NovaRed leadership obviously believes Noem’s experience and relationships can help the company navigate Washington, attract capital and identify opportunities in a government-driven critical minerals marketplace.
And let’s face it, America desperately needs more copper.
It needs mines, processing capacity, infrastructure, and reliable North American supply chains. It needs private investment and sensible government policy. It needs to compete with China rather than surrender strategic mineral markets to Beijing.
KRISTI NOEM LANDS A NEW GIG. HERE’S WHY THIS ROLE MATTERS
NovaRed has every right to make a calculated bet that Noem’s Washington experience can help advance its ambitions. And yes, investors have every right to judge whether that bet will pay off.
Because America’s critical minerals security will ultimately depend on what is in the ground, not who is sitting around the table.
Duggan Flanakin is a CFACT Policy Analyst.