The Trump administration is moving to greenlight South32’s Hermosa Critical Minerals Project, a sprawling underground mine in Arizona’s Patagonia Mountains that would mark a milestone in the US effort to stop depending on foreign countries for the stuff that goes into batteries, defense systems, and industrial equipment.
A final environmental impact statement was issued by the US Forest Service on March 5, 2026. A Record of Decision, the formal federal approval, is expected by July 2026. If that timeline holds, it would make Hermosa the first critical minerals project to clear the full federal permitting gauntlet.
The price tag keeps climbing
South32’s Hermosa project was originally pegged at roughly $2 billion. Then, in April 2026, the company revised that figure upward to $3.3 billion, a roughly 50% jump from prior estimates of $2.2 billion.
Production has also been pushed back. The mine is now targeting the second half of fiscal year 2028 for first output.
