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Why a new mineral find near Utah Lake is drawing national attention
Leia Larsen | Guest Writer
The Silicon Ridge mine could bolster efforts to make U.S. less dependent on China as it seeks to lead the world in AI, electric vehicles, green energy and defense.
A Provo company has unearthed a massive deposit of minerals crucial for building electric vehicles, semiconductors, satellites, magnets and more — and it lies less than 20 miles south of Utah’s tech center at Silicon Slopes.
Ionic Minerals Technology (Ionic MT) found that its Silicon Ridge mine is rich in critical and rare-earth elements. The newly discovered supply could support national initiatives to lead the world in artificial intelligence, electrify transportation and bolster defense, all while reducing dependence on foreign markets like China.
And the company asserts it can extract the materials with virtually zero waste. It will also use no explosives or chemicals at the site, said CEO and founder Andre Zeitoun.
Zeitoun described the company as part of a new, more responsible generation of mining.
Silicon Ridge’s deposit of critical and rare earth minerals is suspended in clay, not hard rock, making it easier to extract.
The clay holds 16 critical minerals, Zeitoun said, including gallium and germanium, which are used in electronics, fiber-optic cables and lasers. China by far produces the lion’s share of those minerals and other rare earths, and it recently imposed an export ban on them, sending U.S. companies scrambling for new supplies.
“Over the last 20 years, [we’ve] kind of put ourselves in a situation,” Zeitoun said, “where we’ve allowed ourselves to be solely reliant on imports of these metals that power our lives.”
But with Ionic MT’s discovery, the minerals tech leaders at Silicon Slopes use in their computer hard drives, screens, chips, and more could be sourced from their own neighborhood. This local sourcing marks a shift from past reliance on distant or foreign minerals.
The Silicon Ridge mine lies on the southern end of the Lake Mountains, a small range just west of Utah Lake, on parcels leased from the State Trust Lands Administration. In addition to its location, the company also holds a permit with the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining, the terms of which remain confidential, state officials confirmed.
“We are excited about the ongoing progress on the project,” division director Mick Thomas said in a statement, “and the potential it represents.”
Rare earths are crucial for green technologies such as wind turbines and solar panels, as well as batteries and motors.
Ionic MT was launched in 2020 by mining halloysite from clay deposits in Juab County, near the town of Eureka. Halloysite is an aluminum-silicon mineral that electric vehicle manufacturers are tapping to help batteries charge faster and last longer.
Zeitoun said vehicles could soon charge as quickly as filling a gas tank, which he sees as key to EV adoption.
The company processes the mineral using a patented process at its 74,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Provo. In search of more supplies, Ionic MT began exploring Silicon Ridge but was surprised to find more than just halloysite.
“Our machine came back showing, in every single sample that we looked at, the same distribution of these metals,” Zeitoun said. “We first thought … maybe there’s a mistake.”
Third-party testing, however, revealed an abundance of gallium, germanium, rubidium, cesium, scandium, lithium, vanadium, tungsten, niobium and other metals, the CEO said. The Silicon Ridge deposit came from the same type of ancient volcanic formation that created rich deposits in China. That nation currently produces around 60% of global rare-earth supplies and accounts for 90% of processing.
Similar deposits lie in Brazil and Australia, Zeitoun said, but Silicon Ridge is the only known analog in the United States.
The discovery at Silicon Ridge could open the door to finding more rare earths throughout Utah, said Katie Potter, a professional geologist and professor of practice at Utah State University.
“It may kick off a halloysite gold rush,” Potter said.
Utah’s halloysite formed from a volcanic flare-up around 30 million years ago, Potter said. The ash settled near hot springs, creating unique clays with tube structures.
“Those tubes can suck in rare earth elements and other critical metals, like lithium,” she said, “and prevent it from being leached or weathered away.”
Silicon Ridge’s proximity to roads, power lines and a workforce make it favorable for mineral development as well, Potter added.
“We also have climate change and a need to shift away from carbon-emitting energy resources,” she said. “If it’s not extracted here, where we have stronger environmental regulations … it’s going to be done by offloading those effects” to other countries.
Ionic MT initially leased 4,053 acres on Silicon Ridge from the Trust Lands Administration in 2023. They returned to that agency’s board in August, seeking another 3,700 acres, after more than 100 boreholes and trenches revealed ample concentrations of rare earth and critical minerals in the clay.
The state will earn $13 per acre per year under the lease and $1.60 per ton, or 10% of the gross value of the mined clay, whichever is greater, according to Trust Land documents. All the revenue will go to Utah schools.
With state permits and a processing facility already in place, Zeitoun said his company is ready to move “rapidly” to begin harvesting the minerals. The mine could create “hundreds” of local jobs, he said.
The federal government has also expressed interest in supporting the mine, Zeitoun said, but he declined to disclose any details. The Trump administration has moved to secure a more diverse supply of rare earths in recent weeks following clashes with China.
State leaders, meanwhile, are having their own eureka moment over Ionic MT’s discovery.
Senate President Stuart Adams and House Speaker Mike Schultz, both Republicans, cited Silicon Ridge as an example of Utah’s ability to power the nation’s future.
“Our state is uniquely positioned to lead the transition to cleaner energy,” Adams said in a news release Thursday, “by developing next-generation resources right in our own backyard.”
Gov. Spencer Cox, also a Republican, called the new mine “a huge win for Utah and the nation” in a LinkedIn post. He added the development will help fuel his “Operation Gigawatt,” an initiative to more than double the state’s energy production over the next decade.
Note to readers • This story is made possible through a partnership between The Salt Lake Tribune and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization.
