In a landmark decision that underscores the Trump administration’s drive to reshape U.S. energy and mineral policy, the Department of the Interior on Friday approved the development of Anfield Energy’s Velvet-Wood uranium and vanadium mine in Utah—after a compressed 14-day environmental review, a dramatic departure from the years-long process such projects typically face.

The Velvet-Wood project, located in San Juan County, Utah, becomes the first mining operation greenlit under new emergency permitting rules, introduced following President Donald Trump’s declaration of a national energy emergency on his first day in office in January. That executive action directed federal agencies to accelerate approvals for energy and mining infrastructure, citing the need to boost domestic resource production, reduce foreign dependency, and reinforce U.S. national security.

The lithium industry is grappling with a deepening disconnect between booming long-term demand and plunging short-term prices — a structural mismatch that top global producers now believe could persist until the next decade.

Despite lithium’s surging role in the energy transition — driven by electric vehicles (EVs), grid-scale storage, and digital electronics — an ongoing oversupply, especially from China, has driven prices down over 90% in just two years. At the Fastmarkets Lithium and Battery Raw Materials Conference in Las Vegas, an event widely seen as a bellwether for sentiment in the industry, the dominant tone was one of somber realism.

Italy’s pledge to deepen its energy partnership with the United States signals how Rome is aligning more closely with Washington in reshaping Europe’s post-Ukraine energy landscape. After decades of reliance on Russian gas, Italy is positioning itself as a critical hub for U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) flows into the European Union, a move that reinforces both energy security and geopolitical alignment at a moment when the EU’s energy strategy is undergoing profound change.

The joint statement by Italian Energy Minister Gilberto Pichetto Fratin and U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum emphasized “steady and secure” flows of American LNG but avoided specific import targets. Instead, the focus was on infrastructure, Italy expanding its regasification capacity and the U.S. scaling up export terminals.