Nov 29, 2025
BACA — For decades, the only option con sidered for cleaning up low-level radioactive waste left behind on the Navajo Nation by uranium and vanadium profiteers was to consolidate it and cap it in place after the more radio active principal threat waste had been removed. But technology has advanced since the Cold War, and executive orders signed by President Donald Trump following his Jan. 20 declaration of a “National Energy Emergency” could give Navajo an advantage in helping further the president’s policy of making America energy dominant. The tribe hopes to support the national energy security effort by supplying critical minerals from residual wastes at 523 abandoned uranium mine sites across the reservation. In addition to uranium, vanadium also was mined on the reservation. Both are among 60 minerals added to the Final 2025 List of Critical Minerals published Nov. 7 in the Federal Register.
From waste to feedstock? Many of the energy actions set in motion by the president’s executive orders are being put on the fast track, backed by funding opportunities to accelerate implementation, according to Stephen Etsitty, exec utive director of the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency. Etsitty pointed to Executive Order 14241 which fo cuses on “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production” as example. The U.S. Depart ment of Energy announced two funding opportunities Nov. 14 totaling $355 million to expand domestic production of critical minerals and materials. “This announcement is highly relevant to the Navajo Nation for several reasons,” Etsitty told the Eastern Navajo Land Commission during a Nov. 21 From waste to feedstock? Many of the energy actions set in motion by the president’s executive orders are being put on the fast track, backed by funding opportunities to accelerate implementation, according to Stephen Etsitty, exec utive director of the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency. Etsitty pointed to Executive Order 14241 which fo cuses on “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production” as example. The U.S. Depart ment of Energy announced two funding opportunities Nov. 14 totaling $355 million to expand domestic production of critical minerals and materials. “This announcement is highly relevant to the Navajo Nation for several reasons,” Etsitty told the Eastern Navajo Land Commission during a Nov. 21 meeting at Baca Chapter House. "The first funding opportunity provides $275 million to extract critical minerals from industrial byproducts and waste streams, including materials left over from historic mining operations. Our [abandoned uranium mine] sites and legacy uranium waste streams may qualify as eligible feedstock.” The $275 million will be divided among 10 re cipients. “We’re going to try and get anywhere from $35 million to $40 million,” he said. The second opportunity would provide up to $80 million to establish "Mine of the Future" field-testing sites for next-generation mining and reclamation technologies. “My understanding from reading the grant announcement is that is really for the current mining industry and we don’t have a lot of mining industry actually on the reservation,” Etsitty added... Read full article from source: The Gallup Independent — The Truth Well Told <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FGallupIndependent%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0RPQ9SEswUjj2wABDopDJXejfGahkHt4Q4aeJ64MapbysR8yiq3F3XZr7AJn6nf3Ql&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="614" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe>