Federal report examines foreign investment in mining on U.S. lands

The Government Accountability Office released a report Friday examining foreign investment in mining on federal lands. The agency found limited available information on the full extent of foreign investment despite concerns over critical mineral supply chains.

The Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service oversee 632 approved hardrock mining plans of operation on federal land as of February 2026. The 1872 Mining Law requires mining claimants to be U.S. citizens or business entities incorporated in the United States.

GAO reviewed ownership information for 43 claimants and operators associated with critical mineral mines on federal lands. The agency determined ownership for 32 of those companies and found that 14 were subsidiaries of foreign entities.

According to the report, none of the 14 subsidiaries had Chinese-owned parent companies. However, in at least two cases, Chinese entities had financial interest in the foreign parent companies.

The report noted that the 1872 Mining Law does not require BLM or Forest Service to collect information on foreign parent companies. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, chaired by the Department of the Treasury, can review foreign investment in mining related to national security concerns.

The report covers extracted critical minerals exported from the U.S. from 2019 through 2025. Critical minerals including copper, lithium and zinc are key components in advanced technologies and essential to economic and national security.