The Trump administration is in the final stages of approving a $2.7 billion loan for an Idaho gold and antimony mine that the Nez Perce Tribe is fighting in court.
The U.S. Export-Import Bank has finished reviewing the loan for Perpetua Resources’ Stibnite Gold Project and is notifying Congress. The project would produce antimony, a mineral at the center of a national trade spat with China. The Ex-Im Bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Today’s decision marks the final phase of EXIM approval,” Perpetua’s President and CEO Jon Cherry said in a statement. “We’ve worked diligently with U.S. EXIM for over two years on a financing solution aimed at strengthening America’s supply chains, creating jobs right here at home, and fortifying national security.”
The Canadian company is gearing up to operate the mine in the Payette National Forest. It has said the project could produce 35 percent of the U.S. antimony demand in the first six years of operation and meet the Department of Defense’s national security needs.
