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Published: October 15, 2026 |
The Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (Permitting Council) has completed federal permitting for the McDermitt Exploration Project. Added to the federal permitting dashboard as a transparency project in April 2025, this project will produce lithium critical to national security and battery production.
“I am thrilled to see the 20th FAST-41 mining project complete federal permitting,” said Emily Domenech, Permitting Council Executive Director.
“By utilizing our transparency dashboard, the Permitting Council has been able to support more mining projects than ever before, resulting in more projects completing permitting on time. Congratulations to the Bureau of Land Management for getting this critical mineral project to the finish line,” added Domenech.
Located in southeast Oregon, the McDermitt Exploration project proposes to expand their exploration activities for lithium in the Oregon portion of the McDermitt caldera. The U.S. currently imports lithium to meet battery production needs, but the permitting of this project will allow for the exploration of a possible long-life supply of lithium for domestic consumption.
“BLM’s approval of our EPO for McDermitt is a major milestone for the project and follows extensive environmental studies, community reviews and consultation with state, federal, and tribal governments,” said Lindsay Dudfield, President of HiTech Minerals.
“As one of the first ten mining projects nationally to be listed as a FAST-41 transparency project, McDermitt benefited from enhanced interagency coordination, improved permitting visibility, and the additional resourcing made available under the FAST-41 framework. This has supported a more efficient NEPA process and strengthened the quality of engagement with local communities and stakeholders via both the FAST-41 permitting dashboard and BLM’s e-planning platform,” added Dudfield.
“HiTech Minerals is grateful for the support provided by the Permitting Council, which has been instrumental in achieving the EPO approval announced today. This progress is underpinned by the Trump administration’s continued prioritization of domestic mining and processing. With the EPO now approved, we look forward to advancing the project responsibly and transparently for the benefit of all stakeholders,” concluded Dudfield.
The McDermitt Exploration project is sponsored by HiTech Minerals. The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management led federal permitting for the project.
HiTech Minerals is a wholly owned subsidiary of Jindalee Resources.
Learn more on the Federal Permitting dashboard HERE.
The Permitting Council coordinates federal environmental reviews and authorizations for projects that seek and qualify for FAST-41 coverage. FAST-41 covered projects are entitled to comprehensive permitting timetables and transparent, collaborative management of those timetables on the Federal Permitting Dashboard. FAST-41 covered projects may be in the energy production, electricity transmission, energy storage, surface transportation, aviation, ports and waterways, water resource, broadband, pipelines, manufacturing, mining, carbon capture, semiconductors, artificial intelligence and machine learning, high-performance computing and advanced computer hardware and software, quantum information science and technology, data storage and data management, and cybersecurity sectors.
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