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Resource nationalism is also increasing in recent times, with countries heavily focused on building their own critical minerals supply chains. This caused the Biden administration to list copper as a critical mineral in late 2024, which would allow projects accelerated permits, investment incentives and national security enhancements.

Additionally, after new US President Donald Trump took office in January 2025, Trump issued an executive order that would slash red tape to increase domestic critical mineral production, including copper. The move has caused significant environmental concerns, but it could support US copper companies that have previously struggled to receive permits.

Further action to speed up permitting came on March 20, when Trump signed another executive order with the goal of increasing American mineral production. The order includes requests to related federal agencies to identify suitable mining sites on federal land and provide a list of priority projects.

This was followed by an announcement by the White House on April 18 that 10 mining projects will be granted increased transparency, accountability and predictability for the permitting review process, which will improve permitting times for critical mineral projects. The initial list includes two copper sites: the Resolution copper project in Arizona, which is covered in the list below, and an expansion of Lisbon Valley Mining Company’s Lisbon Valley mine in Utah.

In this article we dive into more than 25 US copper projects in the construction, restarting or permitting phase, based on data from mine database Mining Data Online (MDO) as of March 2025. MDO’s database focuses on publicly traded mining companies, so there may be US copper mines being developed by private companies that are not in this list.

Read on to learn about the advanced copper projects that could become new copper mines.

Next US copper mine: Copper mines under construction

Black Butte project

Ownership: 87% — Sandfire Resources (TSXV:SFR)
Mine type: Underground
Deposit type: SEDEX, Stratabound

Once it enters production, the Black Butte copper project in Montana is expected to produce 120,000 metric tons (MT) of copper concentrate annually. The site’s Johnny Lee deposit hosts proven and probable reserves of 8.8 million MT, containing 226,100 MT of copper at a grade of 2.6 percent.

Sandfire had previously begun Phase I construction to mine the Johnny Lee deposit, but a Montana district court ruling overturned the prior Record of Decision in 2022 halted it. However, the Montana Supreme Court ruled in Sandfire’s favor in Q1 2024. With its mining permit reinstated, the company is now assessing Black Butte’s economics as it moves toward a final investment decision.