MERICA Act of 2025
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The bill would amend the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands to make hardrock minerals — such as base and precious metals, industrial minerals, and gemstones — eligible for federal mineral leasing on acquired lands.
This would let mining companies seek leases for hardrock minerals on a broader set of federally acquired lands, which currently can only be leased for hardrock mining if acquired under specific statutes like the Weeks Act.
What this bill would do
What it would do
The bill would amend the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C. 351 et seq.) to add hardrock minerals to the list of mineral resources that can be leased on federally acquired lands. It defines "hardrock mineral" to include deposits found in sedimentary or other rocks, base metals, precious metals, industrial minerals, and precious and semi-precious gemstones, while excluding coal, oil, oil shale, gas, sodium, potassium, sulfur, and materials covered by the Materials Act of 1947. It also restructures the Act's definitions section into numbered paragraphs and adds hardrock minerals to the list of leasable substances in Section 3 of the Act.
The bill does not create a new leasing program or agency; it extends an existing leasing framework, previously limited to substances like coal, oil, gas, and sulfur, to also cover hardrock minerals on lands the federal government has acquired.
Key provisions
- 1Would add a definition of "hardrock mineral" to the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands, specifying included and excluded mineral types
- 2Would restructure the Act's existing definitions section into separately numbered paragraphs for clarity
- 3Would add hardrock minerals to the list of substances leasable under Section 3 of the Act, alongside sulfur
Who would be affected
Mining companies and prospectors seeking to extract hardrock minerals on federally acquired lands, the Department of the Interior (which administers the leasing program), and communities near federal acquired lands that could see new mineral leasing activity.
Why it matters
Mining companies would gain a clearer, broader path to lease hardrock minerals on acquired federal lands that were not obtained under statutes like the Weeks Act, potentially expanding domestic access to metals and minerals used in manufacturing and industry, subject to Interior Department leasing decisions.
What would change
Changes to existing law
Amends Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands (30 U.S.C. 351 et seq.) (Sec. 1)
Adds a definition of hardrock mineral and adds hardrock minerals to the list of substances that can be leased on acquired federal lands
Agencies directed to act
Legislative status & sources
Latest action
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Ordered to be reported without amendment favorably.
Official CRS summary
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This bill specifies that all federally acquired lands are eligible to be considered for hardrock mineral leasing under the Mineral Leasing Act for Acquired Lands (MLAAL). The bill defines the term hardrock mineral to (1) include deposits of minerals found in sedimentary or other rocks, base metals, precious metals, industrial minerals, and precious and semi-precious gemstones; and (2) exclude deposits of coal, oil, oil shale, gas, sodium, potassium, sulfur, or mineral materials subject to disposition under the Materials Act of 1947.
By way of background, hardrock minerals are not currently listed under the MLAAL as deposits subject to a lease, while mineral resources such as coal, phosphate, oil, gas, gilsonite, and sulfur are listed. As a result, federal lands may be leased for mining hardrock minerals only if the federal lands were acquired under a statute, such as the Weeks Act, that specifically authorizes the land to be used for hardrock mineral leasing.
Legislative subjects
Alaska; Energy; Land transfers; Licensing and registrations; Metals; Mining; Oil and gas
Committee report
H. Rept. 119-357