The United States government has shifted from policy to direct ownership in the mining sector, taking equity stakes in companies to secure critical minerals. Former government advisor Jim Rickards highlights this move as a strategic response to national security risks, noting that the administration took a 10% stake in Trilogy Metals in October 2025 via a $35.6 million investment. This action follows Executive Order 14153, titled "Unleashing Alaska's Extraordinary Resource Potential," which directed agencies to expedite permitting and rescind restrictions. The government's Final 2025 List of Critical Minerals formally ties US import dependence to defense readiness, adding copper, silver, and rhenium for the first time.

Rickards argues the government's stake-taking is a sequence rather than isolated events, pointing to positions in Lithium Americas, MP Materials, and Intel. He identifies a specific deposit containing an estimated 82 million ounces of gold, 371 million ounces of silver, 75 billion pounds of copper, and significant quantities of rhenium and molybdenum. This site, held by a small company trading under $2 per share, has an estimated in-ground value of $2.7 trillion. Rickards describes the asset as nearly 20 times larger than the five biggest nearby mines combined, noting it remains blocked by environmental restrictions despite its potential to reduce import reliance.

Key Mineral Deposit Estimates

The following table details the estimated resources within the domestic deposit highlighted by Rickards.

Strategic Context and Import Reliance

The USGS 2026 Mineral Commodity Summaries indicate the US was 100% net import reliant on 16 nonfuel mineral commodities in 2025 and more than 50% reliant on 50 others. For materials like yttrium, reliance is concentrated in China, which supplied an estimated 93% of US consumption. Rickards suggests the market is mispricing the regulatory risk, drawing parallels to historical precedents like Prudhoe Bay and Cheniere Energy where regulatory shifts unlocked significant value before production began.

New Critical Minerals Designations

The Final 2025 List of Critical Minerals added three commodities, reflecting expanding concerns for supply chains.

• Copper
• Silver
• Rhenium

Health benefit costs per employee in the U.S. are expected to rise 6.7% year-over-year in 2026 to at least $18,500, marking the biggest annual increase in 15 years. The surge signals growing financial pressure on both employers and workers, with health insurers projected to raise the cost of employer group plans by more than 6% for the fourth consecutive year.

The findings come from a report by Mercer released on June 11, which was highlighted by market commentator The Kobeissi Letter. The report indicates that nearly half of large U.S. employers are expected to raise deductibles, copays, or other out-of-pocket costs for workers in 2027. Additionally, around 66% of large U.S. firms may increase monthly employee premium contributions next year.

Workers who frequently visit doctors and fill prescriptions could see healthcare costs rise by as much as 8% year-over-year. "U.S. healthcare costs have never been higher," The Kobeissi Letter wrote.

Rising Prescription Drug Costs

The increasing cost burden is being driven partly by expensive prescription drugs, including specialty medications, gene therapies, and GLP-1 treatments such as Ozempic and Wegovy. Prescription drug benefit costs alone are expected to rise around 9% in 2026.

In response to these rising expenses, Mercer found that 6% of large employers dropped weight-loss GLP-1 coverage in 2026, while 27% tightened utilization controls.

Employer Strategies and Policy Responses

Employers are increasingly redesigning health plans to control spending. About 31% of large employers already offer or plan to offer non-traditional plans in 2027, such as high-performance networks or variable copay models that reduce costs when workers use approved providers.

Simon Camaj, Mercer's U.S. Health Leader, stated that employers are using a mix of traditional cost-sharing tactics and alternative care strategies to manage another year of elevated health benefit cost growth while attempting to minimize the impact on employees.

Policymakers are also targeting prescription drug inflation. The Trump administration said its drug-pricing agreements with major pharmaceutical companies could save the U.S. economy $529 billion over the next decade, according to White House estimates.

The affordability crisis extends beyond insured workers. Recent CDC data showed the U.S. uninsured rate remained at 8.3% in 2025, leaving roughly 28 million Americans without health coverage, while millions more remain underinsured. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) argued that despite the U.S. spending more than $15,000 per person on healthcare, tens of millions remain uninsured or underinsured.