The Department of the Interior today recognized the Colosseum Mine in California can continue mining operations under its existing mine plan of operations with the Bureau of Land Management.

Earlier this year, President Donald J. Trump issued an executive order to make the United States the leading producer and processor of non-fuel minerals, including rare earth minerals. The resumption of mining at Colosseum Mine, America’s second rare earth elements mine, supports efforts to bolster America’s capacity to produce the critical materials needed to manufacture the technologies to power our future. For too long, the United States has depended on foreign adversaries like China for rare earth elements for technologies that are vital to our national security. By recognizing the mine’s continued right to extract and explore rare earth elements, Interior continues to support industries that boost the nation’s economy and protect national security. 

Several law enforcement agencies and volunteers in Texas are fervently searching for 11-year-old Audrii Cunningham, who has been missing since Thursday.

Audrii was last seen around 7 a.m. Thursday in the 100 block of Lakeside Drive in Livingston, which is about 80 miles northeast of Houston, when she was supposed to catch the bus to school. Her family called cops after she didn’t get off the bus after school, and the Texas Department of Public Safety issued an Amber Alert which described her as an abducted child. She was wearing a black hoodie with black lettering, camo backpack, black pants and black high-top tennis shoes. She also was carrying a bright red, Hello Kitty-styled backpack at the time of her disappearance. School officials said she never made it to school on Thursday.