Improvements in Department of the Interior Leasing of Potential Aluminum Resources Are Necessary for More Timely Decisionmaking

GAO was asked to address impediments in leasing the nonfuel mineral alunite on Federal lands. Development of alunite would produce both potash, a fertilizer, and alumina, the raw material for aluminum, a strategic material. The purpose of the review was to determine how the Department of the Interior's decentralized mineral management decisionmaking process affects the exploration and development of a nonfuel mineral. Therefore, GAO reviewed, in selected western states, all potash prospecting permit and preference right lease applications potentially affecting the exploration and development of alunite.