MAINE MONITOR • September 5, 2025
It was more than a year ago that Maine regulators approved final changes to Maine’s 2017 mining law, capping a yearlong process that was designed to clear the way for the development of a lithium-rich deposit in the western part of the state. So far, the overhaul has done little, if anything, to inspire Mary and Gary Freeman, the owners of the land in Newry where the deposit was discovered in 2021, to move forward with a small-scale spodumene mining operation. Mary Freeman said the project remains “on hold.” “Unless the price of spodumene soars, the costs to remove it under current regulation is prohibitive,” she said. “The mining regulations in Maine are not designed to promote environmentally safe extraction but rather to ban mining.” Luke Frankel, a staff scientist at the Natural Resources Council of Maine, said the state has taken an appropriately cautious approach to mineral development, learning from past mistakes and in the case of spodumene, finding a reasonable middle ground.