One REM is located in the USA in California and is completely permitted and has the backing of the NSA/DOD. It will be in full production by 2012 and has all the money it could possibly ever require at this point in time. (We need this stuff for those smart bombs plus the green revolution!)
This project is classified as critical to national defense which means that normal environmental regulations do not always apply when bringing this mine back into production. This really means that permitting processes are accellerated. It doesn't mean that they can just destroy the environment at will but they are allowed more latitude than a "normal" mining operation when coming into production by the EPA etc... (Back into production would be an apt description since this mine has produced in the past and had profit issues because of production costs.)