It takes an average of nearly 29 years to build a new mine in the US, the second-longest in the world behind only Zambia, hampering Washington’s efforts to boost output of lithium, nickel and other metals for the energy transition, a report said on Thursday.

The report by consultancy S&P Global comes amid rising pressure on US officials to streamline what is seen by mining companies and some policymakers as a confusing and lengthy process to obtain a mining permit that harms efforts to offset China’s near-total control of the critical minerals sector.