WASHINGTON — An executive fromGlencore ADR(OTC:GLNCY) and other experts at a mining conference this month pointed to a sluggish permitting system for holding back the U.S. battery materials supply chain.

While there has been some success downstream with gigafactories and cathode business, "the U.S. is extremely lacking" upstream in mining,Ash Lazenby, a senior cobalt trader with mining giant Glencore, said at a recentBenchmark Mineral Intelligencebattery metals conference in Washington, D.C.

The U.S. needs to firm up its permitting timelines as "predictability" for viable projects is the main barrier to addressing a...