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Released August 28, 2025 | SUGAR LAND
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Written by Daniel Graeber for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The U.S. government has outlined a draft list of 54 critical minerals it would use to guide investment and permitting decisions.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) published a draft list of mineral commodities to be monitored for potential supply-chain disruptions, as outlined by energy legislation signed in 2020. The Energy Act of 2020 defines critical minerals as those that are essential to the economic or national security of the U.S.; have a supply chain that is vulnerable to disruption; and serve an essential function in the manufacturing of a product, the absence of which would have significant consequences for the economic or national security of the U.S.
"Minerals-based industries contributed over $4 trillion to the U.S. economy in 2024, and with this methodology we can pinpoint which industries may feel the greatest impacts of supply disruptions and understand where strategic domestic investments or international trade relationships may help mitigate risk to individual supply chains," Sarah Ryker, acting director of the USGS, said Tuesday.
Potash, silicon, copper, silver, rhenium and lead were recommended for inclusion to the critical minerals list and arsenic and tellurium were recommended for removal.
Writing in the 1970s as the United States was coping with strategic overreach, American political scientists Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye observed two aspects of an interdependent relationship--a state can either be sensitive to a trading partner, leaving it at a short-term disadvantage should relations deteriorate, or be vulnerable, meaning it has few other options but to tolerate any perceived belligerence from a trading partner.
The USGS ran models on various trade scenarios across the mineral sector and found rhodium trade from South Africa was an example of sensitivity. Across its modelling, it found there's only a 3.9% chance of a full stop to rhodium imports from South Africa.
"On America's balance sheet, the loss of even one critical mineral can ripple through entire industries, from semiconductors to defense systems, undermining production capacity, technology leadership, and American jobs," the USGS stressed.
The draft list of minerals follows funding from the federal government to support the domestic industry. The Department of Energy (DOE) unveiled plans earlier this month to offer around $250 million to facilities that can produce critical mineral byproducts from existing industrial processes, such as coal. In all, the DOE said it planned to send out notices of funding opportunities, totaling nearly $1 billion, aimed at boosting the supply of critical minerals. For more on that, see August 15, 2025, article - U.S. Energy Department to Pump Nearly $1 Billion into Critical Minerals.
The USGS, meanwhile, estimates the Coeur d'Alene gold and silver mine in Idaho holds roughly $2.5 billion worth of precious minerals, including antimony and arsenic, that's hidden in mining waste, supporting the domestic effort to find materials for advanced technologies from hard drives to electric vehicles. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Project Database can click here for the mine's plant profile.
Industrial Info is tracking 46 active capital mining projects in Idaho, worth $9.24 billion, making mining one of the largest industries in the state's economy. Subscribers can click here for the project reports.
The Interior Department under President Donald Trump has leaned on an emergency energy declaration to streamline reviews of critical-mineral projects. In declaring the emergency early this year, Trump said the lack of domestic developments left the country "vulnerable to hostile foreign actors."
Highlighting the thesis from Keohane and Nye, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned in June that many nations are vulnerable to foreign suppliers.
"Diversification is the watchword for energy security, but the critical minerals world has moved in the opposite direction in recent years, particularly in refining and processing," the IEA said. "High market concentration increases vulnerability to supply shocks, particularly if, for any reason, supply from the largest producing country is disrupted."
The U.S. is largely dependent on imports of many critical minerals such as lithium, with China controlling about 70% of the market. Demand for lithium and other minerals is accelerating as the global economy embraces cleaner forms of energy, and as modern technologies such as computers and smart phones become ubiquitous.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) published a draft list of mineral commodities to be monitored for potential supply-chain disruptions, as outlined by energy legislation signed in 2020. The Energy Act of 2020 defines critical minerals as those that are essential to the economic or national security of the U.S.; have a supply chain that is vulnerable to disruption; and serve an essential function in the manufacturing of a product, the absence of which would have significant consequences for the economic or national security of the U.S.
"Minerals-based industries contributed over $4 trillion to the U.S. economy in 2024, and with this methodology we can pinpoint which industries may feel the greatest impacts of supply disruptions and understand where strategic domestic investments or international trade relationships may help mitigate risk to individual supply chains," Sarah Ryker, acting director of the USGS, said Tuesday.
Potash, silicon, copper, silver, rhenium and lead were recommended for inclusion to the critical minerals list and arsenic and tellurium were recommended for removal.
Writing in the 1970s as the United States was coping with strategic overreach, American political scientists Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye observed two aspects of an interdependent relationship--a state can either be sensitive to a trading partner, leaving it at a short-term disadvantage should relations deteriorate, or be vulnerable, meaning it has few other options but to tolerate any perceived belligerence from a trading partner.
The USGS ran models on various trade scenarios across the mineral sector and found rhodium trade from South Africa was an example of sensitivity. Across its modelling, it found there's only a 3.9% chance of a full stop to rhodium imports from South Africa.
"On America's balance sheet, the loss of even one critical mineral can ripple through entire industries, from semiconductors to defense systems, undermining production capacity, technology leadership, and American jobs," the USGS stressed.
The draft list of minerals follows funding from the federal government to support the domestic industry. The Department of Energy (DOE) unveiled plans earlier this month to offer around $250 million to facilities that can produce critical mineral byproducts from existing industrial processes, such as coal. In all, the DOE said it planned to send out notices of funding opportunities, totaling nearly $1 billion, aimed at boosting the supply of critical minerals. For more on that, see August 15, 2025, article - U.S. Energy Department to Pump Nearly $1 Billion into Critical Minerals.
The USGS, meanwhile, estimates the Coeur d'Alene gold and silver mine in Idaho holds roughly $2.5 billion worth of precious minerals, including antimony and arsenic, that's hidden in mining waste, supporting the domestic effort to find materials for advanced technologies from hard drives to electric vehicles. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Project Database can click here for the mine's plant profile.
Industrial Info is tracking 46 active capital mining projects in Idaho, worth $9.24 billion, making mining one of the largest industries in the state's economy. Subscribers can click here for the project reports.
The Interior Department under President Donald Trump has leaned on an emergency energy declaration to streamline reviews of critical-mineral projects. In declaring the emergency early this year, Trump said the lack of domestic developments left the country "vulnerable to hostile foreign actors."
Highlighting the thesis from Keohane and Nye, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned in June that many nations are vulnerable to foreign suppliers.
"Diversification is the watchword for energy security, but the critical minerals world has moved in the opposite direction in recent years, particularly in refining and processing," the IEA said. "High market concentration increases vulnerability to supply shocks, particularly if, for any reason, supply from the largest producing country is disrupted."
The U.S. is largely dependent on imports of many critical minerals such as lithium, with China controlling about 70% of the market. Demand for lithium and other minerals is accelerating as the global economy embraces cleaner forms of energy, and as modern technologies such as computers and smart phones become ubiquitous.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
