Critical Minerals

The Department of the Interior publishes a list of minerals deemed critical to U.S. national security and to the overall U.S economy. Critical minerals are used in products such as electronics, metal alloys, fuel cells, permanent magnets, high-capacity batteries, defense equipment, etc. Disruption to the supply chains of these critical minerals could result in significant national security and economic impacts.

Examples of critical minerals and their uses include:

• Barite: Cement and petroleum products.
• Beryllium: Aerospace and defense manufacturing.
• Fluorspar: Aluminum, gasoline, and uranium fuel.
• Graphite: Lubricants, batteries, and fuel cells.
• Lithium: Batteries for electric cars, computers, and industrial equipment.
• Magnesium: Furnace linings for manufacturing steel and ceramics.
• Manganese: Steelmaking.
• Rare earth element minerals (REEs): Batteries and high-tech electronics like cell phones and night-vision goggles
• Titanium: White pigment and metal alloys.
• Vanadium: Titanium alloys.
• Zirconium: High-temperature ceramics.