Interior Department Seeks Public Comment on Draft List of Critical Minerals
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced that it is seeking public comment on a recently released draft list of minerals “considered critical to the economic and national security of the United States.”
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An executive order from President Trump in December directed the secretary of the interior (in coordination with other agencies) to publish a list of critical minerals in the Federal Register. As of Feb. 27, there were 102 public comments listed on the Federal Register.
“The work of the USGS (United States Geological Survey) is at the heart of our nation’s mission to reduce our vulnerability to disruptions in the supply of critical minerals,” said Dr. Tim Petty, assistant secretary of the interior for water and science, in an Interior Department release. “Any shortage of these resources constitutes a strategic vulnerability for the security and prosperity of the United States.”
The published list covers minerals used in a broad range of practical applications, from catalytic agents to batteries.
According to the Executive Order signed Dec. 20 by Trump, a critical mineral is defined according to a trio of components:
- A non-fuel mineral or mineral material essential to the economic and national security of the U.S.
- The mineral has a supply chain vulnerable to disruption
- The mineral serves an essential function in the manufacturing of a product, “the absence of which would have significant consequences” for the economy and national security
According to the order, within 180 days of publication of the list of minerals, the secretary of commerce — in coordination with the secretaries of defense, the interior, agriculture and energy — will submit a report to the president that will outline, among other things, a strategy to reduce the U.S.’s reliance on critical minerals and an assessment of “progress toward developing critical minerals recycling and reprocessing technologies.”
The full list of critical minerals from the Department of the Interior, including common applications, is as follows:
- Aluminum (bauxite), used in almost all sectors of the economy
- Antimony, used in batteries and flame retardants
- Arsenic, used in lumber preservatives, pesticides, and semi-conductors
- Barite, used in cement and petroleum industries
- Beryllium, used as an alloying agent in aerospace and defense industries
- Bismuth, used in medical and atomic research
- Cesium, used in research and development
- Chromium, used primarily in stainless steel and other alloys
- Cobalt, used in rechargeable batteries and superalloys
- Fluorspar, used in the manufacture of aluminum, gasoline, and uranium fuel
- Gallium, used for integrated circuits and optical devices like LEDs
- Germanium, used for fiber optics and night vision applications
- Graphite (natural), used for lubricants, batteries, and fuel cells
- Hafnium, used for nuclear control rods, alloys, and high-temperature ceramics
- Helium, used for MRIs, lifting agent, and research
- Indium, mostly used in LCD screens
- Lithium, used primarily for batteries
- Magnesium, used in furnace linings for manufacturing steel and ceramics
- Manganese, used in steelmaking
- Niobium, used mostly in steel alloys
- Platinum group metals, used for catalytic agents
- Potash, primarily used as a fertilizer
- Rare earth elements group, primarily used in batteries and electronics
- Rhenium, used for lead-free gasoline and superalloys
- Rubidium, used for research and development in electronics
- Scandium, used for alloys and fuel cells
- Strontium, used for pyrotechnics and ceramic magnets
- Tantalum, used in electronic components, mostly capacitors
- Tellurium, used in steelmaking and solar cells
- Tin, used as protective coatings and alloys for steel
- Titanium, overwhelmingly used as a white pigment or metal alloys
- Tungsten, primarily used to make wear-resistant metals
- Uranium, mostly used for nuclear fuel
- Vanadium, primarily used for titanium alloys
- Zirconium, used in the high-temperature ceramics industries
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