U.S. Department of the Interior Identifies 35 Critical Minerals

On December 20, 2017, in Executive Order 13817, President Donald Trump directed the Secretary of the Interior to publish a list of minerals deemed critical to U.S. national security and the economy. On February 16 this year, Interior published a draft list (compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey) of 35 minerals seen as critical to the U.S.

Here they are:

Under the president’s executive order, a critical mineral was identified to be: “…a non-fuel mineral or mineral material essential to the economic and national security of the United States, the supply chain of which is vulnerable to disruption, and that serves an essential function in the manufacturing of a product, the absence of which would have significant consequences for the economy or national security.”¹

“Critical”? I might also call them “strategic”.

About the Author:

Tom Butcher is an Associate Director at VanEck. Formerly an independent writer, researcher, and consultant focusing, amongst other things, on strategic materials, in particular metals, Mr Butcher has 40 years of experience in finance. He has lectured and spoken at conferences and universities around the world. Amongst other things, he writes the “Letter from North America” in the Minor Metals Trade Association's publication The Crucible, and was lead author of the chapter on gallium in the British Geological Survey's Critical Metals Handbook.

The article above is an opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of MV Index Solutions or its affiliates.