Critical minerals are minerals, elements, substances, or materials that are essential to the economic or national security of the United States, have supply chains vulnerable to disruption, and serve essential functions in the manufacturing of products across energy, defense, agriculture, consumer electronics, and healthcare [1]. The term carries a specific legal definition under US federal law and determines which minerals qualify for accelerated permitting, federal financing, tax incentives, defense stockpiling, and other policy support.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) maintains the official Critical Minerals List on behalf of the Department of the Interior. The current list, finalized on November 7, 2025, contains 60 minerals [2]. These range from widely recognized industrial metals like copper and lithium to lesser-known elements like scandium, rubidium, and thulium that are nonetheless indispensable in advanced manufacturing.
Understanding what qualifies as a critical mineral, who decides the list, and what the designation means in practice is essential context for anyone following US mineral policy, supply chain security, or the domestic exploration and mining industry.
The legal definition of a critical mineral is established in Section 7002 of the Energy Act of 2020 (P.L. 116-260), which is codified at 30 USC 1606 [1]. Under this statute, a critical mineral is any mineral, element, substance, or material designated as critical by the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the USGS, that meets three criteria:
First, it must be essential to the economic or national security of the United States. Second, its supply chain must be vulnerable to disruption, including disruption from foreign political risk, abrupt demand growth, military conflict, anti-competitive behavior, or other supply chain risks. Third, it must serve an essential function in the manufacturing of a product, the absence of which would have significant consequences for US economic or national security [1].
The statute explicitly excludes fuel minerals, water, ice, and snow. It also excludes common varieties of sand, gravel, stone, pumice, cinders, and clay [1]. Uranium was excluded under this definition in 2022 because it is classified as a fuel mineral, but was added back to the 2025 list through a separate provision of the Energy Act that allows the Secretary to include minerals designated as strategic and critical by another federal agency [3].
The definition is intentionally broad. It covers not only raw mined commodities but also processed materials, refined metals, and chemical compounds. This breadth reflects the reality that supply chain risk can emerge at any stage from extraction through refining to finished product.
The USGS leads the technical assessment process on behalf of the Secretary of the Interior. The Energy Act of 2020 requires the USGS to develop and maintain the Critical Minerals List and to update it at least every three years [1]. In practice, the 2025 Federal Register notice indicates the USGS intends to move to biannual updates going forward [2].
The designation process involves several steps. The USGS first conducts a quantitative assessment of supply chain risk and economic impact for each mineral commodity it evaluates. For the 2025 list, the USGS analyzed 84 mineral commodities using an economic model that simulates over 1,200 trade disruption scenarios [4]. The results are published in a technical report and a draft list is posted in the Federal Register for a 30-day public comment period. Following public comment and interagency review, the Secretary of the Interior publishes the final list [3].
The interagency review is a meaningful part of the process. For the 2025 list, the Department of Energy, the Department of War (the secondary designation for the Department of Defense), and the Department of Agriculture each recommended the addition of specific minerals based on their respective areas of expertise [3]. The Recognizing the Importance of Critical Minerals in Healthcare Act of 2023 (P.L. 118-233) also added the Secretary of Health and Human Services to the list of officials the Secretary of the Interior must consult [5].
Separately, the Department of Energy maintains its own Critical Materials List under the same section of the Energy Act. The DOE list focuses specifically on materials critical to energy technologies and includes all minerals on the USGS list plus additional energy-specific materials [6].
The current 2025 Critical Minerals List contains 60 minerals [2]. This is the largest list in the history of the US critical minerals designation process.
The list has grown with each update. The first list, published in 2018 under Executive Order 13817, included 35 minerals. The second list, published in 2022 under the Energy Act of 2020, expanded to 50 minerals. The 2025 list retains all 50 minerals from 2022 and adds 10 new ones: boron, copper, lead, metallurgical coal, phosphate, potash, rhenium, silicon, silver, and uranium [3].
Of the 60 minerals, 15 are rare earth elements. The list also includes platinum group metals (platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium), battery metals (lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, graphite), and industrial minerals with concentrated supply chains (tin, tantalum, antimony, tungsten, gallium, germanium) [7].
For the complete alphabetical list of all 60 minerals with detailed context on the methodology and policy implications, see the companion page: 2025 Critical Minerals List: All 60 Minerals Explained.
Critical minerals are the physical inputs that make modern technology, energy systems, and military capability possible. Their importance stems from three overlapping realities: they are essential to high-value industries, they are difficult or impossible to substitute, and their supply chains are concentrated in a small number of countries.
Economic scale: Mineral-reliant industries contributed over $4 trillion to the US economy in 2025, representing more than one-eighth of total GDP [8]. This figure spans aerospace, electronics, construction, automotive manufacturing, energy production, and agriculture. A disruption to even one critical mineral can cascade through multiple downstream industries.
Substitution difficulty: Many critical minerals have no commercially viable substitutes in their primary applications. Tantalum capacitors cannot be replaced in high-reliability aerospace electronics without significant performance compromises. Rare earth permanent magnets (neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, terbium) are essential in electric vehicle motors, wind turbine generators, and precision-guided munitions, and no alternative magnet technology matches their performance at scale. Gallium and germanium are required for compound semiconductors used in 5G infrastructure and military communications.
Supply concentration: Global production and refining of many critical minerals is concentrated in one or a few countries. China dominates the refining of rare earth elements, gallium, germanium, graphite, antimony, and tungsten. The Democratic Republic of the Congo produces the majority of the world’s cobalt. South Africa accounts for the bulk of platinum group metal production. This concentration means that trade disputes, export restrictions, political instability, or natural disasters in a single country can disrupt global supply chains with little warning [4].
The United States is significantly dependent on imports for many critical minerals. According to the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025, the US was 100% net import reliant on at least 15 nonfuel mineral commodities in 2024 [9]. For dozens of additional minerals, import reliance exceeds 50%.
Some of the most extreme cases involve minerals with direct defense and technology applications. Tantalum: 100% net import reliant, with no domestic mine production since 1959 [9]. Gallium: 100% net import reliant [10]. Manganese: 100% net import reliant [9]. Tin: 73% net import reliant, with no domestic mine production since 1993 and no domestic smelting since 1989 [9]. Rare earth compounds and metals: approximately 80% net import reliant, with about 56% of consumption sourced from China [10].
This import dependence is not a theoretical risk. Between 2023 and 2025, China imposed export controls, licensing requirements, or outright bans on gallium, germanium, antimony, graphite, tungsten, and multiple rare earth elements [11]. Although some of these restrictions were temporarily suspended in late 2025 following diplomatic negotiations, the legal frameworks remain intact and the restrictions demonstrated China’s willingness and ability to use mineral supply as a geopolitical tool [12].
The US imported at least 29 mineral commodities from China between 2020 and 2023, and China was a major import source for 14 of the 33 critical minerals where the US is most import dependent [8][10].
Inclusion on the Critical Minerals List activates eligibility for a range of federal programs designed to reduce supply chain vulnerability. The key programs include:
Defense Production Act (DPA) Title III authorizes financial support, including loans, loan guarantees, and purchase commitments, to expand domestic production capacity for materials deemed critical to national defense. Recent examples include a $19 million award in September 2024 to support a tin smelter in Coatesville, Pennsylvania [9].
FAST-41 Permitting provides a coordinated, transparent federal environmental review and permitting process for large infrastructure projects, including mines targeting critical minerals. The program establishes a permitting timetable and a public dashboard for tracking review progress [13].
DOE Critical Minerals and Materials Program funds research, development, demonstration, and commercialization activities focused on alternatives to, recycling of, and efficient production of critical materials [6].
EXIM Bank Programs support the development and processing of critical minerals through export financing and the Make More in America initiative. The recently announced Project Vault establishes a strategic reserve focused on rare earths, lithium, nickel, and related metals [8].
Section 45X Production Tax Credits under the Inflation Reduction Act provide production tax credits for domestic processing of certain critical minerals. Inclusion on the USGS list informs eligibility.
National Defense Stockpile acquires and maintains reserves of strategic materials, with the 2025 Critical Minerals List informing stockpiling priorities.
These programs collectively create a federal policy environment that supports domestic critical mineral exploration, mining, processing, and recycling.
The terms “critical minerals” and “critical materials” are related but legally distinct under US federal law.
Critical minerals are designated by the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the USGS, under Section 7002(c) of the Energy Act of 2020. The 2025 list contains 60 minerals [2].
Critical materials are designated by the Secretary of Energy under Section 7002(a) of the Energy Act. The DOE’s Critical Materials List includes all minerals on the USGS Critical Minerals List plus additional materials that the Secretary of Energy determines have high supply chain risk and serve essential functions in energy technologies [6]. The DOE definition is specifically focused on materials important to technologies that produce, transmit, store, and conserve energy.
The practical distinction matters because different programs reference different lists. Defense-related programs typically reference the USGS Critical Minerals List. Energy-related tax credits and DOE funding programs may reference the DOE Critical Materials List. Some materials, such as electrical steel and silicon carbide, appear on the DOE list but not the USGS list.
Both lists are required by the Energy Act of 2020 to be updated periodically, and both inform federal strategy, investment, and permitting decisions.
For companies exploring or mining in the United States, the critical minerals designation shapes the permitting, financing, and strategic landscape. Projects targeting listed minerals are eligible for accelerated federal review under FAST-41, financial support under DPA Title III, and tax incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act. The designation also signals federal policy priority, which influences state-level regulatory environments and investor sentiment.
The 2025 list’s expansion to 60 minerals broadens the range of projects that qualify for these programs. For exploration projects targeting minerals with extreme US import dependence, the policy alignment is particularly direct. Tin and tantalum, for example, are minerals where the US has effectively zero domestic production and heavy or total import reliance, yet both are essential in defense electronics, advanced manufacturing, and food-grade packaging [9].
South Dakota’s Black Hills region illustrates how the critical minerals framework intersects with active exploration. The historic Tinton Pegmatite District hosts confirmed occurrences of multiple minerals on the 2025 list, including lithium, tin, and tantalum, within Lithium-Cesium-Tantalum (LCT) pegmatite systems that were historically mined for tin and lithium in the early-to-mid twentieth century. Lion Rock Resources (TSXV: ROAR, OTCQB: LRRIF, FSE: KGB) is currently advancing the Volney Project in this district, where Phase 1 drilling in early 2026 confirmed multi-commodity results across lithium, tin, tantalum, and gold on private land in a mining-friendly jurisdiction [14].
The broader trajectory is clear: the US is moving from identifying supply chain vulnerabilities to actively incentivizing domestic production. The critical minerals designation is the policy mechanism that connects those two objectives.
This page is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice, a solicitation, or an offer to buy or sell any securities. Information about Lion Rock Resources (TSXV: ROAR, OTCQB: LRRIF, FSE: KGB) is based on publicly filed disclosures and news releases. Readers should conduct their own due diligence and consult a qualified financial advisor before making any investment decisions. Mineral exploration involves significant risk. There is no assurance that exploration activities will result in the discovery of an economic mineral deposit.
Forward-looking statements: This page contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. Lion Rock Resources assumes no obligation to update forward-looking information except as required by law.
[1] Energy Act of 2020, P.L. 116-260, Section 7002 (“Mineral Security”). Codified at 30 USC 1606. https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:30+section:1606+edition:prelim)
[2] US Geological Survey. “Final 2025 List of Critical Minerals.” Federal Register, November 7, 2025. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/11/07/2025-19813/final-2025-list-of-critical-minerals
[3] Congressional Research Service. “US Geological Survey’s Critical Minerals List.” IF13145, January 7, 2026. https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF13145
[4] Nassar, N.T., et al. “Methodology and Technical Input for the 2025 US List of Critical Minerals.” USGS Open-File Report 2025-1047. https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20251047
[5] Recognizing the Importance of Critical Minerals in Healthcare Act of 2023, P.L. 118-233, January 4, 2025.
[6] US Department of Energy. “What Are Critical Materials and Critical Minerals?” https://www.energy.gov/cmm/what-are-critical-materials-and-critical-minerals
[7] US Geological Survey. “2025 List of Critical Minerals.” November 6, 2025. https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/2025-list-critical-minerals
[8] US Geological Survey. “Value of US Mineral Production Rose Last Year, Driven by Precious Metals Prices.” February 6, 2026. https://www.usgs.gov/news/national-news-release/value-us-mineral-production-rose-last-year-driven-precious-metals-prices
[9] US Geological Survey. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025 (ver. 1.2, March 2025). https://doi.org/10.3133/mcs2025
[10] US Geological Survey. “Minerals with Net Import Reliance on China.” March 14, 2025. https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/minerals-net-import-reliance-china
[11] Center for Strategic and International Studies. “China Imposes Its Most Stringent Critical Minerals Export Restrictions Yet.” December 2024. https://www.csis.org/analysis/china-imposes-its-most-stringent-critical-minerals-export-restrictions-yet-amidst
[12] Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP. “China Suspends Export Controls on Certain Critical Minerals and Related Items.” 2025. https://www.pillsburylaw.com/en/news-and-insights/china-suspends-export-controls-certain-critical-minerals-related-items.html
[13] Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council. FAST-41 Program. https://www.permits.performance.gov/
[14] Lion Rock Resources Inc. News releases: February 26, 2026 (Phase 1 lithium, tin, tantalum results); April 8, 2026 (gold discovery). Filed on SEDAR+ and available at https://www.lionrockresources.com/
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