Why Critical Minerals Matter
Critical minerals are not specialist concerns confined to geology or mining finance. They sit inside the systems that define modern economies — energy grids, defense equipment, semiconductor fabs, data centers, food production, aerospace programs and everyday electronics. Their supply chains are often concentrated in ways that generate strategic risk.
The strategic case for critical minerals has changed substantially in the past decade. Governments that once treated mineral policy as an industrial planning concern have reframed it as a national security issue.
The concern is not generally that the world is running out of critical minerals. Most of them are geologically abundant. The concern is whether the right materials, in the right forms, can reach the right industries when they are needed — given concentrated supply chains, long permitting timelines, specialized refining capacity controlled by few actors, and limited substitutability in many applications.
Where critical minerals matter most
Defense and national security
Precision-guided weapons systems, fighter aircraft, radar and electronic warfare systems, submarines, satellites and secure communications all depend on critical minerals. Antimony is used in ammunition and flame retardants. Gallium and germanium support radar and defense electronics. Rare earth elements are essential for the permanent magnets in electric motors across nearly every defense platform.
"Supply of defense-critical materials is not guaranteed by treaty or geopolitics alone."
Clean energy and power grids
Wind turbines, solar panels, batteries, electric vehicles and the power grids connecting them require large volumes of critical minerals. A single offshore wind turbine requires several tonnes of rare earth magnets, thousands of tonnes of steel, tonnes of copper cabling and significant volumes of aluminum. Grid-scale batteries depend on lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese and graphite.
"The energy transition is also a minerals transition."
Semiconductors and digital infrastructure
Modern chips, displays, fiber optics and power electronics depend on a range of specialty minerals — gallium arsenide for radio-frequency chips, germanium in optical fibers, indium in flat-panel displays, silicon in virtually every device. A disruption to gallium or germanium supply affects automotive, defense, telecommunications and consumer electronics simultaneously.
"A disruption to gallium or germanium affects far more than one industry."
Food systems and agriculture
Phosphate rock, potash and boron underpin the global fertilizer industry. Without adequate phosphate and potassium fertilization, crop yields fall sharply. These materials are mined in a small number of countries and have no practical substitutes in high-yield commercial agriculture.
"Fertilizer disruptions can translate into food price shocks within one growing season."
Aerospace and advanced manufacturing
Jet engines, rocket propulsion systems, structural airframes and satellite platforms require materials that can withstand extreme temperatures, mechanical stress and radiation. Titanium, rhenium, hafnium, beryllium, scandium and niobium all serve roles that lighter or cheaper metals cannot fill.
"Aerospace supply chains have low tolerance for material inconsistency or unexpected gaps."
Concentration at every stage of the supply chain.
In 2025, the leading refining country accounted for an average of about 72% of refined supply across key energy minerals, excluding rare earths. The same leading suppliers accounted for more than three-quarters of refined supply growth between 2023 and 2025.
Source: International Energy Agency, Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2026.
How countries are responding.
Energy Act of 2020 codified the critical minerals list. Executive orders expanded DoD and DOE involvement. Copper and uranium added in 2025.
Read the frameworkCritical Raw Materials Act came into force in 2024, setting strategic targets for domestic extraction, processing and recycling capacity.
Read the frameworkThe 2022 Canadian Critical Minerals Strategy identifies 31 priority materials and allocates federal funding for exploration, processing and infrastructure.
Read the frameworkAustralia's Critical Minerals Strategy focuses on developing downstream processing and refining to capture more of the value chain domestically.
Read the frameworkJapan's Economic Security Act and Critical Minerals Strategy focus on stockpiling, supply diversification and international partnerships.
Read the frameworkThe U.K. Critical Minerals Strategy emphasizes economic resilience and international partnerships across the mining and processing value chain.
Read the framework