USGS Critical Minerals Review - 2018

Mining & Minerals - Evaluations / Critical Mineral Resources

Fortier, et al., report that he United States' supply of critical minerals has been a concern and a source of potential strategic vulnerabilities for U.S. economic and national security interests for decades (for example, see Strategic and Critical Minerals Stockpiling Act, 1939). More recently, with the rapid increase in the types of materials being used in advanced technologies (Fortier et al. 2018a), and geopolitical events surrounding the supply of rare earth elements (Ting and Seaman, 2013), among other developments, the critical minerals issue has again achieved a high level of visibility within the U.S. government (Executive Order 13817 (2017)).
In this paper, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) provides an overview of its ongoing focus on critical minerals through the agency's core competencies in mineral information, mineral resource assessments, geologic and topographic mapping, geophysical surveys and mineral resource research. Aspects of the multifaceted critical minerals issue addressed here include: 

• Identifying minerals that meet the definition of "critical·• provided in Executive Order 13817.
• U.S. net import reliance for critical mineral raw materials.
• Current status of domestic critical mineral resource assessments

Current status of topographic and geologic mapping, and geophysical survey coverage of the United States.
TI1e Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) to support future critical mineral exploration.

Critical mineral potential of waste streams from extractive industries.