Critical Minerals & Materials


The transition to electric vehicles, renewable energy, and advanced manufacturing depends on a set of minerals and elements that are classified as critical or strategic. These materials are essential for clean energy technologies, high-performance electronics, and electrification infrastructure, but they are vulnerable to supply chain bottlenecks, geographic concentration, and geopolitical risk.

Critical Minerals Taxonomy

Of the rare earth elements (REE), neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, gallium, yttrium, and terbium are considered the most critical. In the U.S. REEs are mined and processed by MP Materials (Mountain Pass Mine, CA) and USA Rare Earths (Round Top, Texas), particularly neodymium and praseodymium that are critical in the magnets used in electric vehicle and wind turbine motors.

Category Examples Primary Applications
Battery Metals Lithium, Nickel, Cobalt, Manganese, Graphite Lithium-ion and next-gen batteries (anode/cathode materials)
Rare Earth Elements (REEs) Neodymium, Praseodymium, Dysprosium, Terbium Permanent magnets for EV motors, wind turbines, electronics
Semiconductor Materials Gallium, Germanium, Indium, Tellurium Chips, power electronics, LEDs, solar PV cells
Conductive & Structural Metals Copper, Aluminum, Silver Conductors, wiring, heat exchangers, solar panels
Nuclear & Clean Energy Fuels Uranium, Thorium, Hafnium Nuclear reactors, advanced fuels, specialty alloys
Emerging Alternatives Sodium, Zinc, Vanadium Next-gen batteries (sodium-ion, zinc-air, vanadium flow)

Critical Minerals by Use

EV = used in electric vehicles, including batteries, electric motors, and battery storage
Solar = used to manufacture solar cells and panels
Wind = used to manufacture electric motors used in wind turbines
H2 = used to manufacture hydrogen-based fuel cells
REE = rare earth elements

Element/Mineral Symbol EV Solar Wind H2 REE
Aluminum Al x x
Antimony Sb x
Arsenic As x x
Beryllium Be x
Bismuth Bi x
Boron B x x
Cadmium Cd x x
Cerium Ce x
Cesium Cs x
Chromium Cr
Cobalt Co x
Copper Cu x x
Dysprosium Dy x x x
Erbium Er x
Europium Eu x
Gadolinium Gd x
Gallium Ga x
Germanium Ge x
Graphite C x
Hafnium Hf
Holmium Ho x x
Indium In x
Iridium Ir x x
Lanthanum La x x
Lithium Li x
Lutetium Lu x
Magnesium Mg
Manganese Mn x
Neodymium Nd x x x
Nickel Ni x x
Niobium Nb x
Palladium Pd x
Platinum Pt x
Praseodymium Pr x x x
Promethium Pm x
Rhodium Rh x
Rubidium Rb
Ruthenium Ru x
Samarium Sm x x
Scandium Sc x
Selenium Se x x
Silicon Si x
Silver Ag x
Tantalum Ta
Tellurium Te x
Terbium Tb x x x
Thulium Tm x
Tin Sn
Titanium Ti x
Tungsten W
Vanadium V
Ytterbium Yb x x
Yttrium Y x x
Zinc Zn x x
Zirconium Zr

Market Context

Critical minerals are often geographically concentrated: lithium in South America and Australia, cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo, rare earths in China, and graphite processing in China. This concentration creates strategic vulnerabilities, driving U.S. and allied nations to invest in domestic mining, refining, and recycling.

The supply of these materials underpins not only the EV and clean energy sectors but also defense, aerospace, and semiconductor industries — making them pillars of national competitiveness.




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