Policies

Final List of Critical Minerals 2022

Last updated: 3 February 2023

As per the Energy Act of 2020, Section 7002, subsection 2, the critical minerals list is revised every three years by the US Geological Survey. The most recent final list is that of 2022. 

These minerals are deemed critical minerals by the US government in light of their role in national security or economic development. There must be a clear supply chain strategy as they are mostly imported and are, under the US definition, prone to supply chain disruption. Additionally, fuel minerals are excluded from the list of critical minerals. 
Under the 2022 list, there are 50 minerals which are deemed critical:

  1. Aluminium*
  2. Antimony
  3. Arsenic
  4. Barite
  5. Beryllium
  6. Bismuth
  7. Cerium*
  8. Cesium
  9. Chromium
  10. Cobalt
  11. Dysprosium
  12. Erbium
  13. Europium
  14. Fluorspar
  15. Gadolinium*
  16. Gallium
  17. Germanium
  18. Graphite*
  19. Hafnium
  20. Holmium
  21. Indium
  22. Iridium
  23. Lanthanum*
  24. Lithium
  25. Lutetium
  26. Magnesium
  27. Manganese
  28. Neodymium*
  29. Nickel
  30. Niobium
  31. Palladium*
  32. Platinum*
  33. Praseodymium*
  34. Rhodium*
  35. Rubidium
  36. Ruthenium*
  37. Samarium*
  38. Scandium
  39. Tantalum
  40. Tellurium
  41. Terbium
  42. Thulium
  43. Tin
  44. Titanium
  45. Tungsten
  46. Vanadium
  47. Ytterbium
  48. Yttrium
  49. Zinc
  50. Zirconium

Note that the bolded items were newly added in 2022 and the items with an asterisk were edited. 
Modifications from the previous list include: 

  • Aluminium was previously listed as Aluminium (bauxite)
  • Graphite was previously listed as Graphite (natural)
  • Helium, Potash, Rhenium, Strontium, and Uranium have been removed from the list. Uranium was removed as it is classified as a fuel mineral. 
  • Platinum group metals (Iridium, Palladium, Platinum, Rhodium, Ruthenium and Osmium) were previously listed together as one group. They have been separated and Iridium and Osmium have been removed from the list.
  • Metals belonging to the rare earth elements group (Cerium, Gadolinium, Lanthanum, Neodymium, Praseodymium and Samarium) were previously listed together as one group. They have been separated.

Want to know more about this policy ? Learn more

Topics
Policy types