Critical minerals are raw materials deemed essential to modern economies, defence systems, and the energy transition, where supply is concentrated in a small number of countries and where disruption would carry significant strategic and economic consequences. The term covers a wide range of elements and compounds — from lithium and cobalt used in electric vehicle batteries, to rare earth elements used in fighter jet guidance systems, to tungsten used in cutting tools and armour-piercing munitions.
No single global definition applies universally. The United States, European Union, United Kingdom, and Australia each publish their own critical minerals lists, updated periodically as supply conditions change. What unites them is a shared methodology: materials qualify as critical when they are both economically important and at risk of supply disruption.
What Are Critical Minerals? — The Working Definition
The most widely cited framework comes from the US Geological Survey, which defines a critical mineral as a non-fuel mineral or mineral material essential to US economic or national security, the supply chain of which is vulnerable to disruption, and that serves an essential function in the manufacture of a product the absence of which would have significant consequences for the economy or national security.
The EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act, adopted in 2024, uses a comparable two-axis test — economic importance on one axis, supply risk on the other — and identifies both strategic raw materials (where domestic processing capacity is a policy target) and critical raw materials (the broader list). The UK’s Critical Minerals Strategy and Australia’s Critical Minerals Strategy follow similar frameworks, with national security considerations weighted more heavily in US and UK classifications.
In practice, a material qualifies as a critical mineral when it meets three conditions: it is used in high-value or strategically important applications; it cannot easily be substituted; and primary production or processing is dominated by one or a small number of countries, typically China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, or a handful of others.
The Critical Minerals List — What’s on It
The US currently identifies 50 critical minerals. The EU’s strategic raw materials list includes 17 materials, within a broader critical raw materials list of 34. The UK lists 18 critical minerals on its 2023 refreshed strategy. There is significant overlap, but no complete alignment — reflecting different industrial bases, trade relationships, and threat assessments.
The materials that appear on almost every national list include:
| Mineral / Material | Primary End-Use | Leading Producer |
|---|---|---|
| Lithium | EV batteries, grid storage | Australia, Chile, China |
| Cobalt | EV batteries, superalloys, defence | DRC (70%+ of mine supply) |
| Nickel | EV batteries, stainless steel | Indonesia, Philippines, Russia |
| Graphite | EV battery anodes | China (90%+ of supply) |
| Rare earth elements | Permanent magnets, electronics, defence | China (60%+ of mine supply; 90%+ of processing) |
| Tungsten | Cutting tools, armour-piercing munitions | China (80%+ of supply) |
| Antimony | Flame retardants, military munitions, semiconductors | China, Russia, Tajikistan |
| Copper | Electrical infrastructure, EVs, grid | Chile, Peru, DRC |
| Gallium | Semiconductors, radar, LEDs | China (98%+ of primary supply) |
| Germanium | Fibre optics, infrared optics, semiconductors | China (60%+ of primary supply) |
Battery metals — lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, and manganese — dominate public attention because of their role in the EV transition. Technology metals and minor metals, including tungsten, antimony, bismuth, indium, and gallium, receive less coverage but carry comparable or greater strategic risk in defence applications.
Why Are Critical Minerals Important?
Three structural shifts have elevated critical minerals to a national security priority over the past decade.
First, the energy transition. Replacing fossil fuel combustion with electric vehicles and renewable power generation requires orders of magnitude more mineral inputs per unit of energy produced. The International Energy Agency estimates that a typical electric car requires six times more minerals than a conventional vehicle. Offshore wind turbines require nine times more. As deployment scales, demand for lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, and rare earths is expected to increase severalfold by 2040.
Second, supply concentration. Processing of critical minerals is overwhelmingly concentrated in China. Even where ore is mined in the DRC, Australia, or Chile, the refining, chemical processing, and alloy production that converts raw ore into battery-grade or magnet-grade material typically occurs in China. This gives Beijing leverage over supply chains that US, European, and UK defence and industrial policy are now actively trying to reduce.
Third, export controls. China has moved from a passive dominant supplier to an active market manager. Export licensing requirements imposed on gallium and germanium in August 2023, expanded to antimony in September 2024, and extended to additional technology metals have demonstrated that supply can be restricted with limited notice. Western governments and industrial buyers are re-evaluating supply chain resilience as a result.
Critical Minerals in Defence and Advanced Technology
The defence applications of critical minerals are often less visible than battery metals but strategically more acute. Rare earth permanent magnets are used in the guidance systems, motors, and actuators of virtually every modern weapons platform — from F-35 fighters to Tomahawk missiles. Tungsten is the material of choice for kinetic energy penetrators and shaped charge warheads. Antimony compounds are used in military ammunition primers and, increasingly, in next-generation semiconductor substrates for high-frequency electronics used in radar and electronic warfare.
The technology metals most exposed to Chinese export controls — gallium, germanium, tungsten, and antimony — are not the materials that dominate EV supply chain discussions, but they are the materials that defence procurement specialists and electronics manufacturers are now treating as the highest-priority risk.
Critical Minerals Price Tracking
Critical minerals trade across a range of market structures. Some — notably cobalt, nickel, and copper — are traded on the London Metal Exchange with transparent daily benchmark prices. Others, including lithium, rare earths, tungsten, and antimony, are priced through bilateral contracts and assessed by specialist price reporting agencies including Fastmarkets, SMM, and Asian Metal, with less price transparency and wider bid-ask spreads.
Price volatility is a defining feature of critical minerals markets. Lithium carbonate prices fell more than 80% between their 2022 peak and early 2024 as anticipated EV demand growth failed to materialise at the speed forecast. Cobalt prices have traded in a wide range over the past decade, reflecting boom-bust cycles in DRC production and shifting battery chemistry preferences. Antimony prices doubled in 2024 following China’s export licensing announcement.
Critical Minerals News tracks benchmark prices across the core critical minerals. Current data is available on individual price pages: lithium price, cobalt price, nickel price, graphite price, copper price, rare earth prices, and antimony price.
Western Supply Chain Policy Response
The US, EU, UK, Canada, and Australia are each running parallel strategies to reduce critical minerals import dependency. The key policy instruments include:
The US Inflation Reduction Act includes domestic content requirements for battery materials used in EV tax credits, designed to accelerate investment in non-Chinese processing capacity. The CHIPS and Science Act allocates funding toward semiconductor supply chain security, with implications for gallium and germanium supply. The Department of Defense has made direct investments in domestic rare earth, cobalt, and antimony supply chains.
The EU Critical Raw Materials Act sets binding targets: 10% of annual consumption to be extracted domestically, 40% processed domestically, and 15% recycled — all by 2030 for strategic raw materials. The Act also introduces supply chain stress-testing requirements for large industrial companies.
The UK’s FORGE initiative (Faraday Institution and government co-investment in battery materials) and Critical Minerals Strategy target diversification of supply through bilateral agreements with partner nations including Canada, Australia, South Africa, and Zambia.
The pace of Western supply chain build-out remains the central uncertainty. New mining and processing projects take 10–20 years from discovery to production. Policy timelines and industrial timelines are not aligned, and the supply chain vulnerability that currently exists is widely expected to persist through the 2020s.
Critical Minerals vs Rare Earth Elements — What’s the Difference?
Rare earth elements — the 17 lanthanide elements plus scandium and yttrium — are a subset of critical minerals, not synonymous with them. All rare earths are classified as critical minerals by the US, EU, and UK. But critical minerals include many materials that are not rare earths: lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, tungsten, antimony, and graphite are all critical minerals with no overlap with the rare earth category.
The distinction matters commercially. Rare earths are processed through a distinct refining chain, priced through different benchmarks, and used predominantly in permanent magnets and phosphors. Battery metals are priced on exchange benchmarks or specialist assessments and flow through a distinct supply chain into cell manufacturing. Coverage of both categories — and the policy and trading communities around each — is what distinguishes specialist critical minerals publications from generalist mining media.
How CMN Covers Critical Minerals
Critical Minerals News covers the full spectrum of critical minerals markets — battery metals, technology metals, rare earths in supply chain context, and the policy and corporate developments that move prices and shape supply chains. The site’s global coverage hub maps production and supply chain developments by region, and the events calendar tracks the key industry gatherings where deals, offtakes, and policy announcements emerge.
For the latest market data and price movements, see the May 2026 critical minerals market outlook.
What are critical minerals?
Critical minerals are raw materials essential to modern economies, defence systems, and clean energy technology, where supply chains are concentrated in a small number of countries and disruption would carry significant economic or security consequences. The US, EU, UK, and Australia each publish updated critical minerals lists based on economic importance and supply risk.
What minerals are on the critical minerals list?
The US identifies 50 critical minerals; the EU lists 34 critical raw materials including 17 strategic raw materials; the UK lists 18. Materials appearing on almost every national list include lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, rare earth elements, tungsten, antimony, gallium, germanium, and copper. The precise list varies by country and is updated periodically.
Why are critical minerals important for defence?
Critical minerals are used in weapons systems, electronics, and military equipment. Rare earth permanent magnets are used in guided missiles, fighter jets, and naval systems. Tungsten is used in armour-piercing munitions. Antimony compounds appear in military ammunition primers and advanced semiconductors. Supply concentration in China and Russia makes these materials a strategic priority for Western defence planners.
Why does China dominate critical minerals supply?
China’s dominance reflects decades of deliberate industrial investment in mining, refining, and chemical processing, combined with lower historical environmental and labour cost thresholds. China processes around 90% of rare earths, 90%+ of graphite anodes, and holds dominant positions in gallium, germanium, tungsten, and antimony production. Chinese ownership of mines in the DRC and elsewhere extends this influence to cobalt and copper.
What is the difference between critical minerals and rare earth elements?
Rare earth elements — the 17 lanthanide elements plus scandium and yttrium — are a subset of critical minerals. All rare earths qualify as critical minerals on major national lists. But critical minerals include many materials that are not rare earths: lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, tungsten, antimony, and graphite are all critical minerals with no connection to the rare earth category.
How are critical minerals prices determined?
Pricing varies by material. Cobalt, nickel, and copper trade on the London Metal Exchange with daily benchmark prices. Lithium, rare earths, tungsten, and antimony are priced through bilateral contracts assessed by specialist price reporting agencies — Fastmarkets, SMM, and Asian Metal — with less transparency. Price volatility is high across all critical minerals markets.
What is the EU Critical Raw Materials Act?
The EU Critical Raw Materials Act, adopted in 2024, sets binding targets for European supply chain self-sufficiency: 10% of annual consumption extracted domestically, 40% processed domestically, and 15% recycled — all by 2030 for strategic raw materials. It also requires large industrial companies to conduct supply chain stress tests for strategic raw materials.
