René Muschter
Research Expert covering Industry & Mobility
Critical mineral mining in the U.S. - statistics & facts
In 2022, the United States Secretary of the Interior published the most recent final list of U.S. critical minerals, which includes 50 minerals. Critical minerals generally consist of strategic non-fuel commodities without any substitutes that are extracted and processed in concentrated world regions, and which encompass the necessary raw materials for technologies such as renewable energy equipment, batteries, electric vehicles, and electronics. Of the critical minerals defined by the U.S., only about half are produced domestically, albeit not at volumes that fulfill national demand in most cases. For the remaining critical minerals, the U.S. is reliant on imports due to a lack of viable resources. Of those produced domestically, zinc and aluminum were the most voluminously produced U.S. critical minerals in 2023, with production amounting to 767,000 and 750,000 metric tons that year, respectively. In 2024, production value of primary critical minerals in the U.S. amounted to 3.3 billion U.S. dollars.
