Potash, silicon, copper, silver, rhenium, and lead are added in a three-year update to be formally posted Aug. 26 for public comment.
The United States Department of Interior is proposing to add six “mineral commodities” to the list of critical minerals as part of the Trump administration’s effort to incentivize domestic production and processing of metals, minerals, and rare earth elements vital to the nation’s economy and national defense.
Potash, silicon, copper, silver, rhenium, and lead are recommended by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for inclusion on the list, which will be formally posted in the Federal Register on Aug. 26.
Arsenic and tellurium, defined as critical minerals on the USGS’s 2022 Critical Minerals List, are recommended for removal from the draft list posted Aug. 25.
If adopted as proposed after a 30-day public comment period, the nation’s 2025 Critical Mineral List will expand to 54 “mineral commodities” from 50 three years ago and 35 in 2018.
Of those 50 minerals cited as critical by the USGS in 2022, China-based processors dominate the global market in producing at least 30, an increasingly urgent concern.
Since 2023, China has imposed restrictions on strategic materials exported to the United States, including gallium, germanium, antimony, graphite, and tungsten.
“The U.S. relies heavily on imports of critical minerals and their derivative products that are essential for the manufacturing, energy, transportation, and national security sectors,” National Mining Association Executive Vice President Katie Sweeney said in her May 21 testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
“Unfortunately,” she said, “for some of these minerals, the U.S. is dependent on a small group of countries—both allies and geopolitical adversaries. This presents considerable risk in supply chain disruptions for many reasons including … foreign government policies creating outright competitive disadvantages for U.S. companies.”
To reduce reliance on imported critical minerals, President Donald Trump issued a March executive order requiring federal agencies to help expedite projects by streamlining permitting, opening more public lands for mining, and including critical mineral development under the regulatory auspices of the Defense Production Act.
In the past month, the Energy Department announced that it would shift $1 billion from programs established under 2021’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act into funding critical mineral projects. According to Reuters, the Trump administration is also considering reallocating at least $2 billion from the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act into critical mineral mining and processing.
“President Trump has made clear that strengthening America’s economic and national security means securing the resources that fuel our way of life,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement accompanying the USGS draft list.
By John Haughey
