Global Concerns Surrounding Critical Minerals

Olympia World Affairs Council

Global Situation Update June 2026

Gary Walker, Board Member

First, why is this a concern? The issue of critical minerals is a reoccurring topic in the news and is viewed as a vital element for U.S. national security and economic stability. The reason is that they are essential to some of our key industries, used to enhance and promote technological innovation, and provide essential support to our critical infrastructure. Some examples include clean energy transition, defense and security, and economic competitiveness.

The concern about critical minerals is that they are not commonly found in the U.S. and thus the U.S. is heavily reliant on obtaining them from various overseas sources. Some of these sources are in countries where these critical minerals are found are either hostile to or reluctant to trade with the U.S. The other concern is that some of these critical minerals are not easily mined or extracted from the rock where they are found without a lot of time, effort, and resources. Often they are extracted using child or forced labor, a practice the U.S. and other countries do not support. These factors result in the supply chain not being reliable, long lasting, or in danger of being denied to the U.S. government and its economic sector.

For example, today the impact of U.S./Israel/Iran war on the accessibility and movement of these minerals has come to the attention of the World Economic Forum.  It identified nine minerals or substances that are important to the world’s economy that are being adversely impacted by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Here is a short table of these materials and why they are important.

Mineral or Substance	Usage	Impact
Fertilizers (Urea & Ammonia)	·      Region is major exporter of fertilizer ·      Urea is the world’s most widely used fertilizer	·      Impacts 20% of all seaborne exports ·      Urea accounts for 46% of global trade
Sulfur	Key component in battery chemistry process and phosphate fertilizers	Almost half of global seaborne sulfur trade travels through the Strait
Methanol	Key chemical feedstock for resins, coatings, and plastics	Almost a third of global seaborne methanol trades passes through the Strait
Graphite Feedstocks	Key ingredient in synthetic graphite production	A byproduct of oil refining, which has been curtailed in the region
Aluminum	Major global supplier of primary aluminum	Produces 9% of global supply
Helium	Key component in semiconductor manufacturing and in healthcare equipment such as MRI scanners	Qatar accounts for nearly 1/3 of world’s helium supply
Glycol (MEG)	Key input for polyester fibers, packaging and textiles	Gulf exports around 6.5 million tons annually
Iron ore/steel pellets	Key component in many industries	Significant supplier of high grade pellets
Green hydrogen infrastructure	War is speeding up the shift towards more clean energy	Middle East has the potential to become a major green hydrogen hub

The impact of the conflict as it relates to China is still unfolding. China has not yet leveraged its critical mineral supplies as a retaliatory weapon against the U.S. or Isreal. However, China is supplying weapons and armaments to the Russians and Iranians which probably contain some of these materials.

What are these critical minerals and where are they found? Critical minerals are non-fuel minerals essential to the U.S. economy or national security. They rely on often unreliable supply chains vulnerable to disruption.

There are several other categories of critical minerals that have been identified. They include:

A. Rare earth minerals are labelled as such because they have unique geochemical properties that prevent them from easily forming minerals and are not normally found in large deposits or concentrated enough for mining. These elements have a wide range of uses, from everyday items, such as electric vehicles, magnets for electric motors to military technologies.

B. Conflict minerals are defined as minerals extracted in regions where armed conflict, human rights abuses, severe social instability occurs, or where corruption is rampant, with revenues often financing armed groups and perpetuating violence and exploitation. This term is most commonly associated with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and surrounding countries, where mining of these minerals has historically fueled conflict since its independence.

The US Geographical Survey 2025 list of critical minerals/elements includes the following minerals but this list is continuously evolving as manufacturing and technological advances are made:

Aluminum	Cobalt	Hafnium	Metallurgical Coal	Rhodium	Thulium
Antimony	Copper	Holmium	Neodymium	Rubidium	Tin
Arsenic	Dysprosium	Indium	Nickel	Ruthenium	Titanium
Barite	Erbium	Iridium	Niobium	Samarium	Tungsten
Beryllium	Europium	Lanthanum	Palladium	Scandium	Uranium
Bismuth	Fluorspar	Lead	Phosphate	Silicon	Vanadium
Boron	Gadolinium	Lithium	Platinum	Silver	Ytterbium
Cerium	Gallium	Lutetium	Potash	Tantalum	Yttrium
Cesium	Germanium	Magnesium	Praseodymium	Tellurium	Zinc
Chromium	Graphite	Manganese	Rhenium	Terbium	Zirconium

Where are these minerals located? The table below is a short list of the more essential critical minerals.

Top 10 Countries for Critical Mineral Output	Mineral
1. China	Dominance in rare earths, lithium, nickel, and some cobalt
2. Indonesia	Nickel
3. Democratic Republic of Congo	2/3 of cobalt’s global output
4, Australia	Lithium
5. Chile	Lithium
6. Russia	Nickel, cobalt
7. South Africa	Nickel, cobalt, rare earths
8. Canada	Nickel, lithium
9. Brazil	Nickel, lithium
10. U.S.	Rare earths, lithium

Other countries may produce critical minerals but the low potential volume and difficulty mining those minerals do not make them strong competitors in this market.

Why are these minerals so important and what are they used for? Clean energy technology is a key industry relying on these minerals. They are needed to produce wind turbines, solar panels, EV batteries and motors, as well as in energy transmission infrastructure like power lines. These minerals are used to manufacture the semiconductors that underpin our electronics, from smartphones and computers to lighting and medical devices.

Modern defense technologies also rely on critical minerals to enhance the performance, durability, and efficiency of surveillance, targeting, navigation, and weapon systems. Rare earth elements enable advanced radar, sonar, laser guidance, communication, and propulsion technologies, ensuring superior precision, stability, and resilience in combat environments. From radar and sonar systems to precision-guided munitions, high-powered magnets, and night vision optics, these minerals contribute to high-performance electronics, sensors, and control mechanisms across land, air, sea, and space. Their role in electromagnetic systems, laser weaponry, and military-grade electrical equipment makes them indispensable for national security and technological superiority.

What are the concerns about gaining access to these critical minerals and rare earths? The supply is highly concentrated. Only a small number of countries control much of today’s extraction, processing, and refining capacity. This concentration elevates critical mineral supply chain risks, particularly for governments reliant on stable access to processed materials.

Obtaining and maintaining access to critical minerals and rare earths relies on several factors. First, the geographic area or country where they are located is a key factor in this process. Trade disputes between the exporting and purchasing countries, the implication of export controls by the exporting country, or geopolitical tensions could quickly disrupt supply chains and economic growth. Geopolitical tensions such as civil wars, widespread corruption, failed states, or hostile governments can be immense hurdles or burdens for the purchasing country.

Aside from these factors is the issue of environmental pressures that make the process even more complex. Mining critical minerals adds high levels of stress to local ecosystems including water depletion and lack of access to water by local communities; water, ground, and air pollution; and, land degradation and destruction. Local populations suffer as they are exposed to harmful substances, dangerous and unsafe working conditions, and entrapment or quasi-enslavement of local workers. The mining industry impacts geographic areas and communities for decades or longer. The rehabilitation and clean-up from this destruction does not usually occur and the land is just abandoned and remains useless into the foreseeable future and the local workers are usually not compensated adequately or cared for by the mining industry.

Together, these factors form an intricate network of supply chain, environmental, governance, and community-related risks – all of which require careful management as global demand accelerates.

What can be done to address this issue? Since these minerals and rare earths are such a vital component of the global economy and national security, how can access and availability be made more secure. The International Energy Agency (IEA) promotes more recycling of already extracted minerals and rare earths. This recycling would include the removal of these substances from old, discarded pieces of equipment and reusing them again as an option.

The IEA has also outlined several paths that can be taken to start addressing this issue.

·      Understand rare earth needs and risk exposure.

·      Increase preparedness for potential disruptions and establish a buffer to mitigate short-term supply risks.

·      Adopt a whole supply chain and ecosystem approach. 

Geopolitical uncertainty, supply chain concentration, environmental pressures, and governance challenges often reinforce one another, creating complex vulnerabilities for governments and companies worldwide. Given this environment, there is no clear internationally agreed to process on how to address this situation. Regardless, collaboration and cooperation will be required by both the exporting and the importing countries and industries to make this work. This will also require the governments on both sides of this issue to reach agreements and treaties that are binding and encompassing. The issue of global rivalry and competition will have to be managed in a better fashion than it is today. But in a competitive global economy without an international body to design and enforce international rules, the current situation will likely go unchecked.

Information obtained through a wide variety of open sources including BBC, The Economist, New York Times, Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, NPR, The Arms Control Association, UN, UNHCR, NBC, ABC, CNN, Al Jazeera, Wikipedia, ICC, ICJ, US Geographical Survey, SFA Oxford, Moody’s, International Energy Agency, World Economic Forum, and others.