U.S. Geological Survey marks progress tracking nation's supply of critical minerals
This week the White House released the first Quadrennial Supply Chain review, detailing supply chains critical for national and economic security.
The first Quadrennial Supply Chain review details supply chains critical for national and economic security, including the U.S. Geological Survey’s accomplishments mapping potential new sources of critical minerals in the U.S., compiling the whole of government List of Critical Minerals, and tracking global markets and supplies of critical minerals.
“The U.S. Geological Survey is providing practical, pragmatic science to understand U.S. reliance on foreign sources of critical minerals needed for industry, technology and national defense, and better map the geology of the nation to locate secure critical mineral sources at home. Funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has helped us accomplish the work set out by the Energy Act of 2020,” said Dave Applegate, Director of the USGS.
From the White House fact sheet:
- Mapping America’s critical minerals deposits. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is announcing new airborne geophysical mapping in the Ozark Plateau (Missouri, Kansas, and Arkansas) and Alaska over areas known to host minerals such as antimony, tin, tungsten, and lead and zinc ores, as well as byproduct critical minerals such as gallium and germanium. USGS’s mapping work, funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), is revolutionizing the U.S. Government’s understanding of the nation’s mineral and geologic resources. USGS and NASA are partnering to complete the largest high-quality hyperspectral survey in the world, surveying more than 180,000 square miles of the Southwest with sensors that make it possible to “see” nuanced differences between materials.
- Updating the U.S.’s critical minerals market data. Next month, USGS will publish its 2025 Mineral Commodity Summaries. These annual reports help forecast supply chain disruptions resulting from a variety of risks including pandemics, natural disasters, and trade wars, and are the U.S.’s authoritative source of data on the supply, demand, and consumption of 100 mineral commodities. Additionally, last month, researchers at the USGS National Minerals Information Center developed a new model to assess how disruptions of critical mineral supplies may affect the U.S. economy. This model reflects the latest whole-of-government risk and resilience methodology.