Ryan Zinke Moves to Protect Critical Minerals from Foreign Threats
by John Siciliano (Washington Examiner) Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is listing 35 minerals used in aircraft, cellphones, and other important technologies as “vital” to national security in a move to wean the U.S. off foreign suppliers.
The list includes such valuable metals as aluminum and titanium, as well as uranium, helium, lithium, platinum, potash, and strontium. The materials are used in aircraft and other aerospace technologies. Lithium is used in batteries to power a wide range of products from cellphones to electric cars.
A final rule to be published Friday says the U.S. is “heavily reliant” on imports of the minerals. “This dependency of the United States on foreign sources creates a strategic vulnerability for both its economy and military to adverse foreign government action, natural disaster, and other events that can disrupt supply of these key minerals,” the rule says.
…
The list is not permanent and can be modified, according to the final rule. READ MORE
US finalizes ‘critical’ minerals list, includes cobalt, lithium, PGMs (Platts)
Prized ‘Rare Earth’ Minerals Feel Scorch of Tariffs (Wall Street Journal)
83 FR 23295 – FINAL LIST OF CRITICAL MINERALS 2018
The United States is heavily reliant on imports of certain mineral commodities that are vital to the Nation’s security and economic prosperity. This dependency of the United States on foreign sources creates a strategic vulnerability for both its economy and military to adverse foreign government action, natural disaster, and other events that can disrupt supply of these key minerals. Pursuant to Executive Order 13817 of December 20, 2017, “A Federal Strategy to Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Minerals,” the Secretary of the Interior on February 16, 2018, presented a draft list of 35 mineral commodities deemed critical under the definition provided in the Executive Order. After considering the 453 public comments received, the Department of the Interior believes that the methodology used to draft the list remains valid and hereby finalizes the draft list of 35 critical minerals. The final list includes: Aluminum (bauxite), antimony, arsenic, barite, beryllium, bismuth, cesium, chromium, cobalt, fluorspar, gallium, germanium, graphite (natural), hafnium, helium, indium, lithium, magnesium, manganese, niobium, platinum group metals, potash, the rare earth elements group, rhenium, rubidium, scandium, strontium, tantalum, tellurium, tin, titanium, tungsten, uranium, vanadium, and zirconium. This list of critical minerals, while “final,” is not a permanent list, but will be dynamic and updated periodically to reflect current data on supply, demand, and concentration of production, as well as current policy priorities. This final list will serve as the Department of Commerce’s initial focus as it develops its report to comply with Section 4 of Executive Order 13817. READ MORE
