Why America Needs Local Sources of Strategic Materials
The United States stands at a pivotal crossroads in its pursuit of energy independence, national security, and economic resilience. Strategic and critical metals—such as platinum group metals (PGMs), cobalt, vanadium, rare earth elements, and lithium—are foundational to modern technologies including electric vehicles (EVs), solar panels, wind turbines, defense systems, and semiconductor manufacturing. Yet despite this reliance, the U.S. imports more than 75% of over two dozen critical minerals, many of which come from geopolitical adversaries or unstable regions.
National Security Vulnerabilities
Strategic metals are essential for advanced military applications including jet engines, guidance systems, armor plating, and munitions. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, dependence on foreign sources—especially China and Russia—poses a clear and growing threat to national defense readiness. Disruptions in these supply chains could leave the U.S. vulnerable in times of conflict or political instability. Establishing secure domestic sources is critical to ensuring uninterrupted access to these essential inputs.
Clean Energy & Technological Independence
As the U.S. accelerates its transition to a low-carbon economy, demand for strategic metals is surging. The International Energy Agency projects that global demand for cobalt, vanadium, and rare earths will increase by more than 500% by 2040 due to growth in renewable energy and EV deployment. However, the processing and refining of many of these materials remain heavily concentrated in China, which controls more than 60% of global rare earth supply and refining capacity.
Without domestic production and processing infrastructure, the U.S. risks replacing one form of energy dependence (oil) with another (critical minerals), compromising the very goals of its clean energy strategy.
Economic Resilience & Job Creation
Investing in local critical mineral supply chains creates durable, high-paying jobs in engineering, metallurgy, and advanced manufacturing. It also supports secondary industries like refining, electronics, and battery manufacturing. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act have earmarked billions in federal funding to build a homegrown minerals economy—but without scalable recovery technologies and site-ready feedstocks, these funds will go underutilized.
Tailings from legacy mine sites represent a vast, untapped domestic resource. With more than 30 billion tons of mine waste in the U.S. alone, these materials offer a near-term opportunity to create value, generate jobs, and reduce environmental liability—all without new mine permitting.
Geopolitical Leverage
Global powers like China have demonstrated a willingness to weaponize critical mineral exports for political gain. In 2010, China cut off rare earth shipments to Japan during a territorial dispute. In 2023, it imposed export controls on gallium and germanium—key elements for semiconductors and defense tech. Without secure domestic sources, the U.S. remains exposed to similar coercive leverage that could derail manufacturing, innovation, and national policy objectives.
Environmental & Ethical Accountability
Many foreign sources of strategic metals—especially in Africa and Southeast Asia—operate under lax environmental and labor standards, leading to deforestation, toxic pollution, and human rights violations including child labor. By contrast, U.S.-based extraction and recovery operations must comply with rigorous environmental, labor, and safety standards, ensuring cleaner and more ethical supply chains.