Mineral Supply Risk Analysis for the 2022 List of Critical Minerals Infographic

Mineral Supply Risk Analysis for the 2022 List of Critical Minerals

The USGS leads the government in developing the List of Critical Minerals, using a data-driven methodology to assess mineral supply risk.

Critical minerals are essential the Nation’s economy and security, and have supply chains vulnerable to disruption. 

Methodology

Data is ingested into supply risk factors, which are used to assess supply risk. 

These three factors contribute to a mineral's supply risk score. For minerals with limited data, these are assessed qualitatively based on available data:

DISRUPTION POTENTIAL: How concentrated is mineral produced in countries that have a low willingness or ability to supply to the U.S.?

• Calculated from:'
  • % of global production concentrated in a country
  • How willing or able (ie. due to political or economic stability) each country is to supply the U.S. 

ECONOMIC VULNERABILITY: How important is the commodity to the economic health of American industries?

• How much each industry spends on a commodity relative to profit
• How much each industry contributes to GDP

TRADE EXPOSURE: How reliant is the U.S. on other countries for the mineral commodity?

• How much commodity the U.S. consumes
• How much commodity the U.S. imports 

Minerals with a single point of failure are considered to have high supply risk:

SINGLE POINT OF FAILURE: Is the commodity produced domestically, but by only one producer?

All minerals on the List of Critical Minerals:

• Have a critically high quantitative supply risk score
• Were assessed qualitatively to have a high supply risk based on available data

OR

• Have a single point of failure in their supply chain