The U.S. Geological Survey is extending the public comment period on a draft revised list of critical minerals until January 10, 2022

The U.S. Geological Survey announced today it is seeking public comment by January 10, 2022, on a draft revised list of critical minerals.

“The USGS’s critical minerals list provides vital information for industry, policymakers, economists and scientists on the most important minerals when it comes to U.S. supply chains,” said Tanya Trujillo, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Water and Science. “The statistics and information are crucial to understanding America’s vulnerability to disruptions in the supply of critical minerals, including data on the worldwide supply and demand for minerals and materials essential to the U.S. economy and national security.”

Under the Energy Act of 2020, a “critical mineral” is defined as a non-fuel mineral or mineral material essential to the economic or national security of the U.S., as well as the supply chain, which is vulnerable to disruption. Critical minerals are also characterized as serving an essential function in the manufacturing of a product, the absence of which would have significant consequences for the economic or national security.

In 2018, the Department of the Interior worked in consultation with other cabinet agencies to develop the nation’s first list of critical minerals in response to Executive Order 13817.

Under the Energy Act of 2020, at least every three years the Department is required to review and update the list of critical minerals, update the methodology used to identify potential critical minerals, take interagency feedback and public comment through the Federal Register, and ultimately finalize the list of critical minerals, also referred to as the whole-of-government critical minerals list.

After two years, working with the National Science and Technology Council’s Critical Minerals Subcommittee, the USGS published a report describing the updated methodology for assessing critical minerals for the list and latest results. This report formed the basis for the draft 2021 whole-of-government critical minerals list.

DATES: To ensure consideration, written comments must be submitted by January 10, 2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit written comments:

Online at http://www.regulations.gov by entering “DOI-2021-2013” in the Search bar and clicking “Search”
Or by mail to Draft List of Critical Minerals, MS-102, U.S. Geological Survey, 12201 Sunrise Valley Dr, Reston, VA 20192.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Mosley, (703) 648-6312, jmosley@usgs.gov. Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1–800–877–8339 to contact Mr. Mosley during normal business hours. The FRS is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave a message or question with this individual. You will receive a reply during normal business hours. Normal business hours are 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except for federal holidays.

The draft 2021 whole-of-government critical minerals list includes the following — click a mineral’s name to find relevant statistics and publications:

Aluminum, used in almost all sectors of the economy
Antimony, used in lead-acid batteries and flame retardants

Arsenic, used in semi-conductors
Barite, used in hydrocarbon production.
Beryllium, used as an alloying agent in aerospace and defense industries
Bismuth, used in medical and atomic research
Cerium, used in catalytic converters, ceramics, glass, metallurgy, and polishing compounds

Cesium, used in research and development
Chromium, used primarily in stainless steel and other alloys
Cobalt, used in rechargeable batteries and superalloys
Dysprosium, used in permanent magnets, data storage devices, and lasers
Erbium, used in fiber optics, optical amplifiers, lasers, and glass colorants

Europium, used in phosphors and nuclear control rods
Fluorspar, used in the manufacture of aluminum, cement, steel, gasoline, and fluorine chemicals
Gadolinium, used in medical imaging, permanent magnets, and steelmaking
Gallium, used for integrated circuits and optical devices like LEDs
Germanium, used for fiber optics and night vision applications

Graphite , used for lubricants, batteries, and fuel cells
Hafnium, used for nuclear control rods, alloys, and high-temperature ceramics
Holmium, used in permanent magnets, nuclear control rods, and lasers
Indium, used in liquid crystal display screens
Iridium, used as coating of anodes for electrochemical processes and as a chemical catalyst

Lanthanum, used to produce catalysts, ceramics, glass, polishing compounds, metallurgy, and batteries
Lithium, used for rechargeable batteries
Lutetium, used in scintillators for medical imaging, electronics, and some cancer therapies
Magnesium, used as an alloy and for reducing metals
Manganese, used in steelmaking and batteries

Neodymium, used in permanent magnets, rubber catalysts, and in medical and industrial lasers
Nickel, used to make stainless steel, superalloys, and rechargeable batteries
Niobium, used mostly in steel and superalloys
Palladium, used in catalytic converters and as a catalyst agent
Platinum, used in catalytic converters

Praseodymium, used in permanent magnets, batteries, aerospace alloys, ceramics, and colorants
Rhodium, used in catalytic converters, electrical components, and as a catalyst
Rubidium, used for research and development in electronics
Ruthenium, used as catalysts, as well as electrical contacts and chip resistors in computers
Samarium, used in permanent magnets, as an absorber in nuclear reactors, and in cancer treatments

Scandium, used for alloys, ceramics, and fuel cells
Tantalum, used in electronic components, mostly capacitors and in superalloys
Tellurium, used in solar cells, thermoelectric devices, and as alloying additive
Terbium, used in permanent magnets, fiber optics, lasers, and solid-state devices
Thulium, used in various metal alloys and in lasers

Tin, used as protective coatings and alloys for steel
Titanium, used as a white pigment or metal alloys
Tungsten, primarily used to make wear-resistant metals
Vanadium, primarily used as alloying agent for iron and steel
Ytterbium, used for catalysts, scintillometers, lasers, and metallurgy

Yttrium, used for ceramic, catalysts, lasers, metallurgy, and phosphors
Zinc, primarily used in metallurgy to produce galvanized steel
Zirconium, used in the high-temperature ceramics and corrosion-resistant alloys.