Critical Minerals Guide.pdf

Minerals and metals are crucial for modern society, driving economic, social, and technological advancement. Global trends, such as addressing climate change and increasing digitalization, require a rapid adoption of mineral-intensive technologies, leading to an exponential rise in demand. However, forecasts indicate that mineral supply may not keep pace with demand, making production and access to essential minerals and metals a top priority for governments.

To assess whether a mineral or metal is critical, a practical guide provides a series of questions for governments to consider when designing strategic policies and roadmaps. The guide aims to support governments in defining their own lists of strategic or critical minerals and metals based on national development objectives, decarbonization and industrialization pathways, and importance in global supply chains.

The assessment involves four key steps:

1. Understanding criticality, including key characteristics such as supply risk, demand, and economic importance.
2. Knowing resources and their uses, and assessing associated risks, including geological, production, macroeconomic, market, industrial development, fiscal, social, environmental, geopolitical, and governance considerations.
3. Strategic considerations, including national priorities, regional initiatives, and global responsibilities.
4. Review and next steps, involving a thorough assessment of risks and identification of strategic opportunities.

The guide provides a non-exhaustive set of questions and indicators for governments to consider when conducting a criticality assessment, aiming to identify risks and strategic opportunities to maximize benefits from the rising demand for minerals and metals.