Critical Minerals
and Materials
Securing resources
across the supply chain
As energy needs continue to evolve, specific minerals and materials are becoming increasingly important. Some of these have been classed as “critical minerals and materials” because they are essential to our country’s defense, energy infrastructure, and technologies that touch our everyday lives—but with limited production and processing.
The United States currently lacks robust domestic supply chains for many of these critical minerals and materials. Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) are finding ways to strengthen the supply chain from fundamental discovery science to applied partnerships.
From using supply chain modeling to identify risk mitigation strategies to developing new in situ mining and ocean mining technologies to extracting critical minerals from unconventional feedstocks using AI or biotechnology, scientists at PNNL are contributing to a wide range of approaches to securing critical mineral and material supplies.
Beyond extracting and isolating critical minerals and materials, researchers at PNNL are also exploring technologies to limit the amount of these materials needed. Advanced manufacturing processes can produce unique properties in more common materials, and catalysis researchers are finding ways to speed up chemical transformations with earth-abundant materials.
Critical minerals and materials are non-fuel minerals, substances, elements, or materials designated by the U.S. government as critical or as having a high risk of disruption to the supply chain. These critical minerals and materials often play an essential role in current and emerging energy technologies.
Critical minerals and materials have a wide range of sources. Most major traditional sources are highly concentrated in one or a few countries—typically outside the United States—which can put supply chains at risk.
Researchers are exploring unconventional sources that contain critical minerals and materials. These sources may have lower concentrations of the valuable minerals or be harder to access through traditional mining methods. Researchers are looking at ways to extract critical minerals using microbes and algae, developing new routes to separate critical minerals from industrial waste, and manufacturing materials that need less critical minerals.
Domestic access to critical minerals and materials can be increased by finding new sources. These can include industrial waste or low-concentration sources previously deemed economically unviable.
