Critical Minerals Applications: Industries Driving Demand
The surge in demand for critical and strategic minerals is not abstract. It is driven by specific industries building specific products, from the lithium-ion cells in electric vehicles to the neodymium magnets in wind turbines and the gallium arsenide wafers in 5G base stations. Understanding where these minerals go is essential to understanding why they matter.
Every critical mineral on every government list exists there because downstream industries depend on it. The energy transition alone is projected to multiply mineral demand by four to six times over the coming decades, but clean energy is only part of the story. Semiconductors, aerospace systems, advanced manufacturing, and chemical processing all compete for the same constrained supply of specialized metals and materials.
This section maps the connections between critical minerals and the industries that consume them. Each application area examines which minerals are essential, why substitution is difficult, what supply risks loom largest, and how demand trajectories are evolving. Whether you are tracking investment opportunities, assessing geopolitical vulnerabilities, or designing supply chain strategies, these pages provide the industrial context behind mineral criticality.
Navigate the application areas below to explore how critical minerals flow from mine to manufacturer, and why disruptions at any point along these pathways carry consequences for entire economic sectors.
Energy Storage and Electrification
The electrification of transportation and the grid is the single largest driver of new critical mineral demand globally.
EV Batteries
Lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, and graphite power the electric vehicle revolution. Explore battery chemistries, mineral requirements, and supply chain vulnerabilities.
Grid-Scale Energy Storage
Utility-scale batteries and alternative storage technologies require vast quantities of lithium, vanadium, zinc, and iron. Explore minerals for stationary storage.
Solar and Wind Energy
Photovoltaic cells depend on silicon, silver, tellurium, and gallium while wind turbines consume rare earths, copper, and zinc at industrial scale.
Advanced Technology and Electronics
From magnets that drive motors to chips that process data, advanced technologies depend on highly specialized mineral inputs.
Permanent Magnets
Neodymium-iron-boron and samarium-cobalt magnets are essential for EV motors, wind turbines, robotics, and defense systems. Explore rare earth magnet supply chains.
Semiconductors
Gallium, germanium, silicon carbide, and gallium nitride underpin the global chip industry. Explore compound semiconductors and export control risks.
Defense, Aerospace, and Heavy Industry
National security and industrial manufacturing depend on minerals that enable extreme performance under demanding conditions.
Aerospace and Defense
Titanium, tungsten, rhenium, beryllium, and rare earths are indispensable for jet engines, missiles, armor, and satellite systems.
Steel and Superalloys
Manganese, vanadium, niobium, molybdenum, cobalt, and chromium transform ordinary steel into high-performance alloys for extreme environments.
Nuclear Energy and Radiation
Uranium, zirconium, hafnium, beryllium, and boron enable nuclear fission, fuel containment, and radiation shielding across civilian and defense applications.
Chemical, Industrial, and Specialty Applications
Critical minerals serve essential roles in catalysis, chemical processing, and the manufacture of glass, ceramics, and specialty materials.
Catalysts and Chemicals
Platinum group metals, rare earths, and other critical minerals drive catalytic processes in petroleum refining, automotive emissions control, and green hydrogen production.
Glass and Ceramics
Rare earths, boron, lithium, zirconium, and other minerals enable advanced glass compositions, ceramic capacitors, fiber optics, and display technologies.