What Are Strategic Minerals?
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Strategic minerals are materials that a government treats as vital to national defense, industry and essential civilian needs, especially in an emergency. In the United States the legal term is "strategic and critical materials": materials needed to supply the military, industrial and essential civilian needs of the country during a national emergency that are not found or produced in the United States in sufficient quantities (50 U.S.C. 98h-3). The European Union uses "strategic raw materials" for a list of 17, and Australia keeps a Strategic Materials List of five.
17
strategic raw materials in Annex I of the EU Critical Raw Materials Act
Source: Regulation (EU) 2024/1252
5
materials on Australia's Strategic Materials List: aluminium, copper, phosphorus, tin and zinc
1 Jan 2027
date from which US defense contractors may not supply covered magnets, tungsten and tantalum mined, refined or separated in China, Russia, Iran or North Korea
Source: 10 U.S.C. 4872
How do governments define strategic minerals?
Governments define strategic minerals by what the material is for, not only by how risky its supply is. The term appears in four different legal settings, and each carries different consequences.
| Setting | Definition | Scope | What follows |
|---|---|---|---|
| US stockpile law | Materials needed to supply military, industrial and essential civilian needs in a national emergency and not produced in the US in sufficient quantities (50 U.S.C. 98h-3) | No fixed list in the statute. The Defense Logistics Agency publishes acquisition and disposal plans. | Government purchases for the National Defense Stockpile. See stockpiles. |
| US defense procurement | Covered materials under 10 U.S.C. 4872: samarium-cobalt and neodymium-iron-boron magnets, tungsten metal powder and heavy alloy, tantalum and molybdenum, with gallium and germanium added from 18 December 2027 | Material from North Korea, China, Russia or Iran | Ban on Department of Defense procurement. From 1 January 2027 it covers material mined, refined or separated in those countries. |
| European Union | Raw materials most relevant to the green and digital transitions, defense and aerospace, scored on technologies using them, amounts needed and demand growth (Annex I) | 17 entries, all of them also on the 34-entry critical list | The 2030 benchmarks of 10% extraction, 40% processing, 25% recycling and a 65% single-supplier cap, and strategic project status |
| Australia | A separate Strategic Materials List alongside the Critical Minerals List | Aluminium, copper, phosphorus, tin and zinc | Kept separate from the 31-entry Critical Minerals List. The consequences are not described in the sources used here. |
Sources: 50 U.S.C. 98h-3, 10 U.S.C. 4872, Regulation (EU) 2024/1252, Australian Department of Industry, Science and Resources.
What is the difference between strategic and critical minerals?
Critical minerals are identified by economic importance and supply risk, while strategic minerals are identified by their role in security and emergency needs. The two overlap heavily but are not the same. In the EU every strategic raw material is also critical, and strategic status adds benchmarks and project support. In the US the Interior Department's critical minerals list and the stockpile law's strategic and critical materials are separate legal categories, so a mineral can be on one and not the other. The page on critical versus strategic minerals compares them in more detail, and what critical minerals are covers the lists.
Which minerals are strategic under more than one definition?
Several minerals are strategic under more than one definition. Tungsten is an EU strategic raw material and a covered material for US defense procurement. Gallium and germanium are EU strategic raw materials and become covered materials for US defense procurement from 18 December 2027. Magnet rare earths are EU strategic and the magnets themselves are covered under the US rule. Copper is an EU strategic raw material and on Australia's Strategic Materials List. Aluminium, in the form of bauxite, alumina and aluminium, is an EU strategic raw material and on the Australian list.
Why did the concept return to policy?
The concept returned because governments moved from selling surplus stock to buying again and to restricting supply from specific countries. In 2025 the United States added $2 billion to the stockpile's transaction fund, and the US Geological Survey reports that the stockpile's planned acquisitions for fiscal 2025 included neodymium-praseodymium oxide, magnet block and samarium-cobalt alloy. China's export controls on rare earths, gallium, germanium and tungsten, described on the export controls page, are the main external driver.
Frequently asked questions
What are strategic minerals?
Strategic minerals are materials needed for national defense, industry and essential civilian needs in an emergency. In US law they are materials needed in a national emergency that are not produced in the United States in sufficient quantities.
What is the difference between critical and strategic minerals?
Critical minerals are defined by economic importance and supply risk, while strategic minerals are defined by their role in defense, security and emergency supply. In the European Union all 17 strategic raw materials are also on the 34-entry critical list.
Which minerals are strategic in the European Union?
The EU's strategic raw materials are bauxite/alumina/aluminium, bismuth, metallurgy-grade boron, cobalt, copper, gallium, germanium, battery-grade lithium, magnesium metal, battery-grade manganese and graphite, battery-grade nickel, platinum group metals, rare earths for permanent magnets, silicon metal, titanium metal and tungsten.
Which minerals can US defense contractors not source from China?
US defense contractors may not supply covered samarium-cobalt and neodymium-iron-boron magnets, tungsten powder and heavy alloy, tantalum and molybdenum that were melted or produced in China, Russia, Iran or North Korea, and from 1 January 2027 the rule also reaches material mined, refined or separated there. Gallium and germanium are added from 18 December 2027.
Sources
Read on October 12, 2026. Figures on this page come from these documents; where a number is an estimate, the source says so.
- 50 U.S.C. 98h-3: Definitions (stockpiling)
- 10 U.S.C. 4872: Acquisition of sensitive materials from non-allied foreign nations
- Regulation (EU) 2024/1252, Official Journal L, 3 May 2024. Annex I read in full
- Department of Industry, Science and Resources: Critical Minerals List and Strategic Materials List
- Covington & Burling: Federal push for critical minerals stockpiling (4 February 2026)
