Commodities Buzz: US Department of Interior recommends adding Copper, Silver and Lead to critical minerals list

The U.S. Department of the Interior, through the U.S. Geological Survey, has released the draft 2025 List of Critical Minerals and a report that outlines a new model for assessing how potential supply chain disruptions could affect the U.S. economy. The draft list will guide federal strategy, investment, and permitting decisions designed to secure the minerals needed to drive the U.S. economy and protect national security. The List of Critical Minerals informs direct investments in mining and resource recovery from mine waste, stockpiles, tax incentives for U.S. mineral processing, and streamlined mining permitting.

The 2025 draft list includes 54 mineral commodities, of which 50 were included based on the results of the economic effects assessment, zirconium was included because of the potential for a single point of failure within the domestic supply chain and three were retained based on a qualitative evaluation. It noted that Potash, silicon, copper, silver, rhenium and lead were recommended for inclusion to the list and arsenic and tellurium were recommended for removal.

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