Securing Critical Minerals Vital to National Security, Official Says

Secure sourcing of critical minerals is critical to the defense industrial base, which uses them to produce virtually every Defense Department system, from unmanned aerial systems and fighter jets to submarines, said Adam Burstein.

Burstein, technical director for strategic and critical materials in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy, spoke today at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.

"Recent disruptions [due to] adversarial actions have underscored what we have long recognized, that it is more urgent than ever to build capability and resilience in supply chains for critical minerals," he said.

To do so, DOD must address challenges. Besides adversarial disruptions of critical minerals, there are other problems related to critical minerals like insufficient labor and training in the U.S. to meet defense production demand, and inadequate U.S. and allied sourcing for key materials and production, Burstein said.

An example of disruption vulnerabilities, he said, has been China's attempts to impose export bans on key materials such as gallium, germanium and antimony.

"[This has] demonstrated China's willingness to cause such a disruption to critical U.S. supply chains and highlights the urgency of securing our supply chains against such tactics," he said.

Industrial-based policies focus on increased domestic mining and processing and align with broader DOD objectives to secure critical supply chains, he said.

For example, since 2020 DOD has awarded more than $439 million to establish domestic rare earth element supply chains, he said.

There are 17 elements on the periodic table referred to as rare earth. DOD needs nearly all of them in some capacity, he noted.

To address this critical need, the department has embarked on a five-year rare earth investment strategy to build domestic capacity. There is only one rare earth mine currently active in the United States, he noted.

Partnering with allies is also key to success, he said. Earlier this year, Congress added the United Kingdom and Australia as domestic sources, in addition to Canada, for purposes of the Defense Production Act.

"This means we can now make direct investments in our closest partners and reflects the enduring commitment of the U.S. government to partner with key allies over the long term," Burstein said.

For instance, last year, the U.S. issued multiple DPA awards to projects based in Canada, which also received joint funding from the Canadian government. These projects are targeted to increase the secure supply of key materials, including cobalt, graphite and tungsten, he said.

"By partnering with our close allies, we can capitalize on opportunities to leverage each other's strengths to mutually reinforce our domestic and allied defense industrial bases," he said.

This includes 19 security supply cooperation arrangements that the U.S. has with partner nations, which allow DOD to request priority delivery for DOD contracts, subcontracts, and allow the signatory nations to request the same of the United States, he said.

"These agreements further demonstrate DOD is committed to strengthening and expanding existing alliances and forging new partnerships that increase capabilities and strengthen defense industrial bases," he said.

Stockpiling of critical minerals is another DOD strategy that reduces risk from unanticipated demand spikes or supply chain disruptions, essentially acting as shock absorbers, Burstein said.