Need for critical minerals underlined

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke launched a push Tuesday to expand critical minerals production in the United States, saying “we are vulnerable as a nation” because we rely so heavily on imports from China.

The move comes as the U.S. Geological Survey published its first assessment of the country’s critical minerals resources since 1973. The report concludes that 20 out of the 23 critical minerals the nation relies on are sourced from China.

“And it’s not that we don’t have the minerals in the U.S.,” Zinke said. “It’s likely we do.”

While the United States has significant deposits of most of the minerals it currently imports to produce everything from smartphones to weaponry, market considerations largely drive mining. Zinke and other Interior officials acknowledged that China has emerged as the world’s dominant critical minerals supplier because it sells the materials for less.

“We do know there are deposits that could, in theory, supply all of our needs,” said Larry Meinert, USGS acting deputy associate director for energy and minerals. “This gets into basic economics, supply and demand.”

Out of the nearly two dozen minerals the USGS analyzed, the U.S. relied on overseas supplies for at least 50 percent of all but two of them: beryllium and titanium.

Hal Quinn, president and chief executive of the National Mining Association, said his members had emphasized to Zinke and President Donald Trump the need for an expansion of critical minerals production. Streamlined federal permitting, Quinn added, could make that possible.

USGS experts analyzed what critical minerals would be components of a Navy SEAL’s combat equipment. It concluded that the outfit would include five critical mineral elements in night-vision goggles, 13 for communications gear and a Global Positioning System and three for an M4 rifle.

“As a former Navy SEAL, I didn’t realize that when I was entering combat, much of it was made in China,” Zinke said.