Critical Minerals & Battery Materials

Critical Minerals & Battery Materials covers the mining and processing of the minerals essential to the energy transition and advanced manufacturing — lithium, rare earth elements, cobalt, nickel, graphite, and other critical minerals. It is a strategically vital but underdeveloped U.S. frontier, as the country seeks to reduce dependence on China, which dominates mining and especially processing of many critical minerals.

Demand is exploding with EV batteries, energy storage, electronics, and defense applications, and U.S. policy (the IRA, Defense Production Act, and critical-minerals strategy) is driving investment in domestic mining and processing. It is an emerging, capital-intensive, and policy-driven segment attracting strategic, government, and venture capital despite long development timelines and permitting challenges.