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Critical Minerals / Materials (CM)
Critical minerals and materials (CM) are essential for current and emerging technologies relevant to national security, energy, and communications industries. In the U.S., the Departments of Interior and Energy deem minerals and materials critical based on vulnerabilities to supply chain disruption. NIST is advancing measurement science, standards, and data in support of building more resilient CM supply chains and recovery pathways. The work undertaken in the metals, electronics, solar, and battery activity areas also relates to CM circularity. In addition to those focus areas, we are investigating CM challenges more broadly and ways that NIST can contribute to addressing them.
Jump to: Research Activities | Documentary Standards Engagements
Research Activities
Critical Minerals / Materials Needs Assessment
The Circular Economy Program is conducting a needs assessment to identify measurement science, standards, and data needs related to critical mineral and material challenges. This assessment is carried out through extensive outreach and engagement with industry, government, academia, and other stakeholders, as well as an internal investigation of relevant NIST activities and capabilities. This effort aims to identify where NIST can best contribute to addressing CM challenges and inform our research priorities and standards engagements. Contact: Avery Baumann.
Forecasting Demand Data For Critical Materials
Gallium, indium, and cobalt are vital to many critical and emerging technologies. Like other critical minerals, these materials are prone to supply chain risks, resulting in future uncertainty associated with supply, demand, and price parameters. Understanding current and future market dynamics is necessary to mitigate this uncertainty. NIST applied the Bass Diffusion Model to generate demand projections for gallium, indium, and cobalt. The generation and compilation of the datasets resulting from this model is one step in enabling insights into future market parameters of the minerals and the products that rely on their availability. Read more. Contact: Nehika Mathur.
Other NIST Critical Minerals / Material Activities
Other Circular Economy Program Research Areas have relevance for CM circularity. Use the links below to learn more about these efforts:
Documentary Standards Engagements
Visit our Standards Resources page to see which critical mineral/materials circularity-related documentary standards committees NIST is currently engaged in.