While critical minerals are often associated with electrification, renewables and battery storage, their significance extends well beyond energy, underpinning a broad array of industrial and technological applications. From AI and robotics to high-performance materials and aerospace, these minerals’ contribution to industrial and technological development is increasing, with broad economic implications.

The range of strategic materials with significant implications for the energy sector should not be underestimated. Superalloys – which require a diverse array of input metals – illustrate this: approximately two-thirds of global demand originates from the aerospace industry, primarily for use in aircraft engines, but the energy sector also represents a major source of demand, particularly for industrial gas turbines. Similarly, the chips and solar PV industries often rely on overlapping sets of specialised materials. This underscores how, taken together, the energy, technology and other strategic sectors are driving forces increasingly shaping critical mineral markets.

In this section, we cover 20 energy-related, multisectoral minerals to understand potential risk areas that could have major economic implications. In addition to key energy minerals such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, rare earths, manganese and silicon this includes other strategic minerals such as antimony, chromium, gallium, germanium, indium, molybdenum, tantalum, tellurium, titanium, tungsten, vanadium and zirconium. 

Price volatility is a defining feature of critical mineral markets, often stemming from the relatively small size and limited transparency of these markets. Among 20 strategic minerals, 75% have shown greater price volatility than oil, and half have been more volatile than natural gas. These risks are also heightened by the fact that many strategic minerals are produced not as co‑products or by-products of primary commodities. Minerals such as tellurium, gallium and germanium are typically recovered during the processing of copper, nickel or aluminium ores, meaning their supply is inherently tied to the output of these primary commodities rather than to their own market dynamics.

Trade restrictions increasingly affect critical mineral markets, with a recent wave of export control measures, particularly from China, adding to the uncertainty. Risks are amplified by high levels of supply concentration, especially in refining and processing stages. China is the dominant refiner for 19 of the 20 minerals analysed, holding an average market share of around 70%. Substitution also remains a major challenge: for many minerals, including tantalum, titanium and vanadium, viable alternatives are limited or involve major trade-offs in cost and performance.

Addressing these significant economic and strategic implications requires proactive policies aimed at mitigating critical mineral supply and price volatility. This can involve fostering greater supply chain transparency and mineral traceability, supporting recycling and technological innovation to manage demand and primary supply requirements, and incentivising diversification through financial support and market-based mechanisms.