USGS maps 1,271 US critical-mineral deposits
The US has more of the minerals it worries about than its import numbers suggest. The hard part is turning deposits into mines.
What happened
USGS released a refreshed national database of known critical-mineral deposits — 1,271 of them, spanning 59 minerals in 41 states plus Puerto Rico. Roughly a third (412) have documented resources but have never been mined.
The update also folds in the nine minerals added to the federal list in 2025, including copper, silver, silicon and uranium. Metallurgical coal was left out because it is already well catalogued.
Our take
This is a map of potential, not a supply forecast. A documented resource is the start of a decade-long process of permitting, financing, building and — the bottleneck almost everyone underestimates — processing the ore into something a factory can use.
Still, the headline matters: the agency says nine of the ten minerals at highest risk of disruption occur on US soil. That reframes the American problem from "we don't have it" to "we haven't built the chain to use it," which is a policy and capital problem rather than a geological one.
Why it matters for AI infrastructure
Copper and silicon are two of the most important inputs to data centers and the grid that feeds them. Having them mapped domestically gives developers, utilities and investors a clearer starting point when they think about local sourcing.
What we're watching
- Which of the 412 undeveloped deposits attract permitting under fast-track programs
- Whether the mapping work translates into new processing capacity, not just new mines
- Follow-on Earth MRI survey releases for rare earths and battery metals