What are critical minerals?
Essential resources for our future
Critical minerals (also known as new economy minerals) are a range of essential metals and minerals used in emerging technologies such as electric vehicles, renewable energy products, low-emission power sources, electronic devices, and products for the medical, defence and scientific research sectors.
The International Energy Agency estimates demand for critical minerals will increase, tripling under current global measures to reduce emissions, and increasing by up to six times if efforts to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 escalate.
Critical minerals and their uses
Aluminium (Bauxite)
- Solar and wind technology
- Food packaging
- Aircraft
- Electric vehicles and battery storage
Antimony
- Storage batteries
- Electrical cable sheathing
Chromium
- Alloy in stainless and heat-resistant steels
Cobalt
- Key component of lithium ion batteries used in electric vehicles and battery storage
- Wind technology
- Ceramics
- Solar and wind technology
- Electric vehicles and battery storage
- Electricity grids
- Musical instruments
Graphite
- Key component of lithium ion batteries used in electric vehicles and battery storage
- Pencils
Indium
- Electric technology
- Touch screens/flat screen TVs
- Solar panels
- Windshields of aircraft and cars
Rare earth metals and yttrium
- Medical imaging
- Electronic and computing equipment
- Rechargeable batteries
- Wind turbine blades
- Electric vehicles
Rhenium
- Oven filaments
- X-ray machines
- Solar technology
Silica
- Solar technology
- Wind technology
- Glass
Titanium
- Electric vehicles and battery storage
- Wind technology
- Fireworks
Tungsten
- Solar technology
- Wind turbine blades
- Drill bits
- Filaments (light bulbs)
Vanadium
- Solar grid batteries
- Jet engines
- Car suspension
- Building frames
- Last updated
- 03 April 2024
- Last reviewed
- 18 January 2024