![]() ![]() At least 15 of these minerals are considered “key minerals” because the US is over 50% import reliant. The Latin American Alternative,” deals with over 90 materials identified in the Defense Material inventories as of September 1987. Strategic and Critical Materials Imports: Dependency and Vulnerability. Kevin Jones was written in regards to what he thought are the most critical minerals upon which the United States is dependent for foreign sources of supply – chromium, cobalt, manganese and the platinum group metals (PGE). The 1988 article “United States Dependence On Imports Of Four Strategic And Critical Minerals: Implications And Policy Alternatives” by G. In 1985, the secretary of the United States Army testified before Congress that America was more than 50% dependent on foreign sources for 23 of 40 critical materials essential to US national security. in a vulnerable position with a direct threat to our defense production capability if the supply of strategic minerals is disrupted by foreign powers.” Without just a few critical minerals, such as cobalt, manganese, chromium and platinum, it would be virtually impossible to produce many defense products such as jet engine, missile components, electronic components, iron, steel, etc. The availability of these minerals has an extremely important impact on American industry and, in turn, on US defense capabilities. Hagerman wrote: “Since World War ll, the United States has become increasingly dependent on foreign sources for almost all non-fuel minerals. In 1981, President Reagan announced a “major purchase program for the National Defense Stockpile,” saying that it was widely recognized that the nation is vulnerable to sudden shortages in basic raw materials necessary to its defense production base. Minerals Dependency/Vulnerability’ singled out eight materials “for which the industrial health and defense of the United States is most vulnerable to potential supply disruptions” – chromium, cobalt, manganese, the platinum group of metals, titanium, bauxite/aluminum, niobium and tantalum – the first five have been called “the metallurgical Achilles’ heel of our civilization.” The 1981 report ‘A Congressional Handbook on U.S. General Slay pointed out that technological advances had increased the demand for exotic minerals at the same time as legislative and regulatory restrictions had been imposed on the US mining industry. Slay, Commander, Air Force Systems Command. By 1950 the number of required materials had expanded to 54 groups, representing 75 commodities.Ī concise summary of US mineral vulnerabilities was presented to the Industrial Readiness Panel of the House Armed Services Committee in 1980 by General Alton D. The NDS was intended for all essential civilian and military uses in times of emergencies ie guerrilla warfare in Zaire during the 1970s caused the worldwide price of cobalt to increase from $6 to $45 a pound, and a United Nations (UN) trade boycott of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) stopped legal exports of chromium from the country.īy 1948 the WIB’s Munitions Board had developed a list of 51 strategic and critical material groups. The Defense Logistics Agency Strategic Materials (DLA Strategic Materials) oversees operations of the NDS and their primary mission is to “protect the nation against a dangerous and costly dependence upon foreign sources of supply for critical materials in times of national emergency.” The purchases certainly weren’t enough and all throughout the war effort these and numerous other materials had to be imported in large quantities.Īfter World War II the United States created the National Defense Stockpile (NDS) to acquire and store critical strategic materials for national defense purposes. The 1939 Strategic Materials Act authorized US$100 million to purchase strategic raw materials for a stockpile of 42 strategic and critical materials needed for wartime production.īy 1940, small amounts of chromite, manganese, rubber and tin were procured under the Strategic Materials Act. This led to development of the Harbord List – a list of 42 materials deemed critical to the military.Ī pre-World War II list of materials contained a total of 29 materials: 14 were strategic materials that ‘must be based entirely or in substantial part on sources outside the United States.’ There were 15 critical materials that would be easier to source, perhaps even domestically, than the strategic materials. In World War I severe material shortages (tungsten, tin, chromite, optical grade glass, and manila fiber for ropes) played havoc with production schedules and caused lengthy delays in implementing programs. US recognition of the importance of critical minerals goes back over 100 years.
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