U.S. Must Invest in Biomining to Secure Critical Minerals

Critical minerals such as rare earths, cobalt, nickel, and lithium are indispensable to U.S. defence systems, clean energy, and advanced electronics. China nonetheless controls more than 80 to 90 percent of global refining capacity, creating chokepoints that expose serious national security risks.

This report urges federal action to advance biomining, the use of microorganisms to extract metals from ores and waste streams. Biomining offers cleaner, lower-cost processing that can tap low-grade ores, yet the United States remains at the research stage, with startups and pilots but no commercial-scale operations, behind countries such as Chile and Finland.