Project Vault / U.S. Strategic Critical Mineral Reserve (Consolidated List)

02-06-2026 | Fides Global Bullion Newsroom

Precious & Monetary Metals

1. Gold

2. Silver

3. Platinum

4. Palladium

5. Rhodium

Battery & Energy Transition Minerals

6. Lithium

7. Cobalt

8. Nickel

9. Manganese

10. Graphite (natural)

11. Graphite (synthetic)

12. Vanadium

13. Aluminum

14. Copper

15. Zinc

Rare Earth Elements (REEs)

16. Neodymium

17. Praseodymium

18. Dysprosium

19. Terbium

20. Lanthanum

21. Cerium

22. Samarium

23. Europium

24. Yttrium

Defense, Aerospace & High-Temperature Metals

25. Titanium

26. Tungsten

27. Molybdenum

28. Chromium

29. Niobium

30. Tantalum

31. Hafnium

32. Rhenium

Semiconductor & Advanced Technology Materials

33. Silicon (metallic)

34. Gallium

35. Germanium

36. Indium

37. Tellurium

38. Selenium

39. Arsenic

Nuclear & Strategic Energy Inputs

40. Uranium

41. Thorium

42. Zirconium

Industrial & Specialty Minerals

43. Antimony

44. Beryllium

45. Fluorspar

46. Barite

47. Bauxite

48. Phosphate Rock

49. Potash

50. Boron

Steel, Alloy & Infrastructure Inputs

51. Iron Ore

52. Tin

53. Lead

54. Magnesium

55. Silicon Carbide

Emerging / High-Risk Supply Chain Materials

56. Scandium

57. Lithium Brines (processed feedstock)

58. Coking Coal (metallurgical)

59. Synthetic Graphene Precursors

60. High-Purity Quartz

Strategic Context (Why This List Matters)

• Over 70% of these minerals face concentrated supply risk, often dominated by a single country or geopolitical bloc

• Gold is the only asset on the list that functions simultaneously as:

  • A reserve asset

  • A monetary hedge

  • A non-industrial store of value

• Most others are non-substitutable inputs for:

  • Defense systems

  • Energy transition infrastructure

  • Semiconductors and AI hardware

This is why governments increasingly treat minerals as balance-sheet assets, not commodities.

Strategic Takeaway

The real competition is no longer over production —
it is over control, stockpiling, and monetization of strategic minerals.

Gold sits at the top of this hierarchy because it is the only mineral that reduces systemic risk rather than increasing it.

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