Natural Resources and Mining Law Blog
What Happened: What The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has released the final 2025 List of Critical Minerals, expanding it to 60 commodities by adding 10 new minerals. Published in the Federal Register on November 7, 2025, this update retains all 50 from the 2022 list while incorporating additions. View the full list and methodology here.
Details: The new entries—boron, copper, lead, metallurgical coal, phosphate, potash, rhenium, silicon, silver, and uranium—address vulnerabilities in supply chains for industries like electronics, renewable energy, steelmaking, agriculture, nuclear power, and national defense. Notably, the draft list published on August 26, 2025, had recommended removing arsenic and tellurium, but both were retained in the final list based on interagency recommendations. The expansion reflects a strategic effort to bolster domestic production and reduce reliance on foreign sources, particularly China, for minerals essential to the U.S. economy and national security.
Significance: Designation unlocks expedited federal permitting under FAST-41, Defense Production Act funding, tax incentives, and streamlined reviews, potentially accelerating projects, as discussed in our blog article here. Critical minerals are also be subject to Department of Interior’s expedited permitting procedures as outlined in our blog article here. For California stakeholders, this may have implications regarding state efforts to define critical minerals under SMARA, as discussed here.
Kerry Shapiro
Kerry Shapiro chairs the Natural Resources & Mining Practice Group at Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP. He has represented the mining, building materials, and other resource industries on mineral extraction and land development projects for more than 25 years. Kerry also serves as General Counsel to the California Construction and Industrial Materials Association (CalCIMA). Contact Kerry at KShapiro@jmbm.com.
Ha Chung
Ha Chung is an environmental and land use lawyer at Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP. He advises clients on land use, development, water resources, and environmental regulatory compliance matters. Contact Ha at HChung@jmbm.com.
JMBM’s Natural Resources & Mining Law Group
Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP has one of California’s leading natural resources and mining law practice groups. The group is comprised of lawyers with over 25 years of practice in law firms, government, and consulting, and provides companies and trade associations with unparalleled counseling, compliance, and litigation services in nearly every area of federal and California natural resources and mining law.