Critical Minerals Analysis Tools
Welcome to the Payne Institute/Colorado School of Mines Economics Department Critical Minerals Analysis Tools page. This site accesses interactive tools, built based on Mines’ proprietary data sets, to deepen understanding of the global supply/availability and demand outlook for individual critical minerals.
Minerals Reserves and Production Costs
Critical Minerals Demand from Power Model (Under Construction)
Other Critical Minerals Research
THE STATE OF CRITICAL MINERALS REPORT 2024
The Payne Institute for Public Policy and the Colorado School of Mines has released its second annual State of Critical Minerals Report. Building on last year’s report, which provided a comprehensive overview of the supply, demand, technical and political landscape for critical minerals globally, this year’s edition targets the U.S. federal response, while also examining dynamics that will impact the mining industry’s ability to meet the needs for critical minerals that are presented by the global energy transition. Highlights include the vast potential from mining tailings, the steep cost curve for Nickel, new legislation focused on increasing the domestic mining of critical minerals and the U.S. government’s recent $4.9 billion of investments in mining and processing. October 10, 2024.
Minerals, Magnets, and Military Capability: China’s Rare Earth Weaponization Should Be a Wake-Up Call 7/10/2025
Minerals, Magnets, and Military Capability: China’s Rare Earth Weaponization Should Be a Wake-Up Call
Payne Institute Communications Associate Macdonald Amoah, Director Morgan Bazilian and Fellow Jahara Matisek write about how when China imposed export controls on seven of the seventeen rare earth elements in April 2025, it wasn’t just a trade policy tweak—it was a shot across the bow of the US defense industrial base. American reliance on foreign minerals and rare earths exposes critical vulnerabilities. July 10, 2025.
Trump floats a 50% tariff on copper, risking price increases for wide range of goods 7/9/2025
Trump floats a 50% tariff on copper, risking price increases for wide range of goods
Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Ian Lange contributes to this article about how the Trump administration will soon impose a 50% tariff on all copper imported to the United States, adding another key manufacturing material to a growing list of items being targeted in trade wars and massive taxes on foreign products in a push to bring more manufacturing and production back to within the United States’ borders. July 9, 2025.
Bridging the Energy Access Divide: A Policy Gap Analysis of 12 African National Energy Compacts Under Mission 300 7/9/2025
Bridging the Energy Access Divide: A Policy Gap Analysis of 12 African National Energy Compacts Under Mission 300
Payne Institute Communications Associate Macdonald Amoah writes about how Africa stands at a pivotal juncture in its energy trajectory, where bold aspirations for universal electrification by 2030 confront entrenched structural and institutional barriers. In response to this pressing challenge, twelve African governments have aligned themselves with the World Bank’s Mission 300 Energy Compacts, committing to universal access through a suite of reform-oriented and infrastructure-driven strategies. July 9, 2025.
The Importance of Military Steel Production in Large-Scale Conflicts 7/7/2025
The Importance of Military Steel Production in Large-Scale Conflicts
Gregory Wischer and Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian write about the importance a consistent steel supply chain for US national defense. A hard, strong alloy of iron, carbon, and other elements, it is used in platforms like attack submarines, long-range bombers, mobile missile launchers, as well as munitions like torpedoes, standoff missiles, and long-range missiles and rockets. July 7, 2025.
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