The Criticality of Metals

Today’s technology employs virtually the entire periodic table. The stocks and flows of the major metals, essentially unknown a decade ago, are now reasonably well quantified. Those cycles can be used to generate on overview of societal metal use. A key issue is whether scarcity implies long-term shortages or unavailability. To address this issue, a detailed methodology for generating a reliable assessment of the criticality of metals has been completed, making extensive use of peer-reviewed datasets and analytical approaches from the fields of geology, international trade, political science, and international policy, among others. This criticality evaluation has three components – Supply Risk, Environmental Implications, and Vulnerability to Supply Restriction, each of which is itself the composite of several metrics. The initial results of applying this methodology to several widely used metals will be presented and the results discussed in some detail. The products of this research are expected to provide guidance for materials choice in product design and development, recycling potential, and the consideration of substitute materials in modern technology.