February 27, 2025
Mr. Cornyn (for himself, Mr. Warner, Mr. Young, Mr. Hickenlooper, and Mr. King) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
To require reports on critical mineral and rare earth element resources around the world and a strategy for the development of advanced mining, refining, separation, and processing technologies, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Critical Minerals Security Act of 2025
.
Sec. 2. Reports on critical mineral and rare earth element resources
(a) Definitions
In this section:
(1) Covered nation
The term covered nation has the meaning given the term in section 4872(d) of title 10, United States Code.
(2) Critical mineral
The term critical mineral has the meaning given the term in section 7002(a) of the Energy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 1606(a)).
(3) Foreign entity of concern
The term foreign entity of concern has the meaning given the term in section 40207(a) of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (42 U.S.C. 18741(a)).
(4) Rare earth elements
The term rare earth elements means cerium, dysprosium, erbium, europium, gadolinium, holmium, lanthanum, lutetium, neodymium, praseodymium, promethium, samarium, scandium, terbium, thulium, ytterbium, and yttrium.
(5) Secretary
The term Secretary means the Secretary of the Interior
(6) United states person
The term United States person means—
(A)
a United States citizen or an alien lawfully admitted for permanent residence to the United States; or
(B)
an entity organized under the laws of the United States or of any jurisdiction within the United States, including a foreign branch of such an entity.
(b) Reports on critical mineral and rare earth element resources
(1) In general
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy and the heads of other relevant Federal agencies, shall submit to Congress a report on all critical mineral and rare earth element resources (including recyclable or recycled materials containing those resources) around the world that includes—
(A)
an assessment of—
(i)
which of those resources are under the control of a foreign entity of concern, including through ownership, contract, or economic or political influence;
(ii)
which of those resources are owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of the United States or a country that is an ally or partner of the United States;
(iii)
which of those resources are not owned by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of a foreign entity of concern or a country described in clause (ii); and
(iv)
in the case of those resources not undergoing commercial mining, the reasons for the lack of commercial mining;
(B)
for each mine from which significant quantities of critical minerals or rare earth elements are being extracted, as of the date that is 1 year before the date of the report—
(i)
an estimate of the annual volume of output of the mine as of that date;
(ii)
an estimate of the total volume of mineral or elements that remain in the mine as of that date;
(iii)
(I)
an identification of the country and entity operating the mine; or
(II)
if the mine is operated by more than 1 country or entity, an estimate of the output of each mineral or element from the mine to which each such country or entity has access; and
(iv)
an identification of the ultimate beneficial owners of the mine and the percentage of ownership held by each such owner;
(C)
for each mine not described in subparagraph (B), to the extent practicable—
(i)
an estimate of the aggregate annual volume of output of the mines as of the date that is 1 year before the date of the report;
(ii)
an estimate of the aggregate total volume of mineral or elements that remain in the mines as of that date; and
(iii)
an estimate of the aggregate total output of each mineral or element from the mine to which a foreign entity of concern has access;
(D)
(i)
a list of key foreign entities of concern involved in mining critical minerals and rare earth elements;
(ii)
a list of key entities in the United States and countries that are allies or partners of the United States involved in mining critical minerals and rare earth elements; and
(iii)
an assessment of the technical feasibility of entities listed under clauses (i) and (ii) mining and processing resources identified under subparagraph (A)(iii) using existing advanced technology;
(E)
an assessment, prepared in consultation with the Secretary of State, of ways to collaborate with countries in which mines, mineral processing operations, or recycling operations (or any combination thereof) are located that are operated by other countries, or are operated by entities from other countries, to ensure ongoing access by the United States and countries that are allies and partners of the United States to those mines and processing or recycling operations;
(F)
a list, prepared in consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, identifying, to the maximum extent practicable, all cases in which entities were forced to divest stock in mining, processing, or recycling operations (or any combination thereof) for critical minerals and rare earth elements based on—
(i)
regulatory rulings of the government of a covered nation;
(ii)
joint regulatory rulings of the government of a covered nation and the government of another country; or
(iii)
rulings of a relevant tribunal or other entity authorized to render binding decisions on divestiture;
(G)
a list of all cases in which the government of a covered nation purchased an entity that was forced to divest stock as described in subparagraph (F); and
(H)
a list of all cases in which mining, processing, or recycling operations (or any combination thereof) for critical minerals and rare earth elements that were not subject to a ruling described in subparagraph (F) were taken over by—
(i)
the government of a covered nation; or
(ii)
an entity located in, or influenced or controlled by, the government of a covered nation.
(2) Form of report
Each report required by paragraph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex, if necessary.
(c) Process for notifying United States Government of divestment
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of State, shall establish a process under which—
(1)
a United States person seeking to divest stock in mining, processing, or recycling operations for critical minerals and rare earth elements in a foreign country may notify the Secretary of the intention of the person to divest the stock; and
(2)
the Secretary may provide assistance to the person to find a purchaser that is not under the control of the government of a covered nation.
(d) Strategy on development of advanced mining, refining, separation, processing, and recycling technologies
(1) In general
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy and the heads of other relevant Federal agencies, shall develop—
(A)
a strategy to collaborate with the governments of countries that are allies and partners of the United States to develop advanced mining, refining, separation, processing, and recycling technologies; and
(B)
a method for sharing the intellectual property resulting from the development of advanced mining, refining, separation, processing, and recycling technologies with the governments of countries that are allies and partners of the United States to enable those countries to license those technologies and mine, refine, separate, process, and recycle the resources of those countries.
(2) Reports required
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on the progress made in developing the strategy and method described in paragraph (1).