"Critical" has become a frequently used buzzword attached to minerals, but what makes a commodity critical? Governments, corporations, and other stakeholders all have different requirements which makes a single definition challenging. This talk will address the geological, economic, and strategic factors the US Geological Survey has considered to develop the methodology used for the federal government's Critical Minerals list.

Jamie Brainard has been a material flow analyst at the National Minerals Information Center at the US Geological Survey since 2016. Jamie has a background as a geochemist and astrobiologist studying the formation of hydrothermal ore deposits and Archean processes at Penn State, following receiving a BS in geosciences from Penn State. His work at the USGS has been on the identification and risk assessment of critical materials, with a focus on the geologic accessibility of by-product commodities and on the international trade flows of commodities.