A rare earth metal called samarium that is used in defense, cancer treatments and navigation has been named by the U.S. Geological Survey as the weakest link in the critical mineral supply chain.
Samarium, described as having a bright silver luster, was named by USGS as the No. 1 critical mineral at highest risk of having supply chain vulnerabilities in its proposed 2025 Critical Mineral.
The ranking came after the government conducted a supply-chain disruption computer analysis of likely impacts in the event 84 minerals were disrupted in 1,200 trade scenarios. From this forecast resulted in a proposed list of 54 critical minerals. In the No. 1 spot was samarium as the most vulnerable critical mineral in the supply chain.
Critical minerals are essential to the U.S. economy or national security and are vulnerable to disruption in the supply chain. The minerals must be so vital in making a product that their loss would result severe consequences for the nation.
“On America’s Balance Sheet, the loss of even one critical mineral can ripple through entire industries, from semiconductors to defense systems, undermining production capacity, technology leadership, and American jobs. The new USGS methodology enables policymakers to evaluate risks under multiple scenarios for all 84 minerals analyzed, providing a clear economic measure that can be compared directly to other national priorities and risk-mitigation strategies,” the agency noted in August when it announced its proposed critical mineral list.
The U.S. relies on imports from China to meet its needs for samarium, which is a byproduct of other rare earth, iron ore, and heavy mineral sands (i.e., titanium and zirconium), according to Los Alamos National Laboratory.
The industries most at risk if there was a disruption in samarium would be the defense and navigation. Samarium’s uses include as magnets, a neutron absorber in nuclear reactors, and in cancer treatments.
The substance also has been used in making “a new permanent magnet material with the highest resistance to demagnetization of any known material,” LANL says. “Samarium oxide has been used in optical glass to absorb the infrared.”
