Better Metals and Minerals Data Needed as Nation’s Import Dependency Grows

“Despite the abundance of these resources in the United States, our country is becoming more dependent upon foreign sources to meet our metal and minerals requirements,” she said. “This increases our nation’s vulnerability to supply disruptions of strategic metals due to political or military instability,” said Connie Holmes, senior economist and director of international policy for the National Mining Association (NMA).

“The United States has gone from possessing one of the best and most relied upon capabilities for collecting metals and mineral information to a capability that is more closely akin to those found in second-tier mineral producing countries.”
National Mining Association