A broad array of minerals and metals are classified as strategic and critical. These raw materials are making a contribution towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions and achieving a low carbon future. For example, rare earth metals such as the Platinum Group of Metals are mostly mined in a few countries (South Africa and Russia) and there are few or no good substitutes to them. Thus supply disruption could constrain the production of critical components in the catalytic converters found in most vehicles that reduce harmful emissions or disrupt key industrial processes that use these metals as catalysts in petroleum refining; high-temperature processing of brasive materials such as glass; disc drives and electronic components; medical and dental implants and devices; and electrochemistry. Similarly, metals such as cobalt, lithium, manganese, copper, and minerals like graphite play a significant role in energy related technologies.
UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT
