Strategic Mineral Stockpiles and Reserves
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A strategic mineral stockpile is a government-held or government-backed inventory of materials kept to cover military, industrial and essential civilian needs in an emergency. The United States has run one since 1939, the National Defense Stockpile, and in 2025 and 2026 it moved from selling surplus to buying: Congress added $2 billion to the stockpile's transaction fund and the administration announced a planned $12 billion stockpile called Project Vault. Japan, the European Union, China and India run or are building their own programs.
1939
year the US National Defense Stockpile was created; the Defense Logistics Agency manages it
$2bn
added to the stockpile transaction fund by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which previously held about $958 million
$12bn
planned Project Vault stockpile: a $10 billion EXIM loan plus $1.67 billion of private investment
Source: Mining Technology, February 2026
60 days
typical Japanese stockpile target in days of consumption, with higher targets such as 180 days for high-risk minerals
Source: IEA policy database
How do the main national stockpile programs compare?
The programs differ in who owns the inventory, how much is disclosed and whether the stock is meant for defense only or for industry as well. The table summarises what the cited sources report. Quantities are often secret, so the absence of a figure does not mean there is no stock.
| Program | Operator and legal base | What is reported | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States: National Defense Stockpile | Defense Logistics Agency, under the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act | The Department of Defense announced an intent to procure up to $1 billion of material. 2025 information requests covered scandium, tungsten, graphite, samarium, dysprosium and terbium, and a fluorspar contract was awarded. | Buying phase. The fiscal 2026 Annual Materials Plan had not been released when USGS wrote its 2026 summaries. |
| United States: Project Vault | Export-Import Bank loan with private participants and trading firms as buyers | Planned $12 billion inventory: a $10 billion Export-Import Bank loan and $1.67 billion of private investment. Minerals named are antimony, cobalt, copper, graphite, lead, nickel and silicon. Participants commit to buy at agreed prices and pay upfront fees for preferred access. | Announced February 2026. Reports say details were still being finalised. |
| European Union | European Commission with member states, under the RESourceEU plan of December 2025 | A coordinated stockpiling pilot and a European Critical Raw Materials Centre were planned for early 2026, with about 3 billion euros of funding over twelve months. | Launch of the pilot is not confirmed in the sources used here. |
| Japan | JOGMEC under the 2020 International Resource Strategy | Designated 34 rare metals for stockpiling. Target usually 60 days of consumption, up to 180 days for high-risk minerals. In 2020 stocks of seven metals were reported: nickel, chromium, tungsten, cobalt, molybdenum, manganese and vanadium. | Quantities are not public. The 2020 holdings may be out of date. |
| China | National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration | Bloomberg reported in March 2025, citing unnamed people, that China planned to add cobalt, copper, nickel and lithium to its state reserves. | Not confirmed by Chinese authorities in the sources used here. |
| Democratic Republic of the Congo | Government export quota system | The 2026 and 2027 cobalt export quotas of up to 96,600 t a year include 9,600 t for national strategic reserves. | In force since October 2025, according to USGS. |
Sources: Covington & Burling, Mining Technology, electrive on RESourceEU, IEA policy database on Japan, Argus (2020), Bloomberg (21 March 2025), USGS.
What counts as a strategic and critical material for stockpiling?
For the US stockpile, the law defines strategic and critical materials as materials that would be needed to supply the military, industrial and essential civilian needs of the United States during a national emergency, and that are not found or produced in the United States in sufficient quantities to meet that need (50 U.S.C. 98h-3). That is a different test from the Interior Department's critical minerals list, which turns on economic or national security importance and supply chain vulnerability. See what strategic minerals are for the distinction.
What is the US government buying?
The USGS lists the stockpile's potential acquisitions in its annual summaries. For fiscal year 2025 they included 300 t of neodymium-praseodymium oxide, 450 t of neodymium-iron-boron magnet block, 60 t of samarium-cobalt alloy and 1,100 t of lanthanum in the rare earths chapter, 2,041 t of tungsten, and 60 t of cobalt alloys. The agency also planned to dispose of 5,000 kg of germanium. In 2025 the Defense Logistics Agency published a solicitation for 7,480 t of cobalt over five years, which was cancelled before the end of the year.
Some of the volumes requested in recent solicitations are large against the market. Covington & Burling notes that news outlets reported quantities in several requests that were "approaching or even exceeding" total annual US consumption. Two bills would create a Strategic Resilience Reserve run by an independent government corporation: H.R. 7126 in the House and S. 3659 in the Senate.
What are the limits of stockpiling?
- Size. A stockpile covers a short disruption, not a structural shortage. Japan's target of 60 days of consumption shows the order of magnitude.
- Secrecy. Most governments do not publish holdings, which makes it hard for markets to price the stock. Argus reported in 2020 that Japan's trade ministry said neither targets nor actual levels should be public.
- Price effects. Government purchases in thin markets can move prices, and rare earth prices for the magnet metals that US buyers are seeking can be volatile. The USGS reports average neodymium-praseodymium oxide at $69 per kilogram in 2025 against $55 in 2024.
- Processing. A stockpile of oxide or concentrate is only useful if there is capacity to refine and form it, which is the processing bottleneck.
Frequently asked questions
What is the National Defense Stockpile?
The National Defense Stockpile is the US government's reserve of strategic and critical materials, created in 1939 and managed by the Defense Logistics Agency. It holds materials needed in a national emergency and, since 2025, is buying again after years of disposals.
What is Project Vault?
Project Vault is a planned US critical minerals stockpile announced in February 2026. It combines a $10 billion Export-Import Bank loan with $1.67 billion of private investment, with trading firms Hartree Partners, Traxys North America and Mercuria Energy Group handling procurement for participating manufacturers, although reports said the detailed structure was still being finalised.
Does the European Union have a critical minerals stockpile?
The European Union planned a coordinated stockpiling pilot for early 2026 under its RESourceEU plan, with a European Critical Raw Materials Centre to run it. The sources used for this page do not confirm that the pilot has launched, so check the European Commission for the current status.
How many days of supply does Japan stockpile?
Japan's stockpile target is generally 60 days of consumption, and it can be set higher, such as 180 days, for minerals with high geopolitical risk. The Japan Organization for Metals and Energy Security (JOGMEC) holds the national stock, and quantities are not made public.
Sources
Read on October 12, 2026. Figures on this page come from these documents; where a number is an estimate, the source says so.
- Covington & Burling: Federal push for critical minerals stockpiling (4 February 2026)
- USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Rare earths, tungsten, cobalt, germanium. Government stockpile sections
- 50 U.S.C. 98h-3: Definitions
- Mining Technology: Project Vault (February 2026)
- electrive: EU presents action plan for securing critical raw materials (4 December 2025)
- IEA policy database: Japan national stockpiling system
- Argus: Japan to strengthen control over rare metal reserves (2020)
- Bloomberg: China to add cobalt, copper to state metal reserves (21 March 2025). Based on unnamed sources
Related topics
What Are Strategic Minerals?
How strategic differs from critical in law and policy.
Stockpiling and Inventory Cycles
How government and commercial inventories affect markets.
Offtake Agreements
The contracts that underpin projects government stockpiles buy from.
Resource Nationalism
Export quotas and reserves set by producing countries.
