II 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3631 

To require reports on critical mineral and rare earth element resources around 

the world and a strategy for the development of advanced mining, refining, separation, and processing technologies. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 18, 2024 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Mr. WARNER, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. KING, Mr. 

LANKFORD, and Mr. HICKENLOOPER) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources 

A BILL 

To require reports on critical mineral and rare earth element 

resources around the world and a strategy for the development of advanced mining, refining, separation, and 

processing technologies. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Critical Minerals Secu5 rity Act of 2024’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) COVERED NATION.—The term ‘‘covered na2 tion’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

3 4872 of title 10, United States Code. 

4 (2) CRITICAL MINERAL.—The term ‘‘critical 

5 mineral’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

6 7002(a) of the Energy Act of 2020 (30 U.S.C. 

7 1606(a)). 

8 (3) FOREIGN ENTITY OF CONCERN.—The term 

9 ‘‘foreign entity of concern’’ has the meaning given 

10 that term in section 40207 of the Infrastructure In11 vestment and Jobs Act (42 U.S.C. 18741). 

12 (4) RARE EARTH ELEMENTS.—The term ‘‘rare 

13 earth elements’’ means cerium, dysprosium, erbium, 

14 europium, gadolinium, holmium, lanthanum, lute15 tium, neodymium, praseodymium, promethium, sa16 marium, scandium, terbium, thulium, ytterbium, and 

17 yttrium. 

18 (5) UNITED STATES PERSON.—The term 

19 ‘‘United States person’’ means— 

20 (A) a United States citizen or an alien law21 fully admitted for permanent residence to the 

22 United States; or 

23 (B) an entity organized under the laws of 

24 the United States or of any jurisdiction within 


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1 the United States, including a foreign branch of 

2 such an entity. 

3 SEC. 3. REPORTS ON CRITICAL MINERAL AND RARE EARTH 

4 ELEMENT RESOURCES. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

6 date of the enactment of this Act, and every 2 years there7 after, the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with 

8 the heads of relevant Federal agencies, shall submit to 

9 Congress a report on all critical mineral and rare earth 

10 element resources around the world that includes— 

11 (1) an assessment of— 

12 (A) which of such resources are under the 

13 control of a foreign entity of concern, including 

14 through ownership, contract, or economic or po15 litical influence; 

16 (B) which of such resources are owned by, 

17 controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or 

18 direction of the United States or a country that 

19 is an ally or partner of the United States; 

20 (C) which of such resources are not owned 

21 by, controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction 

22 or direction of a foreign entity of concern or a 

23 country described in subparagraph (B); and 


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1 (D) in the case of such resources not un2 dergoing commercial mining, the reasons for 

3 the lack of commercial mining; 

4 (2) for each mine from which significant quan5 tities of critical minerals or rare earth elements are 

6 being extracted, as of the date that is one year be7 fore the date of the report— 

8 (A) an estimate of the annual volume of 

9 output of the mine as of that date; 

10 (B) an estimate of the total volume of min11 eral or elements that remain in the mine as of 

12 that date; 

13 (C)(i) an identification of the country and 

14 entity operating the mine; or 

15 (ii) if the mine is operated by more than 

16 one country or entity, an estimate of the output 

17 of each mineral or element from the mine to 

18 which each such country or entity has access; 

19 and 

20 (D) an identification of the ultimate bene21 ficial owners of the mine and the percentage of 

22 ownership held by each such owner; 

23 (3) for each mine not described in paragraph 

24 (2), to the extent practicable— 


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1 (A) an estimate of the aggregate annual 

2 volume of output of the mines as of the date 

3 that is one year before the date of the report; 

4 (B) an estimate of the aggregate total vol5 ume of mineral or elements that remain in the 

6 mines as of that date; 

7 (C) an estimate of the aggregate total out8 put of each mineral or element from the mine 

9 to which a foreign entity of concern has access; 

10 (4)(A) a list of key foreign entities of concern 

11 involved in mining critical minerals and rare earth 

12 elements; 

13 (B) a list of key entities in the United States 

14 and countries that are allies or partners of the 

15 United States involved in mining critical minerals 

16 and rare earth elements; and 

17 (C) an assessment of the technical feasibility of 

18 entities listed under subparagraphs (A) and (B) 

19 mining and processing resources identified under 

20 paragraph (1)(C) using existing advanced tech21 nology; 

22 (5) an assessment, prepared in consultation 

23 with the Secretary of State, of ways to collaborate 

24 with countries in which mines or mineral processing 

25 operations (or both) are located that are operated by 


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1 other countries, or are operated by entities from 

2 other countries, to ensure ongoing access by the 

3 United States and countries that are allies and part4 ners of the United States to those mines and proc5 essing operations; 

6 (6) a list, prepared in consultation with the 

7 Secretary of Commerce, identifying, to the maximum 

8 extent practicable, all cases in which entities were 

9 forced to divest stock in mining or processing oper10 ations for critical minerals and rare earth elements 

11 based on— 

12 (A) regulatory rulings of the government 

13 of a covered nation; 

14 (B) joint regulatory rulings of such a gov15 ernment and the government of another coun16 try; or 

17 (C) rulings of a relevant tribunal or other 

18 entity authorized to render binding decisions on 

19 divestiture; 

20 (7) a list of all cases in which the government 

21 of a covered nation purchased an entity that was 

22 forced to divest stock as described in paragraph (6); 

23 and 

24 (8) a list of all cases in which mining or proc25 essing operations (or both) for critical minerals and 


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1 rare earth elements that were not subject to a ruling 

2 described in paragraph (6) were taken over by— 

3 (A) the government of a covered nation; or 

4 (B) an entity located in, or influenced or 

5 controlled by, such a government. 

6 (b) FORM OF REPORT.—Each report required by 

7 subsection (a) shall be submitted in unclassified form, but 

8 may include a classified annex if necessary. 

9 SEC. 4. PROCESS FOR NOTIFYING UNITED STATES GOVERN10 MENT OF DIVESTMENT. 

11 Not later than one year after the date of the enact12 ment of this Act, the Secretary of the Interior, in consulta13 tion with the Secretary of State, shall establish a process 

14 under which— 

15 (1) a United States person seeking to divest 

16 stock in mining or mineral processing operations for 

17 critical minerals and rare earth elements in a foreign 

18 country may notify the Secretary of the intention of 

19 the person to divest such stock; and 

20 (2) the Secretary may provide assistance to the 

21 person to find a purchaser that is not under the con22 trol of the government of a covered nation. 


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1 SEC. 5. STRATEGY ON DEVELOPMENT OF ADVANCED MIN2 ING, REFINING, SEPARATION, AND PROC3 ESSING TECHNOLOGIES. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

5 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 

6 Interior, in consultation with the heads of relevant Federal 

7 agencies, shall develop— 

8 (1) a strategy to collaborate with the govern9 ments of countries that are allies and partners of 

10 the United States to develop advanced mining, refin11 ing, separation, and processing technologies; and 

12 (2) a method for sharing the intellectual prop13 erty resulting from the development of such tech14 nologies with those countries to enable those coun15 tries to license such technologies and mine, refine, 

16 separate, and process the resources of such coun17 tries. 

18 (b) REPORTS REQUIRED.—Not later than one year 

19 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 

20 thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 

21 on the progress made in developing the strategy and meth22 od described in subsection (a). 

Æ 


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