Critical minerals memory match game

What Are Critical Minerals? The Energy Act of 2020 describes critical minerals as minerals, elements, substances, or materials that (1) are essential to the economic or national security of the United States, (2) have supply chains at risk of disruption, and (3) are vital for making a product without which the economic or national security of the United States would suffer (Nassar and others, 2025).

What’s Inside? Inside this packet you will find fun and informative facts to help you learn about some of the commodities on the 2025 List of Critical Minerals. A memory match game is also included so you can test your knowledge by matching critical minerals and their ores to some of their everyday uses.

2025 List of Critical Minerals The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) led the development of the 2025 List of Critical Minerals (Nassar and others, 2025; U.S. Geological Survey, 2025). The list contains 60 critical minerals. The periodic table below highlights in blue the 54 elements on the 2025 List of Critical Minerals. Graphite, barite, metallurgical coal, potash, phosphate rock, and fluorspar are also on the 2025 List of Critical Minerals.

Actinides This element is used to make plastic items

(Wintzer, and Guberman, 2015).

150 million tonnes of copper

is quite heavy for a mineral

Memory Match Game Instructions Memory Match Game Instructions

3. Players take turns flipping over two tiles, searching for the pair with the

3. Players take turns flipping over two tiles, searching for the pair with same critical mineral ore image. If the tiles are a match, the player keeps the the same critical mineral ore image. If the tiles are a match, the player matching pair and takes another turn. If the tiles are not a match, the tiles keeps the matching pair and takes another turn. If the tiles are not a are turned back over, and it is the next player’s turn. match, the tiles are turned back over, and it is the next player’s turn.

4. The game continues until all tiles are matched. The player with the most

4. The game continues until all tiles are matched. The player with the pairs wins the game. most pairs wins the game. References Cited

Bauer, D.J. Khazdozian, H., Mehta, J., Nguyen, R.T., Severson, M.H., Vaagensmith, B.C., Toba, L., Zhang, B., Hossain, T., Sibal, A.P., Smith, B.J., Riddle M.E., Graziano, D.J., Mathew, T., Cuscaden, P., Dai, Q., Iloeje, C., Edgmon, L., Sarna, C., and Quaresima, J., 2023, 2023 Critical materials strategy: U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Scientific and Technical Information, report OSTID 1998242, accessed May 12, 2026, at https://doi.org/10.2172/1998242.Gschneidner, K.A., Jr., 1966, Rare earths the fraternal fifteen (Rev.): U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Scientific and Technical Information report OSTID 1158907, 47 p. Kropschot, S., and Doebrich, J.L., 2011, Zinc—The key to preventing corrosion:

U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2011–3016, 2 p., accessed May 12, 2026, at

Mercer, C.N., 2015a, Germanium—Giving microelectronics an efficiency boost:

U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2015–3011, 2 p., accessed May 12, 2026, at

Mercer, C.N., 2015b, Indium—Bringing liquid-crystal displays into focus:

U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2015–3012, 2 p., accessed May 12, 2026, at

Robinson, G.R., Jr., Hammarstrom, J.M., and Olson, D.W., 2017, Graphite, chap. J of Schulz, K.J., DeYoung, J.H., Jr., Seal, R.R., II, and Bradley, D.C., eds., Critical mineral resources of the United States—Economic and environmental geology and prospects for future supply: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1802, p. J1–J24, accessed May 12, 2026, at https://doi.org/10.3133/pp1802J.

Photographs and images are from the U.S. Geological Survey, Smithsonian Institution, and Adobe Stock.

Antimony

like soda bottles

Copper The U.S. electrical grid contains an estimated

(Bauer and others, 2023).

Barite The mineral barite

that is not a metal. Tungsten Scheelite, an ore mineral for tungsten, glows blue under shortwave ultraviolet light. Aluminum Besides iron, aluminum is the most used metal

(U.S. Geological Survey, 2026b).

medical implants, because it is nonreactive in the human body. Living bone will fuse to titanium metal Chromium

Beryllium The United States is the world leader in mine production of beryllium

(U.S. Geological Survey, 2026a).

(Woodruff and Bedinger, 2013). means “writing” in Greek

Nassar, N.T., Pineault, D., Allen, S.M., McCaffrey, D.M., Padilla, A.J., Brainard, J.L., Bayani, M., Shojaeddini, E., Ryter, J.W., Lincoln, S., and Alonso, E., 2025, Methodology and technical input for the 2025 U.S. List of Critical Minerals— Assessing the potential effects of mineral commodity supply chain disruptions on the U.S. economy: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2025–1047, 32 p., accessed May 12, 2026, at https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20251047.U.S. Geological Survey, 2025, Final 2025 List of Critical Minerals (90 FR 50494):

U.S. Geological Survey, accessed May 12, 2026, at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/11/07/2025-19813/final-2025-list-of-critical-minerals.U.S. Geological Survey, 2026a, Mineral commodity summaries 2026: U.S. Geological Survey, 222 p., accessed May 12, 2026, at https://doi.org/10.3133/mcs2026.U.S. Geological Survey, 2026b, Statistics and information on the worldwide supply of, demand for, and flow of the mineral commodity aluminum: U.S. Geological Survey, accessed May 12, 2026, at https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center/aluminum-statistics-and-information.Wintzer, N.E., and Guberman, D.E., 2015, Antimony—a flame fighter: U.S.

Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2015–3021, 2 p., accessed May 12, 2026, at

Woodruff, L., and Bedinger, G., 2013, Titanium: light, strong, and white:

U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2013–3059, 2 p., accessed May 12, 2026, at https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20133059.

Graphite Gets its name from the word graphein, which

(Robinson and others, 2017).

A film of indium-tin oxide turns electrical data to optical data in flat-panel displays and touchscreens

(Mercer, 2015b).

Want to Learn More? Follow the QR code to discover more educational resources about critical minerals and their uses.

https://www.usgs.gov/mission-areas/geology-energy-minerals/science/education Zinc Zinc is mixed with copper to make brass

(Kropschot and Doebrich, 2011).

Rare Earth Elements “Rare” refers to the discovery of these elements in minerals that are scarce. These elements are actually more abundant than gold

(Gschneidner, 1966).

Germanium Most germanium is a byproduct of zinc mining

(Mercer, 2015a).

Most fluorspar is used

(U.S. Geological Survey, 2026a).

Fluorspar

to make anhydrous hydrofluoric acid Rare Earth Elements

phosphores, magnets in electronics, defense radar

Antimony

flame retardant, lead-acid batteries, high-speed computers brake pad rubber

Titanium

white paint pigment, dental implants, spacecraft parts lithium-ion batteries, brake linings, lubricants

Beryllium

fighter jets, fiber-optics,

Aluminum, Gallium

sunscreen, night vision light-emitting diode (LED) lights, airplane parts, beverage cans Copper

hydrofluoric acid, plumbing, electrical toothpaste, telescope wires, brass instruments

paint, X-ray, contrast yellow road paint, medium, oil and gas drilling fluid

Zinc, Germanium, Indium

jet engines, cutting goggles, liquid crystal display (LCD) displays lenses

Chromium

stainless steel,

dental tools

Tungsten

tools, lightbulb filaments Critical Mineral Memory Match Game

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