Commodities

Aluminium oxide considered as a refined commercial material, used as feed for aluminium smelting and in nonmetallurgical applications such as ceramics, abrasives and refractories. This commodity is distinct from aluminium metal, aluminium hydroxide, bauxite ore and red mud. The broad commodity does not establish a particular crystalline phase or high-purity product specification. The EU designations explicitly name alumina as the intermediate processing form within the combined bauxite/alumina/aluminium value chain. No microbial mechanism is asserted here.

The crude, crushed and ground barite raw-material commodity, also named baryte in the original EU 2024 critical-materials list. USGS reports mined barite and products sold by crushers and grinders for uses including drilling-fluid weighting and fillers. This record denotes that traded industrial material, with variable feed and product specifications, rather than a single mineral specimen, the barite mineral species as a taxonomic concept, or elemental barium. The US list uses Barite and the EU list uses baryte; both entries are mapped to this commodity scope. No mineral-species identifier or microbial mechanism is asserted.

Naturally occurring, heterogeneous aluminium ore used as a commercial raw material. Bauxite contains varying proportions of aluminium hydroxide minerals, principally gibbsite, boehmite and diaspore, together with silica, iron oxides, titania and other constituents. Commercial uses include metallurgical feed, abrasives and refractories. This commodity is distinct from a single mineral species, refined alumina, aluminium metal and the red-mud residue of alumina production. The EU designations explicitly name bauxite within the combined bauxite/alumina/aluminium value chain. No microbial mechanism is asserted here.

Commercial borate raw materials, encompassing borate ores and refined borate products rather than a single ion or mineral species. USGS distinguishes natural borates such as colemanite and ulexite from refined borax and the associated boric-acid product stream. The commodity is distinct from elemental boron and from the separately qualified metallurgy-grade boron designation. The criticality entry records the named BGS/CMIC assessment, whose cover states that it does not constitute government policy. The microbial experiment below concerns one colemanite-bearing ore, not every borate or a purified product.

• Aspergillus niger

Coal suitable for making coke, treated as an end-use commodity rather than a mineral species, the carbon element, coke itself or all coal. The EIA glossary defines coking coal as suitable bituminous coal. Its separate metallurgical-coal definition includes both coking coal and pulverized coal consumed in steelmaking, whereas the USGS 2026 fact sheet uses coking and metallurgical coal interchangeably in its coke-production scope. This record follows the narrower coke-making identity and records the original EU 2024 coking-coal designation without silently equating all metallurgical-coal uses. The experiment concerns beneficiation of selected Tabas feeds described by the authors as suitable for coking; retained coke-making performance after treatment was not demonstrated.

Manufactured manganese dioxide products obtained by electrolysis. Tosoh identifies uses as positive-electrode material in alkaline primary batteries and as feed for lithium-manganate cathode materials, with application-specific representative product properties. USGS separately reports chemically and electrolytically produced synthetic manganese dioxide, supporting the process distinction. This commodity is distinct from manganese metal, the manganese element, natural manganese-dioxide ore or a particular mineral species, spent battery material, and a finished electrode. The manufacturer reports active oxygen expressed as manganese dioxide in one product table; this does not establish a universal crystalline-phase purity or grade threshold. The product family does not itself resolve the broader battery-grade manganese designation. No inherited criticality designation, unique crystal phase, or microbial production of qualified electrolytic manganese dioxide is asserted.

Manufactured manganese metal obtained by electrolytic deposition, supplied in forms including flake and powder. MMC describes purified manganese solution deposited on cathodes, followed by stripping and product preparation; its separate low-hydrogen and low-oxygen products illustrate variation within this family. Tosoh identifies alloy-addition applications. This process-defined commodity is distinct from the manganese element, manganese ores, dissolved manganese, manganese dioxide, sulfate salts and mixed manganese-aluminium briquettes. Producer specifications are examples, not universal purity or battery-qualification rules. MMC distinguishes total manganese from a metallic-manganese calculation excluding nonmetallic components; its product page and linked 2017 low-oxygen sheet disagree on the oxygen maximum, so no numerical grade boundary is assigned. No criticality designation or microbial production of this qualified metal product is asserted.

Feldspar traded as an industrial raw material, including mined and beneficiated material ground for glassmaking, ceramics and fillers. The constituent feldspars are aluminosilicate minerals containing potassium, sodium or calcium; this commodity is distinct from the feldspar mineral group and its individual species. The shared USGS chapter does not make nepheline syenite part of this record: it reports feldspar and nepheline syenite separately. The original EU 2024 Annex II(k) designation is mapped to industrial feldspar. Potassium release from an experimental feldspar powder does not establish manufacture of a commercial feldspar product or potash. No microbial mechanism is asserted.

Iron-boron master-alloy products supplied as alloying additions, rather than pure boron, borate ore or a single stoichiometric iron boride. ISO 10386:1994 identifies ferroboron supplied for steelmaking and foundry use. Bomet also describes its boron-iron products as additions for rare-earth permanent magnets and amorphous materials, and publishes several enterprise grades under BMTQB2016, document BMT16-204. This grade-dependent composition is not represented by a single FeB formula or a universal boron-purity cutoff. The ISO catalogue scope was inspected, but its complete standard was not acquired; the manufacturer table does not substitute for that standard. Ferroboron is a specific traded alloy family and is not asserted to exhaust the original EU metallurgy-grade boron designation. No criticality designation or microbial production mechanism is assigned.

The calcium-fluoride raw-material commodity used in acid production, metallurgy and other industrial applications. The USGS definition covers crude or beneficiated material mined or milled for fluorite; its 2026 commodity chapter distinguishes acid and metallurgical grades and also recognizes synthetic fluorspar from recycling processes. This commodity record does not identify elemental fluorine, dissolved fluoride, or the fluorite mineral species, and does not assert one grade or universal purity specification. US and EU named fluorspar designations are recorded directly. No microbial mechanism is asserted.

Graphite raw-material products manufactured and supplied as active material for lithium-ion battery negative electrodes. This end-use commodity family is a subset of the broader graphite commodity family, not a second disjoint graphite identity; no single origin or numerical qualification threshold is assigned to all members. SGL Carbon describes synthetic graphite anode materials with properties tailored to customer applications and distinguishes them from carbon-silicon composites and conductive additives. The record excludes complete electrodes, electric-arc-furnace electrodes and spent battery waste. SAMR names the product standard GB/T 24533-2019 for graphite negative-electrode materials, but its full technical tables were not inspected. Manufacturer use and testing descriptions establish product context, not a universal battery-grade purity rule or a microbial recovery result. No criticality designation is generalized from the broader graphite record.

The commercial raw-material family comprising natural and synthetic graphite. The USGS Graphite 2021 yearbook jointly describes and separately accounts for these two origin-defined commodity streams. This broader record explicitly overlaps the natural-graphite commodity record, which denotes its natural-origin subset; the two records are not synonyms or disjoint material classes. Neither origin establishes a particular battery product qualification. This family is distinct from the carbon element, a graphite mineral species or specimen, graphene, and other carbon materials. The criticality entry preserves the unqualified graphite wording of the original EU 2024 Annex II; its separate Annex I battery-grade designation is not generalized to every family member. No microbial purification or recovery mechanism is asserted.

This commodity subgroup uses the EU 2020 critical-raw-material assessment's ten-member heavy-rare-earth convention: europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium and yttrium. Scandium is assessed separately and promethium is excluded in that source. The assessment covers oxide mixtures and low-purity single oxides in its initial-processing stage, and high-purity metals or interalloys in advanced refining. These are related commodity forms, not one mineral or alloy. The EU 2024 Annex II designation names heavy rare earth elements without enumerating members; its mapping here uses the explicitly stated EU 2020 assessment convention. Light/heavy boundaries in other conventions are not asserted equivalent. This group overlaps individual element records and the broader rare-earth commodity family; no group-wide microbial mechanism or strategic designation is inferred from individual members.

Refined aluminium oxide product distinguished by its high purity. Geoscience Australia describes HPA as a white crystalline Al2O3 powder characterized by purity levels such as 99.99% Al2O3, with uses in lithium-ion batteries, electronics and optics. This grade-defined commodity is narrower than broad alumina and is distinct from aluminium metal, kaolin feedstock, bauxite and aluminium hydroxide. Its Australian designation specifically names high-purity alumina; it is not transferred to every aluminium-bearing feed or product. No microbial production or purification mechanism is asserted here.

The high-purity iron-ore raw-material category named in Canada's 2024 Critical Minerals List for green steelmaking. It covers ore and concentrate supply for that use, distinct from elemental iron, high-purity iron metal, steel, or any single iron-bearing mineral species. The inspected federal list does not give a numerical purity specification. Newfoundland and Labrador's Julienne Lake example describes beneficiation of lower-grade ore into a concentrate with more than 66% iron and less than 5% silica; those project-specific values are not a universal definition of the Canadian category. No microbial upgrading or recovery mechanism is asserted here.

This commodity subgroup uses the EU 2020 critical-raw-material assessment's five-member light-rare-earth convention: lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium and samarium. Promethium is excluded and scandium is assessed separately in that source. The assessment covers oxide mixtures and low-purity single oxides in its initial-processing stage, and high-purity metals or interalloys in advanced refining. These are related commodity forms, not one mineral or alloy. The EU 2024 Annex II designation names light rare earth elements without enumerating members; its mapping here uses the explicitly stated EU 2020 assessment convention. Light/heavy boundaries in other conventions are not asserted equivalent. This group overlaps individual element records and the broader rare-earth commodity family; no group-wide microbial mechanism or strategic designation is inferred from individual members.

Lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) supplied as a manufactured chemical commodity. This product family is distinct from elemental lithium, lithium-bearing brines and ores, and other lithium salts. Albemarle describes separate technical, battery and pharmaceutical product grades; grade names do not make every lithium carbonate lot interchangeable. Its dated product 401125 technical sheet specifies at least 99.0% Li2CO3 and lists cathode manufacture among its applications, illustrating why a battery-related use alone does not establish a universal battery-grade threshold. That supplier-specific assay is not the definition of this whole family. SAMR separately registers YS/T 582-2023 for battery-grade lithium carbonate, but its complete technical tables were not inspected. No criticality designation, microbial production or qualified recovered-product yield is asserted here.

Manufactured lithium hydroxide monohydrate products, with nominal composition LiOH.H2O. The hydration state distinguishes this commodity from anhydrous LiOH; it is not elemental lithium or the general battery-grade lithium umbrella. Albemarle product 401106 is a crystalline monohydrate with a supplier specification of at least 55.0% LiOH by acidimetric titration, expressed as LiOH rather than as monohydrate purity. Its stated applications include lubricating greases and alkaline storage batteries. SAMR separately names a battery-grade monohydrate standard, GB/T 26008-2020; the complete qualification tables were not inspected. The supplier assay and the existence of that narrower standard do not qualify every monohydrate product for lithium-ion cathode manufacture. No criticality designation or microbial production mechanism is asserted.

The industrial magnesite commodity scope used in the BGS/CMIC UK 2024 assessment. Its commodity HS-code table groups natural magnesium carbonate with magnesium oxide and dead-burned or fused magnesia. This source-defined industrial category therefore includes processed forms and is broader than the mineral species magnesite, MgCO3; it is not elemental magnesium or every magnesium compound. The criticality entry applies to that assessment category, with no transfer of a mineral-only identifier. OR/24/059 explicitly does not constitute government policy. Formation of MgCO3 in a microbial laboratory system alone does not demonstrate production of this industrial commodity or its grades, and no microbial mechanism is asserted.

Magnesium in metallic commercial forms, considered as a raw-material commodity. The USGS separates the magnesium-metal market from magnesium compounds and describes primary and secondary metal production and its use in castings, alloy manufacture and metallurgical processing. This commodity is distinct from the magnesium element as a chemical identity, dissolved magnesium ions, magnesium-bearing minerals and magnesium compounds. Alloy and scrap statistics expressed as magnesium content do not make every alloy or waste stream synonymous with this commodity. The designation below preserves the original EU 2024 strategic-list wording; no universal purity threshold or microbial production, extraction or recovery mechanism is asserted.

Manufactured manganese sulfate monohydrate products, nominally MnSO4.H2O. The monohydrate commodity is distinct from manganese metal, other sulfate hydration states, dissolved manganese in a leachate, and a mineral specimen. Pan Chem supplies monohydrate powder for feed and fertilizer applications, and Ihumate publishes the monohydrate formula and an agricultural product specification. These sources establish a manufactured product family rather than one battery qualification. Walsun separately describes high-purity manganese sulfate for lithium-ion cathode precursors, while SAMR registers HG/T 4823-2023 for manganese sulfate for batteries; the complete standard tables were not inspected. Neither that end use nor this one salt exhausts the broader battery-grade manganese family. No universal purity cutoff, criticality designation or microbial production of qualified crystals is asserted.

Coal products used in steelmaking, scoped here to the broader commodity family recognized by the EIA glossary and the IEA Coal 2020 report. EIA includes coking coal and pulverized coal consumed in steelmaking; IEA includes coking, semi-soft blending coal and pulverised coal injection (PCI) coal. This family explicitly overlaps cmmmech:coking-coal as a narrower coke-making subset; it is not a second disjoint coking-coal identity. IEA excludes anthracite from its metallurgical category even when used in metallurgy. In contrast, USGS Fact Sheet 2026-3061 uses metallurgical coal and coking coal interchangeably within its coke-production scope. These source-dependent boundaries are retained rather than asserted to be a universal coal classification. The record denotes an end-use commodity, not elemental carbon, a mineral species, manufactured coke or every coal burned industrially. No numerical grade threshold, criticality designation or microbial mechanism is generalized across this family.

Graphite of natural mineral origin considered as a commercial raw-material commodity. USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 distinguishes flake and high-purity, amorphous, and lump and chip forms in its natural-graphite chapter, and identifies synthetic graphite among competing materials. This record covers the natural-origin commodity rather than the carbon element, a mineral specimen or species identifier, synthetic graphite, or a particular battery product specification. Natural origin alone does not establish battery-grade suitability. The criticality entry records the named BGS/CMIC assessment; the report explicitly states that it does not constitute government policy. No microbial extraction, purification or recovery mechanism is asserted here.

Manufactured crystalline nickel sulfate hexahydrate products with nominal formula NiSO4.6H2O. This commodity is distinct from nickel metal, other sulfate hydrates, aqueous nickel-bearing leachates and a naturally occurring mineral specimen. Primobius identifies a hexahydrate product for lithium-ion cathode precursors and publishes a minimum nickel content of 22.0 wt%; Coremax version 8 specifies more than 22.3 wt% Ni for its battery-labelled product and permits customer-specific requirements. These examples establish a traded product form, not one universal battery-grade composition or evidence that every nickel sulfate product meets cathode requirements. Coremax also lists electroplating use. No criticality designation or microbial production of qualified sulfate crystals is asserted here.

Phosphate-bearing rock considered as a mined and beneficiated industrial raw material for phosphorus products, including phosphoric acid and fertilizers. The USGS marketable-product definition concerns beneficiated phosphate rock suitable for acid or elemental-phosphorus production; it does not identify one apatite species or a pure phosphate ion. The original EU 2024 list names phosphate rock separately from phosphorus. The US 2025 list names phosphate; its mapping here follows the USGS 2026 phosphate-rock chapter, which explicitly describes phosphate rock as the addition to that list. This mapping does not equate all chemical phosphates with phosphate rock. The microbial evidence concerns one characterized Araxa rock feed and does not establish a commodity-wide extraction yield.

This collective commodity family comprises ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium and platinum. The USGS platinum-group-elements category identifies these six related metals; Australia's 20 February 2024 Critical Minerals List explicitly includes the same six in its platinum-group-elements entry. This is a grouped commodity scope, overlapping the individual element records, rather than a single element, mineral species, fixed-composition alloy or waste feedstock. The dated designation below applies to Australia's explicitly enumerated six-member group. Identity and designation are curated here; no shared microbial recovery performance is asserted for all six metals.

The commodity category of mined and manufactured salts containing potassium in water-soluble form. USGS distinguishes potassium chloride (muriate of potash), potassium sulfate (sulfate of potash), and potassium magnesium sulfate products in agricultural use, while also describing industrial uses. This is not elemental potassium, potassium oxide despite K2O-equivalent statistical reporting, a single potash-bearing mineral species, or all potassium-bearing rocks. In particular, potassium feldspar is not equated with a potash product. The named US 2025 designation applies to potash as a commodity. No microbial production or recovery mechanism is asserted.

This collective commodity family follows Australia's 20 February 2024 rare-earth-elements entry: yttrium and all fifteen lanthanides, including promethium. Scandium has a separate entry in that list. This sixteen-member economic grouping differs from the broader seventeen-element chemical definition, which also includes scandium, and from the EU 2020 assessment's fifteen-member light/heavy split, which excludes both scandium and promethium. Inclusion of promethium preserves the Australian source's stated membership and does not assert an ordinary mined promethium supply. This family overlaps individual element records and narrower rare-earth commodity groups; it is not one mineral, alloy or fixed mixture. The mechanism below concerns only a synthetic neodymium/dysprosium solution and does not establish recovery of every family member or treatment of ore, magnets or industrial waste.

• Hansschlegelia quercus

This end-use commodity family follows the seven-member entry in EU 2024 Annex I: neodymium, praseodymium, terbium, dysprosium, gadolinium, samarium and cerium for permanent magnets. The qualification for permanent magnets is part of the identity and designation. This record does not identify a finished magnet, a single alloy composition, a numeric purity grade, or every use of those elements. It overlaps the broader rare-earth commodity family and both EU light and heavy rare-earth subgroups, while remaining distinct from each individual element and from magnet-bearing waste. No microbial recovery mechanism or performance for a magnet feedstock is inferred from an assay of synthetic dissolved rare-earth ions.

Silicon supplied in metallic commercial form as a raw-material commodity, including metallurgical material that can undergo further purification for semiconductor and solar applications. USGS distinguishes silicon metal from ferrosilicon and describes silica as its source material. This record is distinct from the silicon element, quartz or other silica phases, silicate minerals, ferrosilicon alloys and silicones. Grade-specific trade categories are not treated as a universal purity definition. The designations preserve the silicon-metal scope in the original EU 2024 lists. Diatom silicification and microbial removal of impurities from quartz do not establish production or recovery of silicon metal; no microbial mechanism is asserted here.

The source-defined industrial commodity category called Sodium (Na) (compounds) in the BGS/CMIC UK 2024 assessment. Section 2.6.3 defines its coverage as predominantly sodium carbonate, with some sodium nitrate and minor sodium metal; the category name is therefore not a chemical claim that metallic sodium is a compound. The assessment treats industrial salt separately. This record does not cover all sodium-containing substances, dissolved sodium ions or elemental sodium as a chemical-element concept. Its criticality entry uses corrected report OR/24/059, whose cover explicitly says it does not constitute government policy. No microbial extraction, transformation or recovery mechanism is asserted.

Tin-copper solder denotes commercially supplied soldering material described as Sn-Cu, rather than elemental tin or copper, a mineral species, or a documented waste stream. Jadhav and colleagues studied material supplied by Taiwan-Solid Enterprises Limited; their methods do not establish a prior service life or recovery from discarded equipment. They report nominal Sn-Cu composition as 63-37%, which is retained as reported rather than corrected to a conventional alloy formulation. Their surface observations suggest a tin-rich coating and a copper-containing interior, so this record does not assert homogeneous bulk alloy composition. Evidence applies to those experimental pieces, not every product sold under the Sn-Cu solder description. No constituent criticality designation is inherited.

Titanium in metallic commercial forms, considered as a raw-material commodity. USGS distinguishes titanium sponge metal and downstream metal forms from titanium dioxide pigment and mineral concentrates. Sponge is one metal form, not the entire commodity. This record is distinct from the titanium element as a chemical identity, titanium-bearing minerals, titanium oxides and any particular alloy formulation or waste stream. The designations preserve the titanium-metal scope in the original EU 2024 lists. A culture-containing grinding study used titanium sponge alongside an incompletely identified titanium-industry waste feed and reported fine titanium-compound powders. Its pooled results do not establish sponge-specific recovery, microbial enhancement or production of pure titanium metal.

• Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans