Silverado Comments on Reinstating Arsenic on the 2025 Critical Minerals List

Silverado Policy Accelerator submitted comments to the Department of the Interior calling for arsenic to be reinstated on the U.S. Geological Survey’s 2025 Critical Minerals List.

Silverado believes reinstatement is necessary given China’s heavy fingerprints across the arsenic supply chain. Arsenic plays a crucial role in the data center supply chain via semiconductors—yet the U.S. has a disproportionate reliance on the PRC for arsenic metal. Arsenic comes in multiple forms—arsenic trioxide, arsenic acid, and arsenic metal—and Silverado recommends that each be assessed separately to reflect their distinct reliance.

How does China affect the arsenic supply chain?

• Arsenic metal, used at 99.9999% purity, is indispensable for integrated circuits that power microchips, processors, and defense systems.
• From 2020–23, 96% of U.S. arsenic metal imports came from China.
• The United States does not mine or process any arsenic.
• In 2024, China accounted for 85% of arsenic metal exports worldwide.

Arsenic may be a niche material, but its outsized importance in semiconductors, defense, and data infrastructure makes it a strategic mineral the U.S. cannot afford to overlook.