In mid-June this year, a report titled "Critical raw materials for the EU" was submitted to the European Commission. Produced by the ad hoc working group of the Raw Materials Supply Group, the report concluded that 14 raw materials can now be considered "critical," meaning their availability has come increasingly under pressure.

All but two (fluorspar and graphite) are metals:

• Antimony
• Beryllium
• Cobalt
• Fluorspar
• Gallium
• Germanium
• Graphite
• Indium
• Magnesium
• Niobium
• PGMs
• Rare earths
• Tantalum
• Tungsten

However, it's important to note that the list of rare or strategic metals with tight supplies encompasses many more than just these 12 metals. For instance, there are the platinum group metals (PGMs), which include iridium, osmium, palladium, platinum, rhodium and ruthenium. And the appropriately named "Rare Earth Metals" include not only the 15 lanthanides, but also scandium and yttrium.

Critical Raw Materials at the EU Level

Source: Critical raw materials for the EU, European Commission, June 2010

Over the last several years, Hard Assets Investor has looked at most of these critical materials in some detail.

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