This is an original story by Mongabay and is republished through the Indigenous News Alliance.
Over the past decade, Department of Defense spending for critical minerals transformed from virtually nonexistent into a major spending area. The last five years in particular have seen a dramatic surge in both contracts and dollar value.
Although minerals like lithium and nickel can be used for renewable energy and green technology like electric vehicle batteries, they are also key components for military equipment and weapons. Indigenous leaders have been demanding corporations and countries respect their right to consent to mining projects on their land, regardless of the intended use of those minerals. As global demand for these minerals continues to rise, Indigenous communities say that state backing has fast-tracked approvals without essential environmental safeguards or meaningful consultation by companies.
Mongabay aggregated information from the USAspending database — an official open data source of federal spending information — about Department of Defense grant spending on critical mineral projects for military purposes between 2015 and 2025.
This figure does not include Pentagon spending on military contractors, which is a major way that the Department of Defense spends its money. The actual amount is likely larger given that some projects may not be public due to national security reasons, according to the Congressional Research Service.
