The new rules of the critical minerals game | Resourcing Tomorrow x TDi Sustainability podcast series 2026

Critical minerals are no longer just an economic or energy-transition issue. They are increasingly treated as a question of national security, changing how governments invest, how companies assess risk, and how supply chains are built.

The speakers in this podcast are:

• Rt. Hon. Dominic Raab | Head of Global Affairs | Appian Capital Advisory
• Widad Whitman | Head of Supply Chain Security | Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation, U.S. Department of Energy
• Gabriel Rațiu | Supply Chain Policy Officer | NATO

The conversation examines the shift from “just-in-time” to “just-in-case” supply chains; strategic stockpiling, grants, loans, floor prices and other forms of government intervention; and the difficult balance between resilience and commercial discipline. The speakers ask whether genuine mineral independence is achievable, or even desirable,in an industry built on international interdependence, and consider how allied countries can specialise and cooperate without simply creating competing subsidy regimes.

They also tackle one of the central questions facing the sector: who pays for resilience? And, as the United States, Europe and their partners seek to diversify critical mineral supply chains, what does a genuinely better offer look like for mineral-producing countries seeking investment, jobs, processing capacity and greater value addition at home?

Looking towards 2030, the discussion considers whether the result will be competing mineral blocs or a more diversified but still connected global system, and why companies themselves may need to start treating critical mineral dependencies as a core strategic risk.

This episode is part of the TDi Sustainability special series of podcasts produced ahead of Resourcing Tomorrow 2026, taking place in London from 1–3 December. Find out more about the event here.