A panel of leading public- and private-sector experts assembled June 13 to discuss the importance of minerals to the nation's economy, product innovation and national security. The panel also discussed the need for a domestic minerals mining policy to promote a secure supply chain of minerals vital to U.S. manufacturing. The executive forum, "Addressing America's 21st Century Minerals Needs," took place at the Newseum and was co-hosted by the National Mining Association (NMA) and the Financial Times. A broad representation of key stakeholders attended the session and participated in the discussion.

Javier Blas, commodities editor for the Financial Times and the panel's moderator, began by painting a vivid picture of the growing worldwide demand for mined products—particularly among the burgeoning middle class in developing countries—and the constraints upon mining, including transportation infrastructure needs, human resource shortages, complicated permitting regimes and the use of metals and minerals as a strategic or political weapon.

Watch the full forum below:

Below are quotes from the discussion:

On the decrease of global investment: "The amount of budget we are attracting in the United States for expenditures and exploration for future mineral prospects is declining. It used to be, in 1993, about 20 percent of the global exploration budget was spent here in the United States, and today it is only about 8 percent."
– Hal Quinn, president and CEO, National Mining Association

On GE's concerns regarding mineral supplies: "As we look at where our priorities are in terms of the issues that we need to solve, we're clearly looking at the stability of the supply as well as the price."
– Steven J. Duclos, chief scientist and manager, Material Sustainability, GE Global Research

On challenges to American minerals development: "[We face a] challenge of efficiently and appropriately balancing and weighing the commercial, environmental and social dimensions of mineral development. I don't think we do a very good job—and by we I'm thinking both about companies in the industry and also government and the regulatory permitting process... I'm thinking primarily about the efficiency of the processes we have that allows us to weigh the commercial, environmental and social."
– Roderick Eggert, professor and director, Division of Economics and Business, Colorado School of Mines

On the likelihood of congressional action on minerals legislation: "I think the momentum is very strong and it's because the raw material availability cuts across so many sectors of the economy. The Energy and Natural Resources [Committee] is very interested in the deployment of clean energy technologies. The Armed Services Committee is very interested in making sure the raw materials necessary for defense systems are available. Presumably, the health committee wants to make sure the raw materials needed for medical imaging equipment are available at affordable prices."
– Colin Hayes, professional staff, U.S. Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee

On minerals security: "Nobody [a couple years ago] was paying attention to [rare earth minerals]. Not in the Defense Department, as best I could tell. Not in the White House. Not on Capitol Hill until these larger issues of energy securities came to the floor. It's simply a reminder: this isn't a problem that was started yesterday. It has been with us for some time. I think we have compounded it by our indifference to the dangers and the vulnerabilities associated with dependence on unreliable and even hostile nations and it's something we've got to remedy."
– Frank Gaffney, founder and president, Center for Security Policy