Securing Critical Mineral Supply: A Government–Industry Dialogue

Name: Securing Critical Mineral Supply: A Government–Industry Dialogue
Start: 2026-02-03T18:00:00
End: 2026-02-04T00:30:00
Location: Center for Strategic and International Studies

February 3, 2026 • 1:00 – 7:30 pm EST

Brought to you by

Critical Minerals Security Program

In-person attendance to this event is by invitation-only. We welcome you to join us virtually for public sessions.

On February 3, 2026, the CSIS Critical Minerals Security Program will host “Securing Critical Mineral Supply: A Government–Industry Dialogue,” in partnership with the Critical Minerals Ministerial. The forum will bring together senior U.S. officials, foreign ministers, and industry leaders to drive commercial diplomacy and define the partnerships needed to unlock large-scale investment to secure critical minerals.

Fireside Chat with Doug Burgum, U.S. Secretary of the Interior

Transcript — February 3, 2026

While the forum is private and by invitation only, we encourage you to join us virtually for select discussions on financing, investment conditions, supply-chain resilience, and public–private coordination. The agenda will feature keynote firesides with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, and U.S. Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg, alongside senior leadership from the White House, the Departments of War, State, and Energy, the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the International Development Finance Corporation, foreign ministers, and industry leaders.

Over the past year, the United States has pursued commercial diplomacy and international partnerships as key pillars of its strategy to strengthen critical minerals resilience and supply chain security. The future of national security, economic competitiveness, and energy resilience depends on close critical minerals cooperation with both public and private like-minded partners.

This event is made possible by general funding to CSIS and the CSIS Critical Minerals Security Program.

The agenda will be updated regularly in the coming days. Please check back to view the latest agenda, including livestreamed sessions.

Event Agenda

Doors open for registration and networking

12:00 pm

Opening Remarks [Livestreamed]

1:00 pm

Speakers:

Dr. John Hamre, CSIS President and CEO, and Langone Chair in American Leadership
Dr. Gracelin Baskaran, Director, CSIS Critical Minerals Security Program

Keynote Fireside Chat with Secretary of Interior, Hon. Doug Burgum [Livestreamed]

1:10 pm

Moderator: Dr. Gracelin Baskaran, Director, CSIS Critical Minerals Security

Panel Discussion - Defining the Problem, the Priorities, and Pathways Moving Forward [Private session]

1:35 pm

Panelists:

David Copley, Special Assistant to the President of the United States and Senior Director for Global Supply Chains, National Security Council
Caleb Orr, Assistant Secretary of State for Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs; U.S. Department of State
Jeffrey Frankston, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Resilience, U.S. Department of War
Robert Friedland, Executive Co-Chairman, Ivanhoe Mines

Moderator: Dr. Gracelin Baskaran, Director, CSIS Critical Minerals Security Program

Fireside Discussion: Rebuilding American Mining - Barriers, Capital, & Competitiveness [Private session]

2:15 pm

Discussants:

Kathleen Quirk, President and CEO of Freeport-McMoRan
Natascha Viljoen, President and CEO of Newmont Corporation

Moderator: Dr. Gracelin Baskaran, Director, CSIS Critical Minerals Security Program

Concurrent Regional Roundtables with Government and Industry Leaders [Invitation Only]

2:50 pm

Crafting an Americas Approach to Critical Minerals
Africa’s Role in Securing Critical Minerals Supply Chains
Indo-Pacific Critical Minerals: Integrating Upstream and Downstream

Public-Private Pathways to Critical Minerals Supply Chain Resilience [Livestreamed]

2:50 pm

A Fireside Chat with John Jovanovic, Chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM)

Moderator: Rahim Bapoo, Managing Director, BMO Capital Markets and CSIS Senior Associate (Non-resident)

Partnering with U.S. Industry to Advance Critical Minerals Investments [Livestreamed]

3:15 pm

A Fireside Chat with Tom Hardy, Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency

Moderator: Dave Williams, Senior Advisor, Bureau of Economic, Energy and Business Affairs, U.S. Department of State

Concurrent Commercial Roundtables with Government and Industry Leaders [Invitation Only]

3:45 pm

Recycling and Recovery in Critical Minerals Security
Unlocking Private Capital
Vertical Integration: Investing in Processing and Manufacturing
Innovations in Seabed Mining

Implementing the U.S.–Ukraine Critical Minerals Partnership:

3:45 pm

A Fireside Chat with Ambassador of Ukraine to the U.S. Olha Stefanishyna and Conor Coleman, Head of Investments at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation

Moderator: Dr. Seth G. Jones, President, CSIS Defense and Security Department; Harold Brown Chair

Innovation in Critical Minerals [Livestreamed]

4:10 pm

A Fireside Chat with Audrey Robertson, Assistant Secretary of Energy, U.S. Department of Energy

Moderator: Emily Harding, Vice President, CSIS Defense and Security Department; Director, Intelligence, National Security, and Technology Program

Panel Discussion: Mobilizing Financing and Investment [Private session]

4:40 pm

Panelists:

Asad Akram, Managing Director & Co-Head of Critical Minerals, Materials, & Metals; U.S. Department of War, Office of Strategic Capital
Conor Coleman, Chief Investment Officer, U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC)
Leland Smith, Director for Global Supply Chains, National Security Council
Jyothish George, Head of Metals, Glencore
Mark Cutifani, Former CEO of Anglo American and Chair of Vale Base Metals, CSIS Senior Technical Expert

Moderator: Dr. Gracelin Baskaran, Director, CSIS Critical Minerals Security Program

Keynote with Secretary of Commerce, Hon. Howard Lutnick [Livestreamed]

5:15 pm

Fireside Discussion [Livestreamed]

5:40 pm

Fireside Discussion with Jacob Helberg, Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs, and Congressman John Moolenaar, Chairman, Select Committee on China

Moderator: Dr. Gracelin Baskaran, Director, CSIS Critical Minerals Security Program