On November 7, 2025, the U.S. Geological Survey expanded the official critical minerals list from 50 entries to 60. Copper, silver, and uranium were among the additions. That designation unlocks faster federal permitting, defense funding, and tax incentives.
America imports 80% of its rare earths, the highest cost supply disruption the country faces.
Then came the money. Project Vault, announced in February 2026, is a national minerals reserve with roughly $10 billion behind it.
The Pentagon had already gone further, putting $400 million into MP 0.00%↑ Materials in July 2025 for a stake of about 15%.
China answered in June 2026 by adding that same company to its export control list.
October 2025 brought a 10% position in TMQ 0.00%↑ Trilogy Metals, plus warrants covering 5% of LAC 0.00%↑ Lithium Americas and a 5% interest in its Thacker Pass project.
November added Vulcan Elements and ReElement Technologies through a $1.4 billion magnet package.
January 2026 delivered the largest yet: a $277 million award and $1.3 billion loan for USAR 0.00%↑ USA Rare Earth, with Commerce taking 16.1 million shares and 17.6 million warrants.
Following that money as an individual investor gets difficult fast. Several recipients are private, and the public ones carry small-cap mining volatility that most portfolios cannot absorb in single-stock size.
ETFs spread that risk across dozens of companies in one purchase.
The six funds below cover rare earths, copper, uranium, silver, and the broader critical materials basket, and each one gets there through a different rulebook that decides what actually lands in the portfolio.
REMX 0.00%↑ tracks the MVIS Global Rare Earth/Strategic Metals Index, which covers companies producing, refining, and recycling rare earth and strategic metals.
Read that mandate closely. Strategic metals is a wide category, and the index applies no geographic screen.
VanEck launched the fund in 2010. It holds about $2.3 billion across 36 positions at a 0.53% expense ratio.
Albemarle sits at roughly 7.8%, Pilbara Minerals at 7.5%, and Lynas Rare Earths at 7%. Two of those three are lithium companies.
MP comes in near 6.9%. China accounts for about 32% of the fund against roughly 18% for the United States, with China Northern Rare Earth inside the top 5.
Scale is the offsetting strength. REMX holds the most assets of any dedicated rare earth fund and supports listed options.
REXC 0.00%↑ follows the Nasdaq Sprott Rare Earths Ex-China Index, which selects companies drawing a majority of revenue or assets from mining, separation, refining, or production of rare earths.
The index excludes China outright and rebalances quarterly.
Sprott launched the fund in April 2026. It holds about $84.4 million across 41 positions at 0.65%.
MP is the top holding near 19%, with Lynas close behind. USAR comes in around 5%.
Concentration runs high, since those two largest names carry roughly 38% of assets. Most of the rest are developers with projects years from full production.
COPX 0.00%↑ tracks the Solactive Global Copper Miners Total Return Index, a straightforward screen for companies engaged in copper mining.
Global X launched it in 2010, and it now holds about $8 billion across 40 positions at 0.65%.
Weighting is unusually flat. Hudbay Minerals, BHP, Teck Resources, First Quantum, and KGHM each land near 5%, so no single miner drives the fund.
Copper joined the critical minerals list in November and demand keeps climbing. Consumption could reach 42 million metric tonnes by 2040, up from 28 million in 2025.
Data centers are the newer part of the story, with copper demand from that channel forecast to more than quadruple this year.
URNM 0.00%↑ invests at least 80% of assets in the VettaFi Global Uranium Mining Index, which requires companies to devote at least half their assets to uranium mining.
The methodology also permits holdings that own physical uranium or uranium royalties. That clause matters.
Sprott runs about $2 billion across 25 positions at 0.75%, the priciest fund here.
Cameco is roughly 20% and NexGen Energy is close to 13%. The Sprott Physical Uranium Trust sits between them at about 14%, holding stored uranium.
Physical exposure totals roughly 19% of the portfolio, giving buyers commodity exposure alongside the mining equities.
SIL 0.00%↑ tracks the Solactive Global Silver Miners Total Return Index and holds about $4.8 billion across 39 positions at 0.65%.
Check the top holding before assuming what this fund does. Wheaton Precious Metals is roughly 23% of assets, and Wheaton finances mines in exchange for future metal at fixed prices.
Pan American Silver near 11% and Coeur Mining near 11% follow as conventional miners.
Silver earned its critical minerals designation through industrial demand, including solar panels, LED lighting, and electronics.
SETM 0.00%↑ follows the Nasdaq Sprott Critical Materials Index, designed to track a global selection of critical materials companies across many metals at once.
Rebalancing happens semiannually in June and December, with September and March windows being added starting September 21, 2026.
The fund holds about $590.3 million across 156 positions at 0.65%.
Industry weights read like the USGS list itself: copper near 29%, uranium near 25%, lithium near 17%, silver near 15%, and rare earths near 10%.
Government-backed names appear throughout. MP is about 3.4%, Lithium Americas about 0.3%, and Trilogy Metals about 0.04%.
Breadth cuts both ways. Position sizes stay small enough that any individual deal moves the fund very little.
Here I presented six funds with six very different portfolios.
These options provide you with wildly diverse ways to get exposure to specific critical minerals without picking your own stocks or keeping up with a very niche trade.
Choose carefully, and let the holdings make the decision for you. Open it, read the top ten, and confirm the companies listed match the story that brought you in.
That habit takes about five minutes and works on every thematic fund you will ever consider.
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