Colombia’s Critical Minerals Could Be a Game Changer for America | OilPrice.com
Matthew Smith
As Oilprice’s South America correspondent, I cover Colombia (where I currently live), Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay, Guyana, Suriname and Uruguay. I…
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By Matthew Smith – Oct 19, 2026, 2:00 PM CDT
- Colombia’s closer relationship with Washington could unlock investment in critical minerals essential to U.S. defense, technology, and manufacturing.
- Promising tungsten, antimony, and other mineral discoveries could establish Colombia as a strategic supplier, provided exploration projects become commercially viable.
- Developing Colombia’s mineral resources could reduce U.S. reliance on Chinese-controlled supply chains while boosting Colombian exports and government revenue.
Since taking office, Colombia’s far-right president, Abelardo de la Espriella, has moved aggressively to restore ties with Washington after relations frayed under Gustavo Petro. The rapprochement revives a decades-old strategic alliance that made Colombia one of Washington’s closest partners in Latin America. Early last month, the two countries agreed to deepen cooperation on critical minerals, including rare earths, tungsten and antimony. The move aligns with De la Espriella’s pledge to revive Colombia’s economically vital oil industry.
The timing is no coincidence. With depleted U.S. military arsenals and conflicts raging on multiple fronts, particularly in the Middle East, Washington is scrambling to secure supplies of the critical minerals needed to manufacture weapons and replenish dwindling munitions stockpiles. The agreement aims to unlock Colombia’s considerable critical-mineral potential by accelerating mining projects, improving cooperation on identifying viable deposits and mobilizing the investment needed to bring them into production.
The framework targets bottlenecks across the critical minerals supply chain, from improved geological mapping and access to advanced mining technology to streamlined permitting for new projects. The deal also promotes the recycling of critical minerals, an increasingly important source. Around 8% of U.S. antimony supply comes from recycled lead-acid batteries, with 91% being imported. The deal further addresses pricing and measures to build resilient supply chains while countering anti-market practices.
The 2025 List of Critical Minerals, compiled by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and published by the Department of the Interior, identifies 60 minerals deemed vital to the U.S. economy and national security. Antimony and tungsten are crucial to manufacturing munitions and weapons systems, making secure supplies a strategic necessity. Gallium, germanium and cobalt are essential to semiconductors as well as other advanced electronics underpinning the AI revolution. Lithium is equally indispensable, powering the rechargeable batteries driving the technology revolution.
China’s dominance of critical mineral global supply chains, including the mining and processing of many elements, gives Beijing considerable geopolitical leverage. Beijing demonstrated the power of that leverage when it imposed export restrictions on gallium, germanium and antimony destined for the United States, exposing Washington’s dependence on Chinese-controlled supply chains. Although the restrictions were subsequently suspended, the reprieve is temporary, with the suspension due to expire on November 27, 2026.
Washington is racing to secure critical mineral supplies to counter Beijing’s growing leverage over those strategic resources. Colombia is emerging as a pivotal ally in that contest, offering Washington an opportunity to secure vital mineral supplies while reinforcing U.S. hegemony across the Americas. Colombia’s newly inaugurated President De la Espriella has signaled his determination to forge closer ties with the Trump administration. He has aligned Colombia with the Shield of the Americas, a U.S.-led regional security initiative, and committed to joint military operations.
Colombia’s largely untapped mineral wealth offers a rare strategic opportunity to secure vital resources close to Washington, which will strengthen U.S. economic and military security. Despite its long history of oil and coal extraction, Colombia’s mining sector remains largely undeveloped. The country’s deposits of silver, platinum, nickel and copper serve key defense, aerospace and technology industries, while tungsten, antimony, cobalt, manganese and magnesium are vital to weapons systems, batteries and advanced electronics.
Paradoxically, Colombia’s decades of armed conflict exposed the country’s largely untapped critical mineral wealth. In Guainía department, near the Venezuelan border, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) earned considerable revenue from commercially mining tungsten at the Tiger Hill site for nearly a decade. The extracted mineral was sold to intermediaries for shipment to overseas buyers. In 2014, Bogota seized and shuttered the operation, which has yet to be reopened.
Military offensives exposed other aspects of the FARC’s financially important illicit mineral trade. The leftist insurgents mined cobalt and coltan along Colombia’s borders with Venezuela and Brazil. Raids in 2015 disrupted the operations, and the FARC demobilized under a 2016 peace deal, but the mines survived. Other illegal armed groups, including FARC dissidents who rejected the 2016 accord, continue to exploit the sites or extort payments from the
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