Critical Minerals Dependency MCP Server

Rare earth and critical mineral supply chain risk intelligence for AI agents via the Model Context Protocol. This MCP server orchestrates 8 data sources spanning international trade flows, sanctions watchlists, patent databases, and macroeconomic indicators to deliver HHI-based supply concentration analysis, geopolitical fragility scoring, substitution readiness assessment, sanctions exposure checking, and a composite Dependency Risk Score (0-100) with CRITICAL_DEPENDENCY to LOW_RISK verdicts.

What data can you access?

Data Point	Source	Coverage
International trade flow data	UN COMTRADE	200+ countries
US Treasury sanctions	OFAC Sanctions	SDN list
Global sanctions data	OpenSanctions	100+ programs
Substitution technology patents (US)	USPTO Patent Search	All US patents
Substitution technology patents (EU)	EPO Patent Search	100M+ European patents
Country risk and governance indicators	World Bank Indicators	200+ countries
Macro indicators for producer countries	IMF World Economic Outlook	Global economies
Trade and economic data	OECD Statistics	OECD member states

MCP Tools

Tool	Price	Description
mineral_dependency_report	$2.00	Full mineral dependency report using all 8 sources: HHI supply concentration, geopolitical fragility, substitution readiness. Returns CRITICAL_DEPENDENCY to LOW_RISK verdict.
supply_concentration_analysis	$2.00	Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI) supply concentration analysis: identify monopolistic suppliers and single-source dependencies from COMTRADE trade flows.
supplier_country_risk	$2.00	Country-level supplier risk assessment: governance indicators, political stability, and economic vulnerability for mineral-producing nations.
sanctions_exposure_check	$2.00	Check sanctions exposure for mineral supply chains: OFAC and OpenSanctions screening of mining companies and producer nations.
substitution_patent_landscape	$2.00	Patent landscape for alternative material substitution and recycling technologies across USPTO and EPO. Returns Substitution Readiness Index.
industry_impact_assessment	$2.00	Industry-level impact assessment of supply disruption: downstream industry vulnerability and economic exposure.
compare_mineral_risks	$4.00	Compare risk profiles across multiple critical minerals with side-by-side HHI, fragility, and substitution scores.

Data Sources

• UN COMTRADE -- United Nations international trade statistics for mineral commodities by HS code and country, enabling HHI concentration calculation
• OFAC Sanctions -- US Treasury sanctions screening for mining companies and mineral-producing nation entities
• OpenSanctions -- Global sanctions data covering mineral supply chain entities across 100+ international programs
• USPTO Patent Search -- US patent filings for alternative materials, substitution technologies, and mineral recycling processes
• EPO Patent Search -- European patent data for substitution and recycling technology landscape analysis
• World Bank Indicators -- Country governance indicators (rule of law, political stability, regulatory quality) for mineral-producing nations
• IMF World Economic Outlook -- Macroeconomic data for producer countries including GDP growth, inflation, and commodity dependency
• OECD Statistics -- Trade and economic statistics for supply chain concentration and diversification analysis

How the scoring works

Four scoring models quantify mineral supply chain risk.

Supply Concentration Index (HHI) calculates Herfindahl-Hirschman Index from COMTRADE trade flows. HHI squares each supplier country's market share and sums them. HHI > 2,500 indicates monopolistic supply; HHI < 1,500 indicates competitive diversification.

Geopolitical Fragility Score combines World Bank governance indicators (rule of law, political stability, control of corruption) with sanctions exposure and conflict indicators for mineral-producing nations.

Substitution Readiness Index measures patent filing velocity on alternative materials and recycling technologies. High patent activity signals that substitution is being actively researched; low activity means the mineral has fewer alternatives.

Composite Dependency Risk Score (0-100) = Concentration x Fragility x Substitution Gap:

Verdict	Score Range	Meaning
CRITICAL_DEPENDENCY	80-100	High concentration, fragile suppliers, no substitutes
HIGH_RISK	60-79	Significant supply chain vulnerability
MODERATE_RISK	40-59	Some concentration with mitigation options
MANAGEABLE	20-39	Diversified supply with available alternatives
LOW_RISK	0-19	Competitive supply, mature substitution technology

How to connect this MCP server

Claude Desktop

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "critical-minerals-dependency": {
      "url": "https://critical-minerals-dependency-mcp.apify.actor/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Programmatic (HTTP)

curl -X POST https://critical-minerals-dependency-mcp.apify.actor/mcp \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","method":"tools/call","params":{"name":"mineral_dependency_report","arguments":{"mineral":"lithium","industry":"EV batteries"}},"id":1}'

This MCP server also works with Cursor, Windsurf, Cline, and any other MCP-compatible client.

Use cases for critical minerals intelligence

Defense Supply Chain Assessment

Assess critical mineral dependency for defense procurement with mineral_dependency_report. Identify single-source dependencies on adversary nations and evaluate substitution readiness.

EV/Battery Supply Chain Risk

Monitor lithium, cobalt, nickel, and graphite supply chains with supply_concentration_analysis and supplier_country_risk. Track geopolitical risks to battery material supply.

Semiconductor Material Sourcing

Analyze rare earth and specialty material dependencies with compare_mineral_risks for semiconductor manufacturing supply chain diversification planning.

Commodity Trading Intelligence

Use supply_concentration_analysis for HHI-based supply disruption probability and sanctions_exposure_check for sanctions-related supply risk assessment.

Industrial Policy Research

Assess which minerals face critical dependency for government policy development with industry_impact_assessment and substitution_patent_landscape.

ESG Supply Chain Reporting

Score mineral supply chain risk for ESG disclosure requirements using governance indicators and sanctions exposure as part of responsible sourcing programs.

How much does it cost?

Individual tools cost $2.00 per call. The comparison tool costs $4.00. The Apify Free plan includes $5 of monthly credits. Pay-per-event pricing with no subscription.

How it works

1. Your AI agent calls a tool via MCP with a mineral name and optional industry context
2. Parallel queries to COMTRADE, sanctions databases, patent offices, and economic data providers
3. Trade flows, sanctions matches, patent filings, and governance indicators are collected
4. HHI concentration, fragility scoring, and substitution readiness algorithms process the data
5. Structured JSON response with dependency risk verdict and supporting analysis

FAQ

Q: What minerals are covered? A: Any mineral traded internationally via COMTRADE -- lithium, cobalt, rare earths (neodymium, dysprosium), gallium, germanium, graphite, manganese, nickel, platinum group metals, tungsten, and more.

Q: How is HHI calculated? A: HHI = sum of (market share %)^2 for each supplier country. Data comes from COMTRADE trade flows. Example: if China supplies 60% and Australia 30%, HHI = 3600 + 900 = 4500 (highly concentrated).

Q: Is it legal to use this? A: All data sources are public international databases. See Apify's guide on web scraping legality.

Q: Can I compare multiple minerals? A: Yes. Use compare_mineral_risks to compare risk profiles across multiple critical minerals in a single call.

Q: How current is trade flow data? A: COMTRADE data reflects the latest reported period, typically with a 6-12 month lag for annual data. Patent data is current.

Related MCP servers

MCP Server	Focus
agricultural-commodity-climate-mcp	Agricultural commodity supply chain risk
climate-economic-nexus-mcp	Climate-economy modeling for resource planning
counterparty-due-diligence-mcp	Due diligence on mining company counterparties

Integrations

This MCP server runs on the Apify platform and supports scheduling, webhooks, API access, and dataset export for supply chain management integration.