Critical Minerals Forum

What Critical Minerals Forum does

Critical Minerals Forum (CMF) is an independent 501(c)(6) nonprofit business trade association established in 2023 with seed funding from the U.S. Department of War's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) through the Open Price Exploration for National Security (OPEN) initiative. Headquartered in Washington, DC, the organization convenes the full critical mineral value chain—miners, processors, end-user manufacturers, investors, and government institutions—to address supply chain vulnerability and the lack of transparent, ethics-adjusted pricing for critical metals. Its stated mission is to develop actionable cost, price, supply, and demand projections with geographic granularity and to operate a data platform that connects investors with pipeline project opportunities.

The Forum's core technology stack comprises three integrated products: the Resilient Price Data Platform (a metric that articulates true cost of production for metals ethically produced without state-backed subsidies, with supply and demand projections); the CMF Dashboard (an AI-driven analytics tool providing supply, demand, and cost insights with geographic customization and asset-level cost curves, forecasting trends by country and identifying minerals most vulnerable to disruption); and the CMF Data & Project Pipeline Platform (a live demonstration tool for commercial project pipelines and investment opportunity mapping across tungsten, copper, and tantalum). AI capabilities are focused on predictive analytics over structured supply/demand/cost data, with forecast production partnered with preeminent data analytics firms and refined through member feedback loops.

Revenue is generated through three streams: paid membership subscriptions (which include free admission to events), event sponsorship (panel speaking slots, asset presentations, and branding opportunities), and the initial DARPA grant. The go-to-market is event-driven—anchored by the annual CMF US-Africa Investment Summit (now in its 3rd year, hosted in Washington, DC on June 3, 2026, with 20+ African nations represented)—and community-led through working groups, technical roundtables, and curated introductions. Anchor stakeholders include Lockheed Martin, Volkswagen Group of America, Applied Materials, J.P. Morgan, the World Bank Group, the International Finance Corporation, and S&P Global / Rovjok. Reuters has characterized the organization as "one of the boldest efforts to date to transform the ways certain metals are bought and sold."

Name

Critical Minerals Forum

Legal name

Critical Minerals Forum

Website

https://cmforum.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Critical Minerals Forum is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit trade association that operates an AI-driven data platform providing transparent cost structures and supply/demand forecasts for critical minerals, while convening miners, processors, manufacturers, investors, and government institutions through annual summits and working groups.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Critical Minerals Data Intelligence & Trade Association Services

NAICS

Business Associations (813910)

SIC

Mineral Royalty Traders (6795)

akta.pro primary industry

Critical Minerals Trading, Offtake & Marketing (IMAKAFAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Carbon Market Data, Indices, Ratings & Price Reporting (MRPAs) (EUAGAIAH), Minerals, Mining & Geologic Resources Administration (BPAIAMAJ)

Keywords

• Critical minerals data
• Supply chain analytics
• Trade association
• Mining investment intelligence
• Resilient price metrics

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: Trade association membership model where paid members receive benefits including free admission to annual summits. The organization convenes critical mineral miners, processors, end-user manufacturers, investors, and government institutions.
2. Event Sponsorship: Sponsorship opportunities at annual summits including executive insights speaking slots, asset presentations, and meal/branding sponsorships. Companies developing tungsten, tantalum, or copper can be featured in investment showcases.
3. Seed Funding (DARPA): Initial seed funding from Department of War's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) through the OPEN (Open Price Exploration for National Security) initiative to establish the organization.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Critical Minerals Forum is an independent 501(c)(6) nonprofit trade association that operates an AI-driven data platform providing transparent cost structures, supply/demand projections, and the proprietary "Resilient Price" metric for ethically produced critical minerals. It convenes miners, processors, manufacturers, investors, and government stakeholders through annual summits, working groups, and curated introductions to accelerate resilient critical mineral supply chain investment.

Product overview

Critical Minerals Forum offers a unified data intelligence platform for critical minerals supply chain resilience, comprising three integrated components: the Resilient Price Data Platform (the core data hub providing transparent cost structures and supply/demand projections), the CMF Dashboard (an AI-powered analytics tool with geographic customization and asset-level cost curves for forecasting trends and identifying minerals vulnerable to disruption), and the CMF Data & Project Pipeline Platform (enabling market participants to share investment opportunities and investors to identify financing requirements). The platform is designed for miners, processors, investors, manufacturers, and government agencies across the critical minerals supply chain.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Resilient Price Data Platform

Quantifiable outcome

• Reuters characterized the organization as 'one of the boldest efforts to date to transform the ways certain metals are bought and sold' according to more than two dozen industry consultants, purchasing agents, analysts, regulators and investors.

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• S&P Global / RovjokcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBaseline market presentation providers for tungsten, copper, and tantalum commodity deep dives at annual summits. Produces market forecasts used in partnership with DARPA's OPEN initiative.
• International Finance Corporation (IFC)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal Head of Metals & Mining at IFC participated in 2026 Summit discussing international development approaches to minerals.
• World Bank GroupmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWorld Bank Group Global Director for Metals and Minerals participated in fireside chat on international development approaches to minerals.
• Rwanda Mines, Petroleum and Gas Board (RMB)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCEO Alice Uwase participated in sovereign perspectives fireside. RMB presented on commercial project pipeline for tungsten.
• Millennium Challenge CorporationmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerActing Deputy Vice President participated in U.S. Interagency Approaches panel discussing operational and industrial readiness.
• Nigeria Ministry of Solid Minerals DevelopmentmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPresented on commercial project pipeline for tantalum at 2026 Summit commodity deep dive session.
• Appian Capital AdvisorymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHead of Global Affairs (Rt Hon Dominic Raab) participated in investor perspective panel on minerals investing in Africa.
• BTIG (Investment Banking)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerManaging Director and Head of Minerals, Metals and Mining Investment Banking participated in investor perspective panel.
• Absa GroupmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerManaging Principal for Coverage Head Resources & Energy participated in investor perspective panel.
• J.P. MorganmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHead of CEEMEA Loans and Structured Credit participated in investor perspective panel on minerals investing in Africa.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Benchmark Mineral Intelligence: Benchmark specializes in price assessment and supply chain intelligence for battery and critical minerals (lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite). It is a direct peer serving overlapping mining, investor, and OEM customers with comparable data products.
• Fastmarkets: Fastmarkets is a leading independent price reporting agency for industrial and critical minerals, providing indices, forecasts, and market data that directly compete with CMF's Resilient Price and supply/demand forecasting platform.
• International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM): ICMM is a global mining industry trade association convening major miners on sustainability, standards, and policy. Like CMF, it operates as a convener across mining, investors, and government, making it a structurally analogous peer.
• S&P Global Commodity Insights: S&P Global's commodity intelligence arm is the dominant price reporting agency for metals and minerals, including critical minerals benchmarks. It is a directly comparable peer and current CMF partner via Rovjok for baseline market presentations, positioning it as both ally and competitor.
• Argus Media: Argus is a global price reporting agency publishing benchmark prices for metals, minerals, and energy commodities. Its methodology and customer base parallel CMF's Resilient Price ambitions across metals trading and offtake.

Broad incumbents

• Wood Mackenzie: Wood Mackenzie provides broad commodity research, including critical minerals supply/demand analysis and project economics. It overlaps with CMF on data and forecasting but as part of a much wider energy and natural resources portfolio.

Others

• World Economic Forum (Critical Minerals agenda): WEF runs a Global Battery Alliance and critical minerals policy agenda, convening governments, miners, and OEMs. It is a thematic peer in convening and policy shaping, though it operates as a forum rather than a data platform.
• RMI (Rocky Mountain Institute): RMI is a clean energy think tank publishing influential work on critical mineral supply chains and investment frameworks. It is thematically adjacent, influencing the same policy and capital ecosystem that CMF operates within.

Emerging players

• Adamas Intelligence: Adamas specializes in critical mineral (especially rare earth and battery materials) supply, demand, and pricing research. It is a smaller, focused competitor whose data products overlap meaningfully with CMF's platform.

Regional players

• Mining Industry Associations (e.g., MAC, NMA): Domestic mining associations (Mining Association of Canada, National Mining Association in the U.S.) convene miners, government, and stakeholders on mineral policy. They are structurally comparable as trade associations but focused on domestic rather than critical mineral supply chain strategy.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/critical-minerals-forum

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Critical Minerals Forum