A Critique and Commentary of the IEA Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2025
NCEA’s Energy Delusions series returns on October 21, 2025 with its second installment—this time exposing the blind spots in mining, critical minerals, and U.S. energy policy.
The International Energy Agency’s Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2025 is already shaping key mining and energy debates. But NCEA and guest speakers will challenge some of its flawed—and often critically misleading—assumptions and the resultant implications for the energy expansion that is underway.
Program Agenda
October 21, 2025, 10:30am – 12:00pm ET
Washington, D.C. and Online
10:30 am – Welcome
Portia Roberts, Policy Director of NCEA
10:35 am – Fireside Chat (Congressional Perspective)
Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), U.S. Senate Chairman of the Energy & Natural Resources Committee
10:55 am – Fireside Chat (Industry Perspective)
Brandon Craig, President of BHP Americas
11:15 am – Break
11:25 am – Report findings from NCEA’s Energy Delusions: Critical Minerals Forecasts
Peter Bryant, NCEA Advisory Board member & Chairman of Clareo and Key Minerals Forum;
Satish Rao, Managing Director of Clareo
11:45 am – Closing Remarks and Q&A
Portia Roberts, Policy Director of NCEA
12:00 pm – Program Concludes
Speakers
Mike Lee
Senator (R-UT)
Elected in 2010 as Utah’s 16th Senator, Mike Lee has spent his career defending the fundamental liberties of all Americans and advocating for America’s founding constitutional principles.
Senator Lee acquired a deep respect for the Constitution early in life while watching his father, Rex E. Lee, serve as the Solicitor General under President Ronald Reagan. He attended most of his father’s arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court, giving him a unique and up-close understanding of government.
Lee graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Political Science, and served as BYU’s Student Body President in his senior year. He graduated from BYU’s Law School in 1997 and went on to serve as law clerk to Judge Dee Benson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, and then with future Supreme Court Justice Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Brandon Craig
President of BHP Americas
Brandon Craig is President of BHP Americas, responsible for BHP’s Copper, Potash, and Iron Ore operations across the continent. He brings over 20 years of leadership experience in commodities including Nickel, Aluminium, and Coal. Brandon holds a master’s in Business Leadership and a bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering.
Peter Bryant
NCEA Advisory Board member & Chairman of Clareo and Key Minerals Forum
Peter Bryant is Chairman of Clareo and co-founder of the Development Partner Institute, advising mining and energy companies on innovation and sustainability. He leads the Key Minerals Forum in Washington, DC, and serves on the advisory boards of NCEA, Foundamental, Oryx Global, and various tech startups. His writing appears in Chief Executive, Mining Global, and the Journal of Petroleum Technology.
Satish Rao
Managing Director at Clareo
Satish Rao is a Managing Director at Clareo, where he serves as an expert advisor to some of the world’s leading energy and resources companies, focusing on technology and innovation, critical minerals and mining, and energy. He has helped clients across the value chain from exploration, production, and waste and tailings management by helping define aspirational futures, developing vision and strategies, innovation capability, and applying new technologies to tackle strategic sustainability and growth challenges. Rao’s clients include global leaders such as BHP, Rio Tinto, Anglo American, Teck Resources, Barrick Gold, Metso, Weir Group, BP, Woodside Energy, Chevron, Baker Hughes, Castrol, GE, and Exelon.