In the twenty-first century, there has been a growing awareness of the fundamental role global mineral resources play in driving technological advancement, especially within the context of the clean energy transition. This transition involves gradually replacing traditional fossil fuel–based sources such as oil, natural gas, and coal with renewable and low- and zero-CO2 technologies such as electric vehicles, storage batteries, wind turbines, and solar panels. Mineral resources are essential for sustaining the production of materials needed for these technologies and energy storage systems. Thus, the conversion from fossil fuels to low-carbon energy sources will depend on minerals. From a historical perspective, energy transitions require significant mineral resources and can vary greatly in speed, ranging from century-long transformations to shifts occurring within a few years. As an example, three centuries ago the number of elements used in energy technology such as windmills was limited to less than five (Figure 1). The array of elements used in energy applications has grown significantly since the 1800s, first due to the invention of the steam engine during the industrial revolution and then by the development of the combustion engine and in the mid-twentieth century the initiation of the nuclear era. But it is since the 2000s that the number of elements used in technology has increased exponentially, with low-carbon energy technology materials requiring a great diversity of chemical elements (Figure 1). Today, the element diversity is prevalent across most products and applications. For instance, of the 83 stable elements in the periodic table, at least 70 of them can be found in smartphones, and a similar number can be found in electric vehicles. Critical minerals—essential for modern economies and emerging technologies and often subject to supply constraints—emerge as a crucial component for sustainable development and supply chain stability. These resources, mainly metals, have become the backbone of various twenty-first-century industries including electronics, telecommunications, renewable energy, and transportation, making their consistent supply key for societal advancement. At the forefront of reducing carbon emissions and mitigating the effects of climate change are electric and hybrid vehicles, photovoltaic cells, wind turbines, batteries, and efficient lighting. These technologies are driving a growing global demand for energy-related critical minerals. This review centers on critical minerals. Due to the broadness of the topic, our focus is set on the energy-related metals copper, cobalt, nickel, lithium, and rare earth elements (REE). We focus on these elements because they are essential for renewable energy technologies and will drive exploration efforts during this century. We start by defining critical elements and minerals and their importance to the energy transition. We then describe their global occurrence, distribution, and ore deposit types, highlighting the role of economic geology and the minerals industry in sustaining a supply chain for the energy transition. This contribution complements other available reviews that further elaborate on various environmental, metallurgical, economic, and geopolitical aspects of critical minerals (see the sidebar titled Mineral Resources Sustain Infrastructure, Economy, and Life) Source: https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-earth-040523-023316