The President shall make scientific, technologic, and economic investigations concerning the development, mining, preparation, treatment, and utilization of ores and other mineral substances that (A) are found in the United States, its territories or possessions, or in a reliable source 1 (B) are essential to the national defense, industrial, and essential civilian needs of the United States, and (C) are found in known domestic sources in inadequate quantities or grades.

Such investigations shall be carried out in order to develop new sources of strategic and critical materials, develop substitutes, or conserve domestic sources and reliable sources of supply for such strategic and critical materials.

Investigations under paragraph (1) may be carried out on public lands and, with the consent of the owner, on privately owned lands for the purpose of exploring and determining the extent and quality of deposits of such minerals, the most suitable methods of mining and beneficiating such minerals, and the cost at which the minerals or metals may be produced.

developing domestic sources of supply of materials (other than materials referred to in subsections (a) and (b)) determined pursuant to section 98b(a) of this title to be strategic and critical materials; and

developing or using alternative methods for the refining or processing of a material in the stockpile so as to convert such material into a form more suitable for use during an emergency or for storage.

substitutes for such material; or

more efficient methods of production or use of such material.