The paper analyzes the strategic positions of nations and supranational associations in the global markets related to the extraction and industrial use of minerals being of critical importance for the development of the most advanced technologies. The term "critical minerals" is used in the article to refer to non-fuel mineral resources that are indispensable in high-tech industries. The proposed methodology is based on the assessment of the critical mineral reserves as well as mine production and industrial consumption volumes of critical minerals as shares of the relevant global totals. A global index of strategic position regarding critical minerals for a given nation or a group of nations is calculated as the sum of resource, mine production, and industrial consumption estimates. Such estimates also allow one to assess the degree of nations’ potential dependence on foreign sources of critical raw materials. Being regularly updated, this information provides a relatively simple and easy-to-understand tool to inform industrial, international trade, and customs strategies. The described approach may be applied to the assessment of nations’ positions regarding any strategic and generally important natural resources. The paper identifies the possible areas of further research including the development of deeper methodologies and refining assessments.