Source: US Geological Survey
Reston, Va. — The overall value of U.S. mineral production edged up by $1 billion in 2024 to $106 billion, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s annual Mineral Commodity Summaries. Record prices for gold and silver buoyed the total, more than compensating for a 40 to 60 percent fall in the value of U.S. production of critical minerals used to make lithium-ion batteries.
Prices for the battery materials, principally cobalt, lithium and nickel, fell due to oversupply by dominant producers including China. The report also highlights the overall importance of nonfuel minerals to American industries including aerospace, electronics and construction. These industriesrepresented$4.08 trillion in value in 2024, a 4% increase over 2023, and nearly one-seventh of the U.S. economy.
The 30th annual Mineral Commodity Summaries report prepared by the USGS National Minerals Information Center is a comprehensive source of nonfuel mineral commodity data for the world. It includes information on the domestic industry structure, government programs, tariffs, reserves, world production and five-year salient statistics for 90 nonfuel mineral commodities that are important to U.S. national security and the economy. It also identifies events, trends and issues in the domestic and international minerals industries that impact production and consumption.
“We are excited to release the 30th edition of the Mineral Commodity Summaries. For decades, leaders in industry and government have relied on the objective, robust data and analysis provided in this report to help make business decisions and determine national commerce, security, and intelligence policy surrounding minerals,” said Sarah Ryker, acting director of the USGS. “The USGS leads Federal coordination on the Nation’s mineral supply chains and informs our partners from our rich data. We continue to add new data and analysis to the Mineral Commodity Summaries and develop new ways to shed light on mining, minerals and our economy’s need for them.”
In 2024, the metal sector had another year of decreasing prices attributed to oversupply in the global market. There were notable reductions in prices from dominant producing countries including China. The value of U.S. production of many of the metals required to make lithium-ion batteries used in phones, power tools and vehicles, such as cobalt, lithium and nickel, fell sharply by 40% to60% from 2023 levels. The drop in value was caused by both the fall in prices and a resulting decrease in U.S. production. The largest decreases in metal production quantities, in descending order, were nickel, cobalt, platinum, palladium and cadmium. The reduction in prices caused some domestic mining projects to delay operations or stop processing material.
Other key highlights of the report are detailed analysis of tariff and trade changes in 2024 affecting mineral commodities. These include U.S. tariffs on China’s exports of goods containing critical minerals in response to acts, policies and practices, and China’s export ban on antimony, gallium and germanium exports to the U.S.
In 2024, the U.S. was 100% reliant on imports for 12 of the 50 minerals on the List of Critical Minerals, unchanged from 2023, and the number of critical minerals where the U.S. is more than 50% reliant on imports fell from 29 to 28. However, the drop in nickel imports doesnot necessarily signal a strengthened domestic supply chain – it was driven by decreased U.S. industrial consumption of nickel.
Gold and silver, however, had the highest prices on record in 2024. In 2024, the estimated U.S. production value of gold increased by 9% despite a decrease in the estimated quantity of gold produced. The estimated production value of gold accounted for 11% of the total estimated value of U.S. nonfuel mineral commodity production. Prices for some other commodities such as antimony and germanium also increased significantly owing to export restrictions put in place by China.
The $106 billion worth of nonfuel mineral commodities produced by U.S. mines in 2024 included ferrous and nonferrous metals as well as industrial minerals and natural aggregates. The estimated value of U.S. production of all industrial minerals in 2024 was $72.1 billion, which was about 68% of the total value of U.S. mine production. Crushed stone was the leading nonfuel mineral commodity domestically produced in 2024, accounting for 24% of the total value of U.S. mine production.
U.S. metal mine production in 2024 was estimated to be valued at $33.5 billion, a slight increase from $33 billion in 2023. The principal contributors to the total value of metal mine production in 2024 were gold, 35%; copper, 30%; iron ore, 16%; zinc, 7%; and molybdenum, 5%.
Domestically, a total of $48 billion of metals and mineral products were recycled in 2024, including metals such as copper, gold, iron and steel scrap and platinum-group elements. This amount represented a slight increase in value compared with that in 2023.
Fourteen mineral commodities produced in the U.S. were valued at more than $1 billion each. These commodities were, in order of value, crushed stone, construction sand and gravel, gold, cement, copper, iron ore, industrial sand and gravel, lime, soda ash, salt, zinc, phosphate rock, molybdenum and helium.
The report also details progress from investments in the domestic minerals base. In fiscal year 2024 alone, the USGS Earth Mapping Resources Initiative distributed more than $57 million across 39 States to fund geoscience data collection and mapping in partnership with State geological surveys, data preservation programs, and scientific interpretation efforts to identify areas of the country with potential for the occurrence of critical minerals.
Under the Energy Act of 2020, the USGS maintains the List of Critical Minerals, added a critical minerals section to the annual Mineral Commodity Summaries, conducts a nationwide mapping effort – the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative – in partnership with state geological surveys, and is assessing domestic critical mineral resources.
The USGS delivers unbiased science and information to improve understanding of mineral resource potential, production, consumption and how minerals interact with the environment. The USGS National Minerals Information Center collects, analyzes and disseminates current information on the supply of, and the demand for, minerals and materials in the U.S. and about 180 other countries. This information is essential in planning for, and mitigating impacts of, potential disruptions to mineral commodity supply due to both natural hazards and human-caused events.
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