A big thank you to all of our Industrial Minerals Review authors

Every July, Mining Engineering devotes an issue to the “Industrial Minerals Review,” consisting of commodity-by-commodity reports covering supply, demand, prices and outlook for the construction, agriculture, energy and manufacturing sectors. That coverage depends entirely on volunteer expertise. This year, 31 contributors from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), industry and research institutions worldwide gave their time to write it. The Industrial Minerals & Aggregates Division (IMAD) is grateful for their work, and for the readers who rely on it: Barite: Ji-Eun Kim — USGS, National Minerals Information Center. Bauxite and alumina: Adam M. Merrill — USGS, National Minerals Information Center. Bentonite: Kristi J. Simmons — USGS, National Minerals Information Center. Boron (Borates): Amanda S. Brioche — USGS, National Minerals Information Center. Cement: A.K. Hatfield — USGS, National Minerals Information Center. Chromium: Y. Rama Murthy — Tata Steel Ltd., Jamshedpur, India. Construction aggregates: Venkata Aneesh Kona — Vulcan Materials Co. Diatomite: R.D. Crangle Jr. — USGS, National Minerals Information Center. Frac sand: Jack Sackrider, P.G. — Westward Environmental Inc. Gemstones: Donald W. Olson — USGS, National Minerals Information Center. Gypsum: R.D. Crangle Jr. — USGS, National Minerals Information Center. Industrial diamond: Donald W. Olson — USGS, National Minerals Information Center. Industrial garnet: Donald W. Olson — USGS, National Minerals Information Center. Industrial sand and gravel: Robert C. Goodin — USGS, National Minerals Information Center. Kaolin: Debashis Das, P.E. — RESPEC. Kyanite, andalusite and sillimanite: David W. Hawkins — Virginia Department Of Energy. Lime: J.R. Macgregor — USGS, National Minerals Information Center. Magnesia: Himesh Patel — Andean Systems. Mica: S.M. Jasinski — USGS, National Minerals Information Center. Peat: Amanda S. Brioche — USGS, National Minerals Information Center. Perlite: Kristi J. Simmons — USGS, National Minerals Information Center. Potash: S.M. Jasinski — USGS, National Minerals Information Center. Pumice and pumicite: R.D. Crangle Jr. — USGS, National Minerals Information Center. Salt: Cody Vining And Jacob Hewett — RESPEC. Soda ash: Debashis Das, P.E. — RESPEC. Strontium: A.K. Hatfield — USGS, National Minerals Information Center. Talc and pyrophyllite: E.F. Mccarthy — Performance Minerals LLC. Tin: Shivakumar Angadi — CSIR-Institute Of Minerals And Materials Technology, Bhubaneswar, India. Titanium: Deepak Nayak — CSIR-Institute Of Minerals And Materials Technology, Bhubaneswar, India. Tungsten: Surya Kanta Das — Indian Bureau Of Mines, Nagpur, India. Vanadium: Désirée E. Polyak — USGS, National Minerals Information Center. Vermiculite: Kristi J. Simmons — USGS, National Minerals Information Center. Zeolites: Wilfrid Balmer And Daniel T. Eyde — Alcimex; Cheto Partners. The IMAD technical commodity coordinators recruit and review the reports above, group by group, year after year. Our thanks to: Agricultural materials: Vaibhav Srivastava and Michael Campion. Ceramic and refractories: Aneesh V. Kona and Philip Duah. Chemical raw materials: Ravi Hiremath, Sunil K. Tripathy and Carolyn McCannon. Construction materials: Patrick Jacomet and Hadi Rashidi. Fillers and pigments: Roseanna Redfern. Specialty minerals: Edgar Blanco and Eduardo Janampa. Sorbents, filters and process aids: Dillon Hughes. Thank you as well to the entire technical committee and to Rudrajit Mitra, 2025-2026 Technical Committee Chair, for the effort behind this year’s review. Call for authors We are now inviting contributors for next July’s edition. Reports run roughly 800 to 1,500 words and cover a single commodity: production, prices, trade, technology and outlook, with sources cited. First-time and returning authors are welcome, and co-authored reports are encouraged. Open commodities: Any of the 31 above are open for a new author, plus 21 commodities from IMAD’s full slate that did not appear in this year’s review — nitrogen compounds, phosphate rock, sulfur, bismuth, antimony, ball clay, fire clay, graphite, zirconium, bromine, fluorspar, iodine, lithium, common clay & shale, dimension stone, ground calcium carbonate, wollastonite, Fuller’s earth and rare earths. Timeline: Pitch your commodity by Jan. 15, 2027, drafts are due March 15, 2027, and publication will be in the July 2027 issue. To contribute, contact 2026–2027 Technical Committee Chair Sunil K. Tripathy at sunil@umn.edu or Vice Chair Carolyn McCannon at carolyn.mccannon@respec.com.

A big thank you to all of our Industrial Minerals Review authors

Authored by: Sunil K. Tripathy

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