USGS 2025 mining review

Full PDF available for download at the bottom of this page. In 2025, the estimated total value of nonfuel mineral production in the United States was $112 billion compared with $106 billion in 2024. The estimated value of metal production in 2025 increased by 13 percent to $38.1 billion from a revised total of $33.6 billion in 2024. The total estimated value of industrial minerals production was $73.7 billion, 2 percent more than the revised total of $72.2 billion in 2024 (Table 1). Increases in production of certain nonfuel mineral commodities, along with increases in prices of some industrial minerals contributed to the overall increase in the total value of domestic nonfuel mineral production in 2025. For the industrial minerals sector, the production value of natural aggregates, which comprised approximately 60 percent of the total production value of all industrial minerals, increased by 4 percent even though production volumes decreased by 1 percent in 2025 compared with production in 2024. The largest percentage increases in production value in 2025, in descending order, were for dimension stone, wollastonite, potash, mica and portland cement. The largest percentage decreases, in ascending order, were for high-purity quartz, industrial sand and gravel, lithium carbonate, bromine and boron. For the metal sector, production decreased for several mineral commodities and prices decreased for several metals due to oversupply. Lithium, manganese and nickel had some of the largest percentage decreases in production value. Mineral industry performance Discussion of mine production is commonly segmented according to the type of materials produced within the broad categories of metals and industrial minerals (also known as nonmetallic minerals). Industrial minerals can be further subdivided as natural aggregates and other industrial minerals. Metals tend to have higher unit values, but low production quantities compared with those of industrial minerals, such as crushed stone or construction sand and gravel, which have higher production quantities but lower unit values. Therefore, for discussion and analysis of the performance of the nonfuel minerals industry, the value of production is used rather than the tonnage produced. Tonnages of natural aggregates are orders of magnitude greater than those for most other mineral commodities, thus making direct comparisons based on weight less useful than value comparisons. Figure 1: Evaluation of the performance of the minerals industry by sector. In terms of the value of production, the three segments shown are relatively similar in their contribution to the U.S. economy. If measured by tonnage, natural aggregates dwarf the performance of the other sectors. As shown in Fig. 2, minerals are fundamental to the U.S. economy, contributing to the real gross domestic product at several levels, including mining, processing and manufacturing finished products. Net exports of mineral raw materials and old scrap were $5.6 billion and $13 billion, respectively. Domestic raw materials, along with domestically recycled materials, were used to produce mineral materials worth $950 billion. These mineral materials, including aluminum, brick, cement, copper, fertilizers and steel, along with net imports of processed mineral materials (worth about $185 billion) were, in turn, consumed by downstream industries with a value added to the gross domestic product estimated to be $4.09 trillion, compared with the revised value of $4.06 trillion in 2024. Figure 2: The role of nonfuel mineral commodities in the U.S. economy in 2025. (Sources: U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Departmentof Commerce) In 2025, U.S. production of 14 mineral commodities was valued at more than $1 billion each and together the estimated production value accounted for 92 percent of the total estimated value of production. These commodities were, in decreasing order of value, crushed stone, gold, construction sand and gravel, portland cement, copper, industrial sand and gravel, lime, iron ore, salt, zinc, molybdenum, phosphate rock, soda ash and silver. In 2025, nine states had more than $3 billion worth of publishable nonfuel mineral commodities production value and another 14 states had more than $1.5 billion. The publishable mineral production of these 23 states, combined, accounted for about 80 percent of the total nonfuel mineral production value. Figure 3: Map of the United States indicating the value of nonfuel mineral production by state in 2025, with charts ranking the states and proportions of production, by type of material. Based on total nonfuel mineral production value, including withheld data, the top 10 states were, in descending order of production value, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Alaska, California, Florida, Utah, Missouri, Minnesota and Michigan. In 2025, the United States continued to rely on foreign sources for many raw and processed mineral materials. Imports made up more than one-half of apparent consumption for 54 nonfuel mineral commodities, and the United States was 100 percent net import reliant for 16 of those. China and Canada were major suppliers for these nonfuel mineral commodities. The countries that were the leading sources of five or more imported mineral commodities with greater than 50 percent net import reliance were China with 16 mineral commodities; Canada, six mineral commodities; and Brazil and South Africa, five mineral commodities each. Of the more than 90 nonfuel mineral commodities evaluated, the United States was a net exporter of 18 mineral commodities. The Defense Logistics Agency Strategic Materials (DLA Strategic Materials) is responsible for the operational oversight of the National Defense Stockpile (NDS) of strategic and critical materials. DLA Strategic Materials is the leading U.S. agency for the analysis, planning, procurement and management of materials critical to national security. The NDS currently contains 54 unique commodities stored at 10 locations within the continental United States. Foreign trade In 2025, additional tariffs were implemented under section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act (19 U.S.C. 1862, as amended) on U.S. imports of steel and aluminum. Executive Order 14272, signed in April, directed the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) to initiate a section 232 investigation into critical minerals and finished products (for example, semiconductors, electric vehicles, batteries and smartphones) that use these minerals. This investigation was ongoing at the end of 2025. In July, tariffs were imposed on copper products following section 232 determination by the DOC in June.Several countries responded to U.S. trade policy actions. The following is a brief synopsis of some of the more notable trade policy actions over the past year. In February, the government of China implemented export controls and licensing requirements on bismuth, indium, molybdenum, tellurium and tungsten. In April, China applied export controls on dysprosium, gadolinium, lutetium, samarium, scandium, terbium and yttrium. In early October, China issued export controls on erbium, europium, holmium, thulium and ytterbium. However, in late October following an agreement with the United States government, China suspended the October controls for one year but left the April controls in effect. In February, Congo (Kinshasa) implemented a four-month export ban for cobalt, citing low prices. The ban was extended for another three months in June to allow time for the government to establish an export quota system. In October, the government replaced the ban with an export quota system. For the remainder of 2025, the quota was 18,125 metric tons of contained cobalt. In 2026 and 2027, the annual quota was expected to be 96,600 tons/a, of which 87,000 tons would be issued. The remaining 9,600 tons would be held in a government stockpile. In June, the government of Gabon announced that it would implement a ban on exports of manganese ore starting in 2029 as part of a national strategy to add value to the mineral rather than rely on exports of raw ore. Gabon is the world’s second leading producer of manganese ore behind South Africa. In 2025, the United States was estimated to have a net import reliance of 100 percent for manganese ore, and 64 percent of its imports between 2021 and 2024 were sourced from Gabon. In November, the government of Malaysia reaffirmed the country’s mineral sovereignty regarding rare earths ore, particularly the country’s ion absorption clay deposits, when signing agreements with international partners. The policy underscores Malaysia’s focus on downstream technology development rather than the export of raw ore. In an ongoing effort to reduce reliance on China and to bolster the domestic supply chains for critical minerals, the United States signed or initiated several trade framework agreements in 2025. Critical minerals On Nov. 7, 2025, pursuant to section 7002 of the Energy Act of 2020 (Public Law 116–260) and using the definition of “critical mineral” and the criteria specified therein, the final 2025 List of Critical Minerals was published in the Federal Register (90 FR 50494) and the accompanying methodology in the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Open-File Report 2025–1047 “Methodology and technical input for the 2025 U.S. List of Critical Minerals — Assessing the potential effects of mineral commodity supply chain disruptions on the U.S. economy.” The list of critical minerals is to be updated at least every three years and revised as necessary, consistent with available data. The final 2025 List of Critical Minerals included 60 mineral commodities instead of 50 mineral commodities or mineral groups included in the 2022 list (Table 3). The changes in the 2025 Draft List of Critical Minerals (published in the Federal Register 90 FR 41591) from the 2022 list were the recommended addition of copper, lead, potash, rhenium, silicon and silver and the recommended removal of arsenic and tellurium. U.S. net import reliance for selected nonfuel minerals in 2025. The final list differs from the draft list by retaining arsenic and tellurium and adding boron, metallurgical coal, phosphate rock and uranium, consistent with the Secretary of the Interior’s authorities as specified in section 7002 of the Energy Act of 2020 (Public Law 116–260). In addition, Executive Order 14154, “Unleashing American Energy” (Jan. 20, 2025), directed the Secretary in section 9(c) to “instruct the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey to consider updating the Survey’s List of Critical Minerals, including for the potential of including uranium.” The total value of domestic production for these 10 new commodities totaled $44.7 billion in 2025 and $42.6 billion in 2024. The total value of all 60 mineral commodities on the 2025 list was $48.1 billion in 2025 and $46.2 billion in 2024. In 2025, metallurgical coal contributed the most (57 percent) to the value of domestic production of critical minerals, followed by copper (23 percent) and zinc (5 percent). The value of domestic production of rare earths increased by 20 percent in 2025 to total an estimated $240 million. Of the 55 critical minerals for which prices were tracked, 36 increased in price year over year, whereas prices of 15 decreased year over year. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025 Of the 60 mineral commodities included in the final 2025 List of Critical Minerals, the United States was 100 percent net import reliant for 13 mineral commodities, and an additional 20 critical mineral commodities (including 14 lanthanides, which are listed under rare earths) had a net import reliance of at least 50 percent but less than 100 percent of apparent consumption. Counting the lanthanides as a single category, China was the leading import source for 10 of these 33 mineral commodities. Figure 5 shows the countries that were sources of nonfuel mineral commodities with greater than 50 percent net import reliance and the number of mineral commodities for which each highlighted country was a leading supplier. The United States had secondary production for 15 critical minerals, which resulted in net import reliance being less than 100 percent. The total value of domestically recycled critical mineral commodities in 2025 was $18 billion. Recycling provided the only source of domestic supply for antimony, bismuth, chromium, magnesium metal, tin, tungsten and vanadium. China was the leading producer for 20 of the 60 critical minerals (including 14 lanthanides, which are listed under rare earths) for which information was available to make reliable estimates. Other leading producing countries of critical minerals included South Africa with three critical minerals (chromium, manganese and platinum), and Australia (lithium and zirconium), Chile (copper and rhenium) and Congo (Kinsasha) (cobalt and tantalum) with two critical minerals each (Table 4). Production of most critical minerals was highly concentrated (50 percent or more) in a single country. Six critical minerals had 80 percent or more of global production dominated by one country, six critical minerals had 70 to 79 percent of global production dominated in a single country, 17 critical minerals (including the 14 lanthanides listed under rare earths) had 60 to 69 percent of global production dominated in a single country and two critical minerals had 50 to 59 percent of global production dominated in a single country (Table 4). Additionally, Executive Order 14261, “Reinvigorating America’s Beautiful Clean Coal Industry and Amending Executive Order 14241” (April 8, 2025), directed the Secretary in section 9(b) to “determine whether metallurgical coal used in the production of steel meets the criteria to be designated as a ‘critical mineral’ under the Act and, if so, … take steps to place coal on the Department of Interior Critical Minerals List.” A series of actions by the U.S. government in recent years addressed domestic supply-chain vulnerabilities for critical minerals, beginning with Executive Order 13817, “A Federal Strategy to Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Minerals,” which was issued on Dec. 26, 2017, and initiated a whole-of-government call to action to identify critical minerals and develop a strategy to address U.S. supply-chain vulnerabilities. Subsequently, there have been additional actions including the following: The USGS published the 2018 List of Critical Minerals. The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) with interagency input published the “2019 Federal Strategy to Ensure Secure and Reliable Supplies of Critical Minerals.” Several Presidential determinations directed the use of Defense Production Act (DPA), Title III, authorities to strengthen the U.S. industrial base for rare earth elements. Executive Order 13953 “Addressing the Threat to the Domestic Supply Chain Reliance on Critical Minerals from Foreign Adversaries and Supporting the Domestic Mining and Processing Industries” was issued.The Energy Act of 2020 was passed by Congress and signed into law. Several executive orders and other government actions have focused on investments for clean energy projects; critical mineral mapping, production, recycling, reclamation, and resource assessments; domestic production of batteries; infrastructure projects; research and development; ports and rail improvements; semiconductor supply-chain projects; telecommunications broadband networks; and water systems. In 2025, these actions included the following: In January, Executive Order 14154, “Unleashing American Energy,” called for, among other provisions, the United States to become the leading producer of nonfuel minerals, including rare earths.In February, Executive Order 14213, “Establishing the National Energy Dominance Council,” established a council to advise the President on, among other things, how to use his authority to make the United States more energy dominant. In February, Executive Order 14220, “Addressing the Threat to National Security from Imports of Copper,” directed the DOC to initiate a section 232 investigation into the effects of copper imports on national security. In March, Executive Order 14241, “Immediate Measures to Increase American Mineral Production,” directed heads of agencies involved in permitting of mineral production to submit a list of all mineral production projects for which a plan or permit had been submitted to such agency. In addition, the executive order directed the Secretary of the Interior to provide a list of all known federal lands that contain mineral deposits and reserves and directed the secretary to work with other agencies on expediting permitting of such lands. In April, Executive Order 14272, “Ensuring National Security and Economic Resilience Through Section 232 Actions on Processed Critical Minerals and Derivative Products,” directed the DOC to conduct section 232 investigations on critical minerals as defined in the USGS List of Critical Minerals as well as derivative products manufactured from critical minerals such as advanced optical devices, batteries, electric vehicles, microprocessors, motors, permanent magnets, radar systems, smartphones and wind turbines and their components. In April, Executive Order 14285, “Unleashing America’s Offshore Critical Mineral Resources,” directed the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to expedite reviews and issuance of seabed mineral exploration licenses. In July, Congress passed and the President signed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Public Law 119–21), which provides $2 billion for stockpiling of critical minerals, $5 billion for the Secretary of War to invest in critical mineral supply chains, a $500 million credit subsidy creating as much as $100 billion in available loan funding for critical minerals production and related industries and projects, and a $1 billion credit subsidy to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).\ In October, a presidential proclamation, “Regulatory Relief for Certain Stationary Sources to Promote American Mineral Security,” granted U.S. copper operations a two-year exemption from the so-called “copper rule” published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in May 2024 that imposed new emission-control requirements on copper smelters. In December, The National Defense Authorization Act of 2026, which provides numerous authorities for critical minerals including stockpiling, geomapping and international memoranda of agreements, was signed by the President. In 2025, the U.S. Export-Import Bank (EXIM Bank) launched the Supply Chain Resiliency Initiative, which will provide financing for international projects with signed offtake agreements with U.S. companies to provide them with access to critical minerals from partner countries. Using EXIM Bank’s import authority, the financed amount would be tied to the size of the offtake contract between the foreign project and the U.S. importer. Through a combination of stockpiling, direct equity stakes and other investments, grants and loans, the U.S. Department of War (DOW) invested approximately $1 billion in critical minerals in 2025. Notable acquisitions by the NDS will include antimony, cobalt, scandium and tantalum. In 2025, the DOW took equity stakes and provided loans in the domestic production of copper, gold, lead, rare earths, silver and zinc. In 2025, the DOE awarded a domestic lithium producer a $996 million loan guarantee to develop a lithium carbonate processing facility in Nevada and a $225 million grant to develop a lithium processing facility in Arkansas. The DOE also awarded a combined $30 million in grants to various feasibility studies in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, the Rocky Mountains, the Great Plains and the Appalachian Mountains. Also in 2025, the DOE announced approximately $1 billion in notice of funding opportunities consisting of as much as $50 million through the Critical Minerals and Materials Accelerator Program, which promotes technology maturation that can unlock capital investments to commercialize production, a $250 million financial assistance facility to support the recovery of byproducts during mineral processing, as much as $135 million to enhance domestic supply chains for rare earths, as much as $500 million to expand domestic battery manufacturing and recycling, and $40 million to extract critical minerals from industrial wastewater. In May, the United States finalized a deal with Ukraine on critical minerals. The deal included, among other provisions, the creation of a Reconstruction Investment Fund and the establishment of a six-member board of directors with the United States and Ukraine appointing three members each. As of September, the fund had $150 million comprised of $75 million in seed capital from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) that was matched by the government of Ukraine. In October, the DFC announced that it joined the Orion Critical Mineral Consortium (CMC) with a $600 million investment that was equally matched by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, bringing the total fund to $1.8 billion. Orion CMC would provide investment opportunities in projects to address supply-chain gaps for critical minerals. Metals The estimated value of domestic metal mine production in 2025 was $38.1 billion, a 13 percent increase from the value in 2024. Cadmium, iron ore, palladium and titanium had some of the largest percentage decreases in production value. Principal contributors to the total value of metal mine production in 2025 were gold (43 percent), copper (29 percent), iron ore (9 percent), zinc (6 percent), molybdenum (5 percent) and silver (4 percent), all with production values of more than $1 billion. The remaining 4 percent of metal mine production value was from 12 other metals and (or) metal ore concentrates. Ferrous metals. The estimated value of U.S. iron ore production in 2025 was $3.38 billion, a 25 percent decrease from $4.51 billion in 2024. Iron ore production was estimated to have decreased owing to the idling of two iron ore mines in March. Mines in Michigan, Minnesota and Utah shipped 98 percent of the usable iron ore produced in the United States. Eight openpit iron ore mines (each with associated concentration and pelletizing plants) and four iron metallic plants, including direct-reduced iron and hot-briquetted iron producers, operated during the year to supply steelmaking raw materials. Almost all iron ore was concentrated before shipment. In December 2024, one company announced that construction would restart at an iron mine and pelletizing plant with 7 Mt/a of capacity in Minnesota with startup expected in early 2026. The United States was estimated to have produced 1.4 percent of the 2.6 Gt of global iron ore output in 2025. The U.S. iron and steel industry produced raw steel in 2025 with an estimated value of $149 billion, compared with $150 billion in 2024. Pig iron and raw steel were produced by two companies operating integrated steel mills in eight locations. Raw steel was produced by 47 companies at 102 minimills. Indiana accounted for an estimated 19 percent of total raw steel production, followed by Ohio, 8 percent; Texas, 5 percent; and Pennsylvania, 4 percent; no other state had more than 4 percent of total domestic raw steel production. Construction accounted for an estimated 31 percent of total domestic shipments by market classification, followed by steel service centers and distributors, 26 percent. In the United States, the apparent consumption of finished steel products was estimated to have increased in 2025 compared with 2024. Nonferrous metals. The value of U.S. copper mine production in 2025 was an estimated $11 billion, a 10 percent increase compared with $10 billion in 2024 and production was estimated to be 1 Mt, a decrease of 5 percent from that in 2024. Analysts attributed the increased copper prices primarily to the uncertainty regarding the implementation of tariffs on U.S. imports of copper materials. Arizona was the leading copper-producing state and accounted for an estimated 70 percent of domestic output. Copper was also mined in Alaska, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah. In the United States, copper was recovered or processed at 26 mines (17 of which accounted for 99 percent of mine production), two primary smelters, two secondary smelters, two electrolytic refineries, 14 electrowinning facilities, and four secondary fire refineries. Globally, the United States was ranked as the sixth-leading producer of mined copper, accounting for about 4 percent of the total in 2025. Five lead mines in Missouri, plus two mines in Alaska and two mines in Idaho that produced lead as a coproduct, accounted for all domestic lead mine production. The value of domestic lead mine production in 2025 was an estimated $650 million, an 8 percent decrease compared with $670 million in 2024. Nearly all lead concentrate production has been exported since the last primary lead refinery in the United States closed in 2013. In 2024, domestic secondary smelter production of lead was estimated to be 1 Mt, compared to 1.03 Mt in 2024. Nearly all secondary smelter production was recovered from old scrap, mostly lead-acid batteries. The estimated value of zinc mined in 2025 was $2.2 billion. Zinc was mined in five states at six mining operations by five companies. Two smelter facilities, one primary and one secondary, operated by two companies, produced commercial-grade zinc metal. Of the total reported zinc consumed, most was used to produce galvanized steel. The United States ranked sixth in global zinc mine production, accounting for about 5 percent of the world total in 2025. Precious metals. In 2025, domestic gold mine production was estimated to be 160 tons, 2 percent less than production in 2024; the value was estimated to be $17 billion, a 32 percent increase from the value in 2024. Gold was produced at more than 40 lode mines in 12 states, at several large placer mines in Alaska and at numerous smaller placer mines (mostly in Alaska and in the Western States). The top 25 operations yielded about 94 percent of the mined gold produced in the United States. Nevada was the leading gold-producing state, accounting for about 64 percent of total domestic production. Commercial-grade gold was produced at about 16 refineries. A few dozen companies, out of several thousand companies and artisans, dominated the fabrication of gold into commercial products. In 2025, U.S. mines produced silver worth an estimated value of $1.4 billion, a 43 percent increase from the value in 2024. Silver was produced domestically at four silver mines and as a byproduct or coproduct from 31 base- and precious-metal operations. Alaska continued as the country’s leading silver-producing state, followed by Nevada. Commercial-grade silver production was reported by 24 domestic refiners. The estimated domestic uses for silver were primarily electrical and electronics (25 percent), followed by other industrial uses and photography (19 percent), and physical investment (18 percent). World silver mine production increased in 2025 to an estimated 26,000 tons compared with 25,300 tons in 2024. Domestic silver production was estimated to have increased by 5 percent in 2025. One company in Montana mined and processed platinum-group metals (PGMs) with an estimated value of $290 million in 2025, a decrease of 31 percent compared with $420 million in 2024. The value of palladium decreased significantly while the value of platinum increased significantly. Small quantities of PGMs also were recovered as byproducts of copper-nickel mining in Michigan; however, this material was sold to foreign companies for refining. Refractory and specialty metals. The value of several refractory and specialty metals and minerals mined in the United States — including cadmium — decreased significantly in 2025. The value of cobalt, nickel and tellurium mined in the United States increased significantly in 2025. In 2025, a mine in Michigan produced cobalt-bearing nickel concentrates, which were exported for processing. Most U.S. cobalt and nickel supplies were imported or recovered from domestically produced scrap materials. Globally, cobalt is mostly mined as a byproduct of copper or nickel. Congo (Kinshasa) continued to be the world’s leading source of mined cobalt, which accounted for an estimated 73 percent of the world cobalt mine production in 2025. China was the world’s leading producer of refined cobalt and increased metal refining capacity throughout the year. The majority of China’s refinery production was from partially refined cobalt imported from Congo (Kinshasa) and Indonesia. China was the world’s leading consumer and producer of refined cobalt, with the majority used by the lithium-ion battery industry. Stainless and alloy steel and nickel-containing alloys typically account for more than 85 percent of domestic consumption of nickel, and superalloys, mainly in aircraft gas turbine engines, was the main use for cobalt in the United States. Domestic mine production of molybdenum concentrate increased by 18 percent to 40,000 t in 2025 compared with 34,000 t in 2024. The estimated average molybdic oxide price increased by 7 percent compared with that in 2024. The United States ranked third in global mine production of molybdenum, behind China and Chile. Molybdenum ore was produced as a primary product at two mines — both in Colorado — and seven copper mines (four in Arizona and one each in Montana, Nevada and Utah) recovered molybdenum as a byproduct. Domestic rare earths were mined as a primary product in Mountain Pass, CA, and produced as a byproduct from heavy mineral sands mining and processing in the southeastern United States. Rare earth compounds were also produced in the western United States. An estimated 51,000 t of rare earths was mined in 2025, compared with 45,500 t in 2024. Additionally, an estimated 8,900 t of mixed rare-earth compounds were produced. Global mine production was estimated to have increased by 3 percent compared with that in 2024. The estimated value of rare earth compounds and metals imported by the United States in 2024 was $165 million, a 2 percent decrease from $168 million in 2024. In 2025, an estimated 100,000 t of titanium mineral concentrates (rounded to the nearest 100,000 t to avoid disclosing company proprietary data) were produced in the United States. Domestic production of titanium mineral concentrates was from one company with surface mining operations in Florida and Georgia. An additional company processed existing mine tailings to recover a mixed heavy-mineral concentrate in California. A third company began commercial production of ilmenite at a mine in Virginia. Abrasive sands, monazite and zircon were coproducts of these operations. More than 95 percent of titanium mineral concentrates were consumed domestically to produce titanium dioxide pigment. The remainder was used in welding-rod coatings and for manufacturing carbides, chemicals and titanium metal. Industrial minerals The value of output of industrial minerals and materials from mines in the United States was $73.7 billion, a 2 percent increase from the revised value in 2024. More than 6,500 companies contributed to this output, producing from more than 12,000 mines, quarries and processing facilities. Overall, in 2025, the production of industrial minerals, by tonnage, decreased by 2 percent compared with that in 2024. In addition to mined materials, the United States is a major producer of industrial minerals that are recovered from processes other than mining. These materials, including iron and steel slag, nitrogen, sulfur and synthetic gypsum, contributed additional value to the industrial minerals industry. Agricultural minerals. Industrial mineral use in agricultural production rose overall in 2025, even though total consumption dipped slightly, with nitrogen, phosphate rock, potash and sulfur remaining the primary materials. Nitrogen, phosphate rock and potash are used in fertilizers to provide nutrients for plants. Sulfur (as sulfuric acid) is essential for processing phosphate rock but also plays a role in plant nutrition. In 2025, phosphate rock ore was mined at 10 mines in four states and processed into an estimated 20 Mt of marketable product, valued at $1.9 billion. Phosphate rock was produced in Florida, Idaho, North Carolina and Utah. Domestic production of phosphate rock was estimated to have increased by 3 percent from that in 2024; however, consumption was estimated to have decreased by 7 percent from that in 2024. World production in 2025 was estimated to have increased by 5 percent, with China, Morocco and the United States remaining the leading producers. In 2025, the domestic sales value of marketable potash was estimated to have increased by 13 percent to $550 million. The majority of U.S. production was from southeastern New Mexico, where two companies operated two underground mines and one deep-well solution mine. U.S. apparent consumption was estimated to have decreased by 5 percent compared with that in 2024. World potash consumption in 2025 for fertilizers was estimated to have increased to 41.6 Mt from 40.6 Mt in 2024. Global potash production was an estimated 49 Mt in 2025, a 5 percent increase from that in 2024. Canada was the leading producer, accounting for 31 percent of production, followed by Russia and China, accounting for 20 percent and 13 percent of the world total, respectively. Nitrogen is commercially recovered from air as ammonia, which is produced by combining nitrogen in the atmosphere with hydrogen from natural gas. Domestic nitrogen production was estimated to be 14 Mt in 2025 compared with 13.6 Mt in 2024. Global ammonia production was an estimated 160 Mt in 2025, a 3 percent increase from that in 2024. Global capacity is expected to increase, with capacity additions expected in places with low-cost natural gas such as Asia, eastern Europe and North America. As part of the capacity increase, decarbonized ammonia plants have been proposed in several countries, but mainly in North America. Consumption of ammonia for fertilizer is expected to increase in Latin America and eastern Asia. Elemental sulfur is recovered as a byproduct of natural-gas processing and petroleum refining, and byproduct sulfuric acid is recovered at nonferrous metal smelters. Total U.S. sulfur production in 2025 was estimated to be 8.1 Mt, a 3 percent decrease from that in 2024. Shipments of sulfur in 2025 were 7.9 Mt, a decrease from 8.08 Mt in 2024. Domestic production of elemental sulfur from petroleum refineries and recovery from natural-gas operations decreased by 2 percent in 2025 from 7.79 Mt in 2024 to 7.60 Mt in 2025. Domestically, refinery sulfur production is expected to remain about the same as refining utilization remains high. Domestic byproduct sulfuric acid is expected to remain relatively constant, unless one or more of the remaining nonferrous-metal smelters close. World sulfur production in 2025 was an estimated 84 Mt compared with 83.9 Mt in 2024. Sulfur production was expected to increase owing to upgrades and new refining projects. Also, an increase in nickel production from high-pressure acid leach projects to produce battery materials was expected to increase sulfur demand. Chemical minerals. Many factors affect production and consumption of mineral materials used predominantly in the chemicals industry, including the state of the U.S. economy in general, the severity of winter conditions that determine the consumption of salt for deicing purposes, the performance of the steel industry and its need for lime, and numerous other influences. Because several of these commodities have significant export components — for example, boron and soda ash — their domestic production also reflects the economic conditions in other regions of the world. Worldwide economic downturns or growth can have an impact on the domestic production of these export-dependent commodities.Major chemical‑industry mineral production included salt, 40 Mt (reported as sold or used); lime, 15 Mt; and soda ash, 12 Mt. The combined value for all minerals predominantly used as raw materials for chemical products was about $10.0 billion in 2025, compared to $9.9 billion in 2024. Salt was valued at $2.6 billion; lime, $4.0 billion; soda ash, $1.8 billion; and other materials combined, $1.6 billion (boron, bromine, iodine, lithium carbonate, magnesite, and magnesium compounds). Commercial-scale lithium production in the United States was from a continental brine operation in Nevada. Two companies produced a wide range of downstream lithium compounds in the United States from domestic or imported lithium carbonate, lithium chloride, and lithium hydroxide. Excluding U.S. production, worldwide lithium production in 2025 increased by 31 percent to approximately 290,000 t from 222,000 t in 2024 in response to strong demand from the lithium-ion battery market. Four brine operations in Argentina, seven mineral operations in Australia, one mineral operation in Brazil, two mineral operations in Canada, two brine operations in Chile, nine mineral and six brine operations in China, two mineral operations in Mali, and five mineral operations in Zimbabwe accounted for the majority of world lithium production. Despite some lithium projects being postponed or canceled in 2025 owing to low prices, significant production capacity expansions occurred in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Mali, the United States and Zimbabwe. Lithium supply security has become a priority for technology companies in Asia, Europe and North America. Strategic alliances and joint ventures among technology companies and exploration companies continued to be established to ensure a reliable, diversified supply of lithium for battery suppliers and vehicle manufacturers. Construction minerals and materials. More than 2.4 Gt of construction minerals and materials, which were dominated by cement, construction sand and gravel, and crushed stone, were mined and processed in the United States during 2025, a 2 percent decrease from 2024. Other minerals used in construction include certain types of clays, diatomite, dimension stone, gypsum, iron oxide pigments, mica, perlite, pumice and pumicite, staurolite, talc and pyrophyllite, tripoli, vermiculite and wollastonite. The estimated value of these materials was $54 billion. Natural aggregates (crushed stone and construction sand and gravel) were mined or processed in all 50 states and were valued at $40 billion, 73 percent of the total value of construction minerals. An estimated 2.4 Gt of natural aggregates were produced in 2025, unchanged from 2024. Crushed stone accounted for 63 percent of the tonnage of aggregates, and construction sand and gravel accounted for the remaining 37 percent. Nearly three-quarters of the aggregates sold were used in road construction. Consumption of natural aggregates decreased by approximately 1 percent from that in 2024. Changes in commercial and heavy-industrial construction activity, infrastructure funding, labor availability, new single-family housing unit starts, and weather affect natural aggregates production and consumption. Cement was produced at 97 plants in 34 states and Puerto Rico with the four leading states (in descending order of production) — Texas, Missouri, California and Florida — accounting for nearly 44 percent of U.S. production. Cement production accounted for 24 percent of the value of construction materials in 2025. Cement apparent consumption in 2025 remained the same as in 2024. Overall, the U.S. cement industry’s growth continued to be constrained by closed or idle plants, underutilized capacity at others, production disruptions from plant upgrades, and the ready availability of imports. An estimated 26 Mt of all varieties of clays valued at about $1.8 billion was mined in the United States in 2025, compared with 25.6 Mt in 2024. Not all clays are used in construction. Common clay, which was used mainly for brick, cement and lightweight aggregates, accounted for 50 percent of the tonnage of all clays. Kaolin accounted for 4.8 Mt or 18 percent of the total clay tonnage. Fillers, extenders and binders accounted for 56 percent of kaolin use. Other industrial minerals. The United States produced several other industrial minerals that are not listed separately in any of these categories but are essential in abrasives, absorbents, catalysts, ceramics and glass, coatings, cryogenics, fillers and extenders, filtering agents, grinding and polishing materials, hydraulic fracturing, optoelectronics, pigments and refractories. USGS Mining Review 2025Download

USGS 2025 mining review

Authored by: USGS mining review by Staff, U.S. Geological Survey, National Minerals Information Center

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