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100%
of the world's gallium comes out of China
Mine production, 2025 · USGS
88%
of the world's bismuth comes out of China
Mine production, 2025 · USGS
87%
of the world's silicon comes out of China
Mine production, 2025 · USGS
14
materials the United States imports every single gram of
Net import reliance, 2025 · USGS
27
materials nobody mines on purpose — they arrive as somebody else's by-product
Editorial classification
1,000,000 litres
becomes 8 kg of contained lithium
Worked example · follow it step by step
1,000 tonnes
becomes 1.6 tonnes of finished sintered magnet
Worked example · follow it step by step
1,000 tonnes
becomes 250 tonnes of primary aluminium
Worked example · follow it step by step
200 tonnes
becomes 25 tonnes of enriched fuel
Worked example · follow it step by step
0.2–0.3 kg
of neodymium in one NdFeB Permanent Magnet, per kg of finished magnet
Indicative range · see the basis
100–200 kg
of neodymium in one Direct-Drive Offshore Wind Turbine, per MW of capacity
Indicative range · see the basis
6–9 kg
of lithium in one NMC Lithium-Ion Battery, per 75 kWh pack
Indicative range · see the basis
Todo es una sola cadena
Todas las cadenas de suministro →Las mismas nueve etapas están detrás de casi todo producto físico. Aquí se muestran para el cobre — haga clic en cualquier etapa para ver qué contiene.
-
01Materia prima
Lo que es y dónde se encuentra en el suelo
Cobre en la roca — aquí como malaquita verde
-
02Yacimiento
El mineral que realmente lo contiene
Calcopirita, el mineral de cobre más importante
-
03Mina
Quién lo extrae y cómo
Escondida, Chile — la mina de cobre más grande del mundo por producción
-
04Procesamiento
Trituración, flotación, fundición
La flotación por espuma separa los minerales de cobre de la roca molida
-
05Refinación
Alcanzar una pureza utilizable
Ánodos de cobre en camino a la refinería
-
06Componente
La pieza en que se convierte
Bobinados de cobre en el interior de un motor eléctrico
-
07Producto
Lo que se puede comprar
Un automóvil eléctrico
-
08Mercado final
Quién lo necesita y por qué
Redes eléctricas
-
09Empresa
Quién posee los activos
Sede de BHP en Melbourne — BHP opera Escondida
Una tonelada de cobre, desde una mina a cielo abierto en Chile hasta un cable — mineral de ley 0,5 %, una fundición en otro continente, y el oro y el telurio que se recuperan en el proceso. Síguelo →
Sigue una partida, frontera por frontera
Todos los recorridos →El crudo extrapesado venezolano y el Arab Light saudí son los dos «petróleo», y solo uno de ellos puede refinarse casi en cualquier lugar. Elija un material, elija dónde se extrajo del subsuelo y observe quién lo tiene en cada frontera.
Venezuelan extra-heavy crude to diesel, asphalt and aluminium anodes
Oil so thick it will not flow down a pipe, and cannot be refined by most refineries on Earth.
Saudi Arab Light to petrol, almost anywhere
The same commodity, a fraction of the effort — because of what the molecule is.
Alberta oil sands: mined like ore, refined like oil
The only oil in the world that is dug up with a shovel and graded like an orebody.
Chilean brine to a battery in a car
The ore is water. The first year and a half of processing is done by the sun, for free.
Australian spodumene to a battery, the fast way
Eight weeks instead of eighteen months, at the cost of a great deal more energy.
New Caledonian laterite to stainless steel
An island that smelts its own ore, and pays for it with the most expensive electricity in the industry.
Indonesian laterite to a battery cathode
A country that banned raw ore exports and built the processing industry instead.
Chilean sulfide concentrate to Chinese cathode to a wire
Chile mines the most copper in the world. China refines the most. Those are not the same sentence.
O bien las mismas cadenas sin las fronteras
Materiales de los que el mundo tiene escasez
La lista completa de minerales críticos →Indicador de criticidad según lo designado en la USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026. Las cuotas del productor líder son estimaciones de 2025 de la misma fuente.
Lanthanum
The first of the rare earths, used by the tonne in the catalysts that crack crude oil into petrol.
Neodymium
The rare earth at the heart of the strongest magnet ever made — the kind in headphones, hard drives, wind turbines and electric…
Tellurium
A brittle, silvery element recovered from the slime at the bottom of a copper refinery tank, and the basis of one of the two…
Yttrium
Counted as a rare earth even though it sits elsewhere on the periodic table, because it behaves like one and is found with them.
Bauxite
A reddish soil-like rock, formed where tropical rain has rotted rock for millions of years, and the only ore aluminium is made…
Vanadium
A metal that makes rebar dramatically stronger in tiny doses, and that can also store electricity dissolved in a tank of liquid.
Zirconium
A metal that barely absorbs neutrons, which is why nuclear fuel rods are wrapped in it, and whose sand form is a foundry and…
Chromium
The element that makes stainless steel stainless — at about eleven percent chromium, steel grows an invisible film that stops…
Tres formas de entrar
Juega con las cifras
Un millón de automóviles eléctricos consumiría el 4,4 % de la producción mundial anual de grafito.
Elige cualquier tecnología y cualquier cantidad, y compara la demanda de materiales con el suministro mundial.
Abrir la calculadora →
Ver el tablero completo
77 elementos son materias primas comercializadas. El resto de la tabla periódica no lo es.
Qué elementos utiliza realmente la economía — y, con igual utilidad, cuáles no.
Abrir la tabla periódica →
Pregunta sin más
"¿Qué países controlan la producción de cobalto?"
Respondido únicamente a partir de este sitio, con el período de referencia y las páginas de las que procede. No supone.
Consultar los datos →
Último informe
Todas las noticias →Titulares y resúmenes de editores identificados, cada uno con enlace a la fuente original. No republicamos artículos.
US Department of Energy names helium to critical materials list
Global demand for helium is growing faster than production, increasing supply risks for American manufacturers, DOE said.
Bannerman pulls trigger on $353M uranium mine
Construction on the Etango uranium project in Namibia approved, with funding secured without project debt and first production targeted for 2028.
Why Trump and Carney Haven’t Touched Energy in Their Tariff War
The United States and Canada are locked in an energy trade war – sort of. Although United States President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney have lobbed plenty of…
White House says the US is lifting tariffs on some Canadian goods
Susan Collins, a Republican in a tight race to keep her senate seat in next month's elections, said she had been working with the White House on tariff relief.
Newmont prices Red Chris expansion at up to $4.8B
Newmont (NYSE, ASX: NEM) put a price of up to $4.8 billion (C$6.4 billion) on taking its Red Chris copper-gold mine underground in British Columbia, with commercial production targeted…
Lithium’s $100B question: Who will build 134 new mines?
Global lithium demand is expected to more than triple by 2050, equivalent to the output of 134 new mines and more than $100 billion (C$139.8 billion) in investment before accounting... The…
New Found Gold doubles Queensway valuation to $1.7B
New Found Gold (TSX, NYSE-A: NFGC) has more than doubled the projected value of its Queensway gold project in Newfoundland to C$1.73 billion while expanding measured and indicated resources…
Southern Copper weighs $680M Cuajone expansion
Southern Copper (NYSE, BVL: SCCO) is evaluating a $680-million (C$950.6 million) expansion of its Cuajone mine in southern Peru to counter declining ore grades and improve efficiency as the…
Fotografías en esta página · 50
- TWIN-BUTTES MINE. AERIAL OF OPEN PIT MINE, 1,000 FEET DEEP. (FROM THE D… · Cornelius M. Keyes · Public domain
- Big truck looks small in an open pit mine.jpg · Rob and Stephanie Levy from Townsville, Australia · CC BY 2.0
- Quartz, malachite.jpg · Géry PARENT · Public domain
- Chalcopyrite, Quartz, Siderite. Friedrich Wilhelm mine, Herdorf, Westph… · Raimond Spekking · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Escondida Copper Mine, Atacama Desert, Chile 2009-12-09 lrg.jpg · The image was taken by the the Expedition 22 crew. · Public domain
- Prominenthill-flotation.jpg · Geomartin · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Train with anodes in Pori (1).jpg · Joe K. · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Stator Winding of a BLDC Motor.jpg · Medvedev · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Electric car charging at a station during the day with the charging cab… · Shixart1985 · CC BY 2.0
- Transmission tower of a high-voltage overhead powerlines File 022.jpg · Novoklimov · CC BY 4.0
- 171 Collins Street Melbourne.jpg · HappyWaldo · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Orinoco Oil Belt.png · Christopher J. Schenk · Public domain
- Saudi Aramco oil pipe lines,Jubail - panoramio.jpg · Suresh Babunair · CC BY 3.0
- Members of Medical Survey Gorup watch shovel in operation loading overb… · Russell Lee · Public domain
- Lithium Ponds of Chile's Salar de Atacama (SVS15006).jpg · NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio - SSAI/R… · Public domain
- Brockman 4 open pit after blast, September 2018.jpg · Calistemon · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Camp minier goro nouvelle caledonie.jpg · Barsamuphe · CC BY 3.0
- A part of nickel industry in Kolaka, South East Sulawesi Province.jpg · Famhar1968 · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Chuquicamata copper mine - Chuquicamata-Kupfermine.jpg · Alexander Gerst · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Plastic bottle containing gallium metal.JPG · Pixelmaniac pictures ( Leave a reply ) · CC0
- Bismuth crystal Créer le cristal n01.jpg · Marie-Lan Taÿ Pamart · CC BY 4.0
- Wafer 20110212.jpg · Sangitiana Fararano · CC BY-SA 2.0
- CSIRO ScienceImage 8217 A bulk carrier entering Port Hunter Newcastle N… · Nick Pitsas, CSIRO · CC BY 3.0
- US Navy 090715-N-5821P-002 Aviation Support Equipment Technician Airman… · U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialis… · Public domain
- Electric car charging point, Wetherby service station (30th November 20… · Mtaylor848 · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Wheel hub motor of an electric kick scooter, sidepanel removed (2022).jpg · Andrez1 · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Detailed view of a cross-section of a modern window frame shows multipl… · Shixart1985 · CC BY 2.0
- Clementine reactor core.jpg · E. T. Jurney · Public domain
- 4 Neodymium magnets from hard disks-6175.jpg · Raimond Spekking · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Nacelle of Wind Turbine 01.jpg · Σ64 · CC BY 4.0
- Lithium Ion Battery Cell - Cylindrical Cell, Prismatic Cell, Pouch Cell.png · CRBAman · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Lanthanum (Element - 57) 3.jpg · James St. John · CC BY 2.0
- Neodymium oxide 170g.jpg · W. Oelen · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Tellurium crystals.jpg · Hi-Res Images of Chemical Elements · CC BY 3.0
- Piece of Yttrium.jpg · Jan Anskeit · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Pisolitic bauxite (Alcoa Bauxite Mine, Arkansas, USA) 5.jpg · James St. John · CC BY 2.0
- World- Vanadium Production,*1946 - DPLA - 3e24602f809408ce766ef8a40e074… · Central Intelligence Agency · Public domain
- Deformed crystal of zircon.jpg · Liza Kovaleva · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Metal poles (surface is chromium-plated) - HDR.jpg · Laitche · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Minerals in the Indian Museum, Kolkata 05.jpg · Kritzolina · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Naturalis Biodiversity Center - Museum - Exhibition Nature theatre 06 -… · Photographer: Henk Caspers/Naturalis · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Drill core repository - Geological and Mining Institute of Spain 03.JPG · PePeEfe · CC BY-SA 4.0
- ISS Magnet.jpg · Ordan, Julien Marius · CC BY 4.0
- Uranium ore and "yellowcake" uranium concentrate at the Greifswald Nucl… · Siarhei Besarab · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photovoltaic Panels Reap Solar Energy on Farms (20240809-USDA-RD-DCK-03… · USDAgov · Public domain
- World mirror relief map ru.png · World_mirror_relief_map.png : Das steinerne Her… · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Krolewska Huta Prezydent mine headframe.jpg · Aleksander Siermontowski (1889-1942) · Public domain
- Spodumene Nuristan Créer le cristal.jpg · Marie-Lan Taÿ Pamart · CC BY 4.0
- AZ Gold Nugget Quartz.jpg · Bryan Barnes · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Chalcopyrite botroïdale.jpg · Didier Descouens · CC BY-SA 3.0
Todas las fotografías proceden de Wikimedia Commons y se utilizan bajo la licencia indicada.