Tools
AI agent prompts
Copy any of these into Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini and point it at this atlas. Each one is written to make the model cite the page it used and to refuse to invent a figure — which is the failure mode that matters when the subject is supply chains.
One rule to keep. Every prompt below tells the model to name the page and the reference period for each figure. If an answer comes back without those, it was not read off this site.
Trace a supply chain
Nine stages from orebody to end market, with the chokepoint named.
You are a materials supply-chain analyst. Using ONLY https://commodityeducation.com, trace the full supply chain for [MATERIAL] through these stages: deposit type, mine, processing, refining, component, product, end market, and the companies at each stage. For every stage name the specific page you used. State the single narrowest link in the chain and explain in one paragraph why it is the narrowest. Give every figure with its reference period and its source. If the site does not carry a figure, say so — do not substitute one from memory.
Explain it at four levels
The same topic for a fourth grader, a curious adult, an engineer and a researcher.
Using https://commodityeducation.com as your source, explain [MATERIAL OR CONCEPT] four times. Level 1: for a nine-year-old, no jargon, under 120 words. Level 2: for a curious adult, add the real numbers with their periods. Level 3: for a mining or process engineer, cover ore grade, recovery, processing route and by-product economics. Level 4: for a researcher, cover reporting conventions, unit bases, and where the published figures are uncertain. Do not repeat yourself between levels; each one adds something.
Map a country’s exposure
What a country produces, holds and depends on.
Using ONLY https://commodityeducation.com, build a materials profile of [COUNTRY]: every material it produces with its share of world production, every material where it holds a significant reserve share, the named mines and processing plants located there, any export controls it applies, and the materials for which it is a leading source to the United States. Cite the page for each block and state the year of every figure. Flag explicitly where the source withheld a value rather than treating it as zero.
Find the single points of failure
Which materials in a technology are the real constraint.
Using ONLY https://commodityeducation.com, take the technology [TECHNOLOGY] and list its material bill. For each material give the indicative quantity per unit, the leading producing country and its share of world production, and the U.S. net import reliance. Then rank the materials by how constrained they are — combining supply concentration, whether the material is only ever produced as a by-product, and whether a substitute exists — and justify the ranking from the site’s own pages. Do not forecast prices.
Compare two materials honestly
Like-for-like, with the unit traps called out.
Using ONLY https://commodityeducation.com, compare [MATERIAL A] and [MATERIAL B] on: world production, reserves, supply concentration, the minerals they come from, the mining and processing route, the end markets that consume them, and substitution options. Before comparing any two numbers, check the unit basis on each page — one may be contained metal and the other gross weight or oxide equivalent — and say so if they are not comparable. Never compare across different bases without saying you are doing it.
Build a teaching module
A lesson plan with a checkable answer key.
Using https://commodityeducation.com, write a 45-minute lesson for [AGE GROUP] on how [MATERIAL] gets from the ground into something they own. Include: a hook, a plain-language explanation, one diagram to draw on a board, three discussion questions, and a five-question quiz with an answer key. Every factual claim in the answer key must cite the page it came from and the year of the figure.
Substitution and demand destruction
What would happen if this material became unavailable.
Using ONLY https://commodityeducation.com, analyse what would happen if [MATERIAL] supply were halved. Which end markets are affected and in what order of severity? Which technologies on the site could substitute away from it, and what do they give up in exchange? Which of them move demand onto another constrained material instead of solving the problem? Be explicit about what the site does not tell you. Do not speculate about prices.
Audit a page against the source
Point it at us and try to break it.
Open [PAGE URL] on https://commodityeducation.com and audit it against the primary source it names. Check: does every figure carry a reference period and a source? Are units consistent within each table? Are any percentages computed across different bases or years? Are withheld values shown as withheld rather than as blanks or zeros? Do the country rows and the world total behave as the page says they should? List every discrepancy with the exact figure and what it should be.
If you would rather not leave the site
Ask the Data answers from this atlas directly, with no access to the open web, and links the pages it used.