What is it?
A metal that barely absorbs neutrons, which is why nuclear fuel rods are wrapped in it, and whose sand form is a foundry and ceramics staple.
Why does it matter?
Zircaloy cladding is a nuclear reactor's first containment barrier. Making it requires separating zirconium from chemically near-identical hafnium.
Deeper written sections for this material have not been published yet. Everything below is drawn straight from the source datasets and is complete.
Where it comes from in the rock
All ore minerals →These are the minerals that actually carry zirconium. A deposit is only an orebody if one of them is concentrated enough to pay for digging it up.
Who produces it
See it on a map →Zirconium mineral concentrates, mine production (thousand metric tons, gross weight)
Zirconium mineral concentrates, mine production (thousand metric tons, gross weight)thousand metric tons 2025 (estimated) World total 1,200 thousand metric tons
USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · USGS reports zircon (ZrSiO4) concentrate gross weight, not zirconium metal. · source ↗
Scroll the table sideways for the remaining columns.
| Country | Production | Share of world |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | 400.0 | 33.3% |
| South Africa | 270.0 | 22.5% |
| Mozambique | 160.0 | 13.3% |
| China | 100.0 | 8.3% |
| United States | 100.0 | 8.3% |
| Senegal | 70.00 | 5.8% |
| Indonesia | 52.00 | 4.3% |
| Other countries | 40.00 | 3.3% |
| Madagascar | 26.00 | 2.2% |
| Sierra Leone | 25.00 | 2.1% |
| World total | 1,200 | 100% |
“Withheld” means the USGS suppressed the figure to avoid disclosing an individual company's data — it does not mean zero. Country rows do not always sum to the world total because the source rounds each figure independently and does not always break out an “other countries” line.
Who holds the reserves
Zirconium reserves(thousand metric tons, ZrO2 content)
Zirconium reserves(thousand metric tons, ZrO2 content)thousand metric tons 2025
USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · source ↗
| Country | Reserves | Share of world |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | 55,000 | 78.6% |
| South Africa | 5,900 | 8.4% |
| Other countries | 5,700 | 8.1% |
| Indonesia | 3,400 | 4.9% |
| Senegal | 2,600 | 3.7% |
| Madagascar | 2,100 | 3.0% |
| Mozambique | 1,500 | 2.1% |
| United States | 500.0 | 0.7% |
| China | 500.0 | 0.7% |
| Sierra Leone | 290.0 | 0.4% |
| World total | >70,000 | 100% |
The source publishes this world total as a bound rather than a point figure, so the shares in the last column are themselves bounds.
Price
Price: Zircon, dollars per metric ton (gross weight): Premium grade, cost, insurance, and freight, China
Annual averagedollars per metric ton
Basis: Price: Zircon, dollars per metric ton (gross weight): Premium grade, cost, insurance, and freight, China. Annual averages as published in USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · source ↗. These are reference annual averages, not a live market quote.
Price: Zircon, dollars per metric ton (gross weight): Imported
Annual averagedollars per metric ton
Basis: Price: Zircon, dollars per metric ton (gross weight): Imported. Annual averages as published in USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · source ↗. These are reference annual averages, not a live market quote.
Price: Zirconium, sponge, ex-works China, dollars per kilogram
Annual averagedollars per kilogram
Basis: Price: Zirconium, sponge, ex-works China, dollars per kilogram. Annual averages as published in USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · source ↗. These are reference annual averages, not a live market quote.
What it is used for
All end markets →| End market | What it does there | Importance |
|---|---|---|
| Nuclear Power | Fuel-rod cladding | Defining |
How much of it a technology needs
| Technology | Quantity | Quoted | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pressurised Water Reactor | 20.00–40.00 t | per GW of capacity | Cladding tubes and structural grids |
Indicative range compiled from published technology studies and chemistry; verify against a manufacturer specification before use. Run these numbers at any scale in the material calculator →
Follow it across the borders
All journeys →Where a consignment of this material actually goes — every country, every custodian, and what is left behind at each step.
Kazakh uranium to a fuel assembly in a reactor The most tightly watched journey covered here: every kilogram is accounted for, at every border.