All · 121
Rare Earth Elements · 18Aerospace & Defence Materials · 10Agricultural Minerals · 3Battery Materials · 5Copper & Electrical Materials · 4Energy Raw Materials · 7Industrial Minerals · 35Nuclear Materials · 5Precious Metals · 10Semiconductor Materials · 11Steel & Alloy Metals · 13
Critical Mineral · 63Strategic · 36Byproduct Only · 27Energy Transition · 26Construction · 25Defence · 24Chip Chain · 17Recyclable at Scale · 8Magnet Chain · 8Food Chain · 6Grid Chain · 2
121 materials shown. Production and reserves are USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · 2025 estimates, contained metal or gross weight as the source defines for each commodity · source ↗
Scroll the table sideways for the remaining columns.
| Material | Shelf | World production 2025 | World reserves | Leading producer | U.S. imported | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alumina critical A fine white powder of aluminium oxide, the halfway product between bauxite rock and aluminium… | Copper & Electrical Materials | 150,000thousand metric dry tons · Alumina, refinery production | — | — | 71% | |
| Aluminium critical A light silvery metal made by passing an enormous electric current through dissolved bauxite —… | Copper & Electrical Materials | 74,000thousand metric tons · Smelter production | — | — | 60% | Al |
| Antimony critical A brittle, silvery metalloid used mostly to stop things burning, and in the primers and tracer… | Aerospace & Defence Materials | 110,000metric tons · Mine production | 2,000,000 | China — 36% of world production | — | Sb |
| Argon Almost one percent of the air you are breathing, and the cheapest way to keep oxygen away from… | Industrial Minerals | not published | — | — | — | Ar |
| Arsenic critical Famous as a poison, but in ultra-pure form it is half of gallium arsenide, the compound behind… | Semiconductor Materials | 61,000metric tons · Production (arsenic trioxide, gross weight) | — | Peru — 49% of world production | 100% | As |
| Asbestos A group of naturally fibrous minerals that are strong, fireproof, cheap — and cause fatal lung… | Industrial Minerals | 960,000metric tons · Mine production | 150,000,000 | — | 100% | |
| Barite critical A very heavy, soft mineral used mostly to weigh down drilling mud so an oil well does not blow… | Industrial Minerals | 8,700thousand metric tons · Mine production | — | India — 34% of world production | 75% | |
| Bauxite critical A reddish soil-like rock, formed where tropical rain has rotted rock for millions of years, and… | Copper & Electrical Materials | 440,000thousand metric dry tons · Bauxite, mine production | 29,000,000 | — | 75% | |
| Beryllium critical A very light, very stiff metal that is transparent to X-rays and dangerous to breathe as dust. | Nuclear Materials | 430.0metric tons · Mine production | — | United States — 53% of world production | — | Be |
| Bismuth critical A heavy metal that is, unusually, not very toxic — which is why it replaces lead in solders… | Aerospace & Defence Materials | 16,000metric tons · Refinery production | — | China — 88% of world production | 92% | Bi |
| Boron critical An element that makes glass resist thermal shock, fibreglass strong, and — with iron and… | Industrial Minerals | not published | — | Turkey — W% of world production | — | B |
| Bromine The only non-metal that is liquid at room temperature, pulled out of very salty water. | Industrial Minerals | 430,000metric tons · Production | — | — | 25% | Br |
| Cadmium A toxic soft metal recovered from zinc refining, now used mainly in thin-film solar panels… | Steel & Alloy Metals | 23,000metric tons · Refinery production | — | — | 25% | Cd |
| Caesium critical The softest metal, liquid on a warm day, and the element that defines the second. | Aerospace & Defence Materials | not published | — | — | 100% | Cs |
| Cement Powdered limestone and clay cooked at 1,450 C, which sets hard when mixed with water — the glue… | Industrial Minerals | 3,800,000thousand metric tons · Cement production | — | — | 21% | |
| Cerium critical The most abundant rare earth — more common in the crust than copper — mostly used as a… | Rare Earth Elements | not published | — | — | — | Ce |
| Chromium critical The element that makes stainless steel stainless — at about eleven percent chromium, steel… | Steel & Alloy Metals | 51,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | 540,000 | South Africa — 45% of world production | 79% | Cr |
| Clays Soft, fine-grained rock made of microscopic plates that slide over each other when wet — which… | Industrial Minerals | 20,000thousand metric tons · Mine production: Bentonite, rounded | — | — | — | |
| Cobalt critical A hard, bluish metal that keeps a battery's cathode stable so it does not overheat, and that… | Battery Materials | 310,000metric tons · Mine production | 12,000,000 | Congo (Kinshasa) — 74% of world production | 79% | Co |
| Construction Sand & Gravel The most-mined material on Earth by weight, and the one nobody thinks of as mining. | Industrial Minerals | not published | — | — | — | |
| Copper critical The reddish metal that carries electricity better than anything except silver, and which humans… | Copper & Electrical Materials | 23,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | 980,000 | Chile — 23% of world production | — | Cu |
| Crude Oil Ancient marine plankton, cooked underground for millions of years into a liquid that carries… | Energy Raw Materials | not published | — | — | — | |
| Crushed Stone Rock blasted and broken to size — limestone, granite, trap rock — and, with sand, the largest… | Industrial Minerals | not published | — | — | — | |
| Diamond (Industrial) Diamond used not as a gem but as a cutting edge — most of it grown in a press rather than dug… | Industrial Minerals | 38.00million carats · Mine production | 1,700 | — | — | |
| Diatomite Rock made from the glass skeletons of microscopic algae, so porous that a lump of it floats on… | Industrial Minerals | 2,500thousand metric tons · Mine production | — | — | — | |
| Dimension Stone Rock cut into blocks and slabs rather than crushed — granite, marble, limestone, slate — sold… | Industrial Minerals | not published | — | — | 85% | |
| Dysprosium critical A heavy rare earth added in small amounts to magnets so they keep working when they get hot. | Rare Earth Elements | not published | — | — | — | Dy |
| Erbium critical The rare earth that amplifies light inside a fibre-optic cable without ever turning it back… | Rare Earth Elements | not published | — | — | — | Er |
| Europium critical The rare earth that glows red under ultraviolet light, and which for decades put the red in… | Rare Earth Elements | not published | — | — | — | Eu |
| Feldspar & Nepheline Syenite The most abundant mineral group in the crust, used as the flux that lets glass and ceramic melt… | Industrial Minerals | 31,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | — | — | 95% | |
| Fluorspar critical Calcium fluoride, the mineral that every fluorine atom in industry ultimately comes from —… | Industrial Minerals | 10,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | 330,000 | China — 60% of world production | 100% | |
| Gadolinium critical A rare earth that absorbs neutrons better than almost anything, and that makes MRI scans easier… | Rare Earth Elements | not published | — | — | — | Gd |
| Gallium critical A silvery metal that melts in your hand, and the basis of the compound semiconductors in fast… | Semiconductor Materials | 900,000kilograms · Primary production | — | China — 100% of world production | 100% | Ga |
| Garnet (Industrial) A hard, sharp-edged mineral more familiar as a gemstone, used industrially as the grit in… | Industrial Minerals | 730,000metric tons · Mine production | — | — | 71% | |
| Gemstones Minerals people want because of how they look — hardness, clarity and colour, priced on rarity… | Precious Metals | 69,000 thousands of carats · Mine production | 2,000,000 | — | 99% | |
| Germanium critical The element the very first transistors were made from, now used mainly for infrared lenses and… | Semiconductor Materials | not published | — | China — NA% of world production | 50% | Ge |
| Gold The metal that does not tarnish, does not corrode and never runs out once mined — which is why… | Precious Metals | 3,300metric tons · Mine production | 66,000 | — | — | Au |
| Graphite critical Pure carbon in soft, slippery sheets — the same stuff as pencil lead — and the material that… | Battery Materials | 1,800,000metric tons · Mine production | 310,000,000 | China — 78% of world production | 100% | C |
| Gypsum A soft white rock that becomes plasterboard — the interior surface of most buildings in the… | Industrial Minerals | 160,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | — | — | — | |
| Hafnium critical Zirconium's chemical shadow — always found with it, almost impossible to separate from it, and… | Nuclear Materials | not published | — | — | — | Hf |
| Helium The only element cold enough to keep an MRI magnet superconducting, and the only one light… | Industrial Minerals | 190.0million cubic meters · Helium Production | — | — | — | He |
| High-Purity Quartz Quartz sand so free of other elements that it can be melted into the crucible a silicon crystal… | Semiconductor Materials | not published | — | — | — | |
| Holmium critical The rare earth with the strongest magnetic moment of any element, used in the pole pieces of… | Rare Earth Elements | not published | — | — | — | Ho |
| Indium critical A soft metal whose oxide is both transparent and electrically conductive — the invisible wiring… | Semiconductor Materials | 1,100metric tons · Refinery production | — | China — 69% of world production | 100% | In |
| Industrial Sand & Gravel Sand selected for what it is made of rather than what size it is — nearly pure quartz, for… | Industrial Minerals | 430,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | — | — | — | |
| Iodine A purple-black element that turns straight from solid to vapour, extracted from ancient nitrate… | Industrial Minerals | 34,000metric tons · Mine production | 6,300,000 | — | 50% | I |
| Iridium critical The most corrosion-resistant metal known, and the second densest — a litre of it weighs about… | Precious Metals | not published | — | — | — | Ir |
| Iron & Steel Iron with a little carbon in it, and the most-produced manufactured material on the planet. | Steel & Alloy Metals | 360.0million metric tons · world iron slag production was estimated to be between 330 million and 390 million tons, | — | — | — | |
| Iron & Steel Scrap Old steel collected to be melted into new steel — the largest recycling stream on the planet by… | Steel & Alloy Metals | not published | — | — | — | |
| Iron Ore Rust-coloured rock that is roughly one-third to two-thirds iron, and the single largest tonnage… | Steel & Alloy Metals | 2,600,000thousand metric tons · Mine production: Usable ore, rounded | 87,000 | — | — | Fe |
| Iron Oxide Pigments Rust, refined — the reds, yellows, browns and blacks that have coloured paint and pottery since… | Industrial Minerals | not published | — | — | — | |
| Krypton A rare noble gas, about one part per million of the air, separated only where enough air is… | Semiconductor Materials | 110.0million liters · Rare gases production, (million liters) | — | — | 93% | Kr |
| Kyanite & Related Minerals Blue-bladed crystals that expand rather than shrink when fired, which makes them the backbone… | Industrial Minerals | not published | — | — | — | |
| Lanthanum critical The first of the rare earths, used by the tonne in the catalysts that crack crude oil into… | Rare Earth Elements | not published | — | — | — | La |
| Lead critical A soft, dense, blue-grey metal that blocks radiation and stores charge cheaply — and that is… | Steel & Alloy Metals | 4,500thousand metric tons · Mine production | 95,000 | China — 42% of world production | — | Pb |
| Lime Limestone burned until it becomes quicklime — a chemical used to purify steel, treat water and… | Industrial Minerals | 420,000thousand metric tons · Production | — | — | — | |
| Lithium critical A soft, silvery metal so light it floats on water, and the element that lets a rechargeable… | Battery Materials | 290,000metric tons · Mine production | 37,000,000 | Australia — 32% of world production | 50% | Li |
| Lutetium critical The last and densest rare earth, used in the crystals that detect gamma rays inside a PET… | Rare Earth Elements | not published | — | — | — | Lu |
| Magnesium Compounds Magnesia and its relatives, made from magnesite rock or extracted from seawater, which survive… | Industrial Minerals | 21,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | 7,800,000 | — | 59% | |
| Magnesium Metal critical The lightest structural metal, about a third lighter than aluminium, and the ingredient that… | Steel & Alloy Metals | 1,100thousand metric tons · Smelter production | — | — | 75% | Mg |
| Manganese critical A brittle grey metal that steel cannot be made without, and that is now being used to stretch… | Battery Materials | 20,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | 1,700,000 | South Africa — 37% of world production | 100% | Mn |
| Mercury The only metal that is liquid at room temperature, and one of the most tightly regulated… | Steel & Alloy Metals | 210.0metric tons · Mine production | — | — | — | Hg |
| Metallurgical Coal Coal of the specific quality that, when baked without air, turns into coke — the hard carbon… | Energy Raw Materials | not published | — | — | — | |
| Mica A mineral that splits into sheets so thin you can see through them, and that resists both heat… | Industrial Minerals | not published | — | — | — | |
| Molybdenum A silvery metal added to steel so it keeps its strength at high temperature and under pressure. | Steel & Alloy Metals | 260,000metric tons · Mine production | 17,000 | — | — | Mo |
| Natural Gas Mostly methane, the lightest hydrocarbon, and the source of nearly all the hydrogen used by… | Energy Raw Materials | not published | — | — | — | |
| Neodymium critical The rare earth at the heart of the strongest magnet ever made — the kind in headphones, hard… | Rare Earth Elements | not published | — | — | — | Nd |
| Neon A noble gas so unreactive it forms no compounds at all, separated out of ordinary air in tiny… | Semiconductor Materials | 800.0million liters · Rare gases production, (million liters) | — | — | 52% | Ne |
| Nickel critical A silvery metal that resists rust, which is why it goes into stainless steel — and, more… | Battery Materials | 3,900,000metric tons · Mine production | 140,000,000 | Indonesia — 67% of world production | 41% | Ni |
| Niobium critical A metal that makes steel much stronger when added in tiny amounts — a few hundred grams per… | Aerospace & Defence Materials | 112,000metric tons · Mine production | 21,000,000 | — | 100% | Nb |
| Nitrogen (Ammonia) Nitrogen pulled out of the air and joined to hydrogen under pressure — the invention that… | Agricultural Minerals | 160,000thousand metric tons · Plant production | — | — | — | N |
| Oil Sands & Bitumen Sand soaked in oil so thick it will not flow — it has to be mined like ore or heated… | Energy Raw Materials | not published | — | — | — | |
| Osmium The densest naturally occurring element, and one of the least used — most of it sits unrefined… | Precious Metals | not published | — | — | — | Os |
| Palladium critical Platinum's cheaper cousin for most of the twentieth century, then briefly more expensive than… | Precious Metals | 190,000kilograms · Mine production: Palladium, rounded | — | Russia — 44% of world production | 57% | Pd |
| Peat Half-rotted plant matter from waterlogged bogs — the first stage on the road from a swamp to a… | Energy Raw Materials | 17,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | 13,000,000 | — | 80% | |
| Perlite A volcanic glass with water trapped inside it that pops like popcorn when heated, expanding to… | Industrial Minerals | 4,600thousand metric tons · Production | — | — | 23% | |
| Petroleum Coke The solid carbon left at the bottom of an oil refinery, and the raw material for both aluminium… | Energy Raw Materials | not published | — | — | — | |
| Phosphate Rock critical Rock full of the element phosphorus — the P in fertiliser, and now the P in the LFP batteries… | Agricultural Minerals | 250,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | 73,000,000 | China — 44% of world production | — | P |
| Platinum critical A dense, unreactive metal that speeds up chemical reactions without being consumed by them. | Precious Metals | 170,000kilograms · Mine production: Platinum, rounded | — | South Africa — 71% of world production | 89% | Pt |
| Platinum-Group Metals critical Six metals — platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium and osmium — that occur together… | Precious Metals | not published | 76,000,000 | — | — | |
| Potash critical Potassium salts mined from ancient dried-up seas — the K in NPK fertiliser, which plants need… | Agricultural Minerals | 49,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | 10,000,000 | Canada — 31% of world production | 92% | K |
| Praseodymium critical Neodymium's near-twin, so alike that magnet makers usually do not bother separating the two and… | Rare Earth Elements | not published | — | — | — | Pr |
| Promethium The one rare earth with no stable form at all — every atom of it is radioactive and decays… | Rare Earth Elements | not published | — | — | — | Pm |
| Pumice & Pumicite Volcanic froth — rock so full of gas bubbles that it floats — quarried for lightweight concrete… | Industrial Minerals | 20,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | — | — | — | |
| Rare Earths (all) critical A family of seventeen metals that are not actually rare in the ground, but are hard to separate… | Rare Earth Elements | 390,000metric tons · Mine production | 85,000,000 | — | — | |
| Rhenium critical One of the rarest metals in the crust, recovered from molybdenum roasting, and the ingredient… | Aerospace & Defence Materials | 81,000kilograms · Mine production | — | Chile — 37% of world production | 75% | Re |
| Rhodium critical The rarest of the metals traded in any volume, produced in tens of tonnes a year, and the only… | Precious Metals | not published | — | — | — | Rh |
| Rubidium critical Caesium's cheaper neighbour, recovered from the same rare deposits, and the basis of the atomic… | Aerospace & Defence Materials | not published | — | — | 100% | Rb |
| Ruthenium critical A hard platinum-group metal used in tiny quantities inside hard drives and increasingly in chip… | Precious Metals | not published | — | — | — | Ru |
| Salt Sodium chloride — the seasoning on a table, and the feedstock for the chlorine and caustic soda… | Industrial Minerals | 270,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | — | — | 31% | |
| Samarium critical The rare earth in the magnet that works where neodymium cannot: very hot, or very cold, or in a… | Rare Earth Elements | not published | — | — | — | Sm |
| Scandium critical A light metal that makes aluminium dramatically stronger and weldable — and which is produced… | Rare Earth Elements | 80.00metric tons · global production | — | China — NA% of world production | 100% | Sc |
| Selenium An element recovered from copper refinery slimes, used in glass, in animal feed and in… | Steel & Alloy Metals | 3,800metric tons · Refinery production | — | — | 50% | Se |
| Silicon critical The second-most-common element in the Earth's crust — ordinary sand — purified until only one… | Semiconductor Materials | 5,000thousand metric tons · Ferrosilicon | — | China — 87% of world production | — | Si |
| Silicon Carbide & Abrasives Man-made grit — silicon carbide and fused alumina — harder than almost every natural mineral… | Industrial Minerals | not published | — | — | — | |
| Silver critical The best electrical conductor there is, and the metal that has been used as money for longer… | Precious Metals | 26,000metric tons · Mine production | 610,000 | Mexico — 24% of world production | 77% | Ag |
| Soda Ash Sodium carbonate, mined from trona rock or made from salt, and the second ingredient in almost… | Industrial Minerals | 19,000thousand metric tons · Mine production: natural, rounded | 25,000,000 | — | — | |
| Strontium A soft metal whose salts burn bright red, which is why every red firework contains it. | Industrial Minerals | 450,000metric tons · Mine production | — | — | 100% | Sr |
| Sulfur A yellow element stripped out of oil and gas to stop it polluting, then turned into sulfuric… | Industrial Minerals | 84,000thousand metric tons · Production, all forms | — | — | — | S |
| Talc & Pyrophyllite The softest mineral there is — a fingernail scratches it — used as a filler that makes plastics… | Industrial Minerals | 6,900thousand metric tons · Mine production | — | — | — | |
| Tantalum critical A dense metal whose oxide layer stores charge extremely reliably, which is why it is in the… | Aerospace & Defence Materials | 2,500metric tons · Mine production | — | Congo (Kinshasa) — 52% of world production | 100% | Ta |
| Tellurium critical A brittle, silvery element recovered from the slime at the bottom of a copper refinery tank… | Semiconductor Materials | 1,000metric tons · Refinery production | — | China — 80% of world production | 25% | Te |
| Terbium critical The scarcest of the four magnet rare earths, used in tiny quantities to make a magnet survive… | Rare Earth Elements | not published | — | — | — | Tb |
| Thallium A soft, extremely toxic metal recovered in tiny amounts from smelter dusts. | Semiconductor Materials | not published | — | — | — | Tl |
| Thermal Coal Coal burned to make steam and therefore electricity — still, despite everything, one of the… | Energy Raw Materials | not published | — | — | — | |
| Thorium A weakly radioactive metal three to four times more common than uranium, which can be bred into… | Nuclear Materials | not published | — | — | — | Th |
| Thulium critical The least abundant stable rare earth, used in portable X-ray sources and in surgical lasers. | Rare Earth Elements | not published | — | — | — | Tm |
| Tin critical A soft metal with a low melting point, which is why nearly every electrical joint in every… | Steel & Alloy Metals | 290,000metric tons · Mine production | 6,000,000 | China — 24% of world production | — | Sn |
| Titanium critical A metal as strong as steel at about half the weight, which does not corrode in seawater or in… | Aerospace & Defence Materials | 370,000metric tons · Titanium sponge metal production | — | — | — | Ti |
| Titanium Mineral Concentrates critical Black beach sand — ilmenite and rutile — that is the starting point both for titanium metal and… | Aerospace & Defence Materials | 9,400thousand metric tons · Mine production: ilmenite, rounded | 490,000 | — | 88% | |
| Tungsten critical The metal with the highest melting point of them all — you can heat it to 3,400 C before it… | Aerospace & Defence Materials | 85,000metric tons · Mine production | 4,700,000 | China — 79% of world production | 50% | W |
| Uranium A heavy, faintly radioactive metal whose nucleus can be split, releasing about two million… | Nuclear Materials | not published | — | — | — | U |
| Vanadium critical A metal that makes rebar dramatically stronger in tiny doses, and that can also store… | Steel & Alloy Metals | 110,000metric tons · Mine production | 21,000 | China — 75% of world production | 41% | V |
| Vermiculite A mica-like mineral that unfolds into a concertina when heated, becoming light, fireproof and… | Industrial Minerals | 460.0thousand metric tons · Mine production | — | — | 25% | |
| Wollastonite A needle-shaped white mineral used as a safe replacement for asbestos fibre in brakes, boards… | Industrial Minerals | 860,000metric tons · Mine production | — | — | — | |
| Xenon The rarest stable gas in the atmosphere — under one part in ten million — and the heaviest… | Semiconductor Materials | 12.00million liters · Rare gases production, (million liters) | — | — | 98% | Xe |
| Ytterbium critical A rare earth used in the fibre lasers that cut steel in factories, and in some of the most… | Rare Earth Elements | not published | — | — | — | Yb |
| Yttrium critical Counted as a rare earth even though it sits elsewhere on the periodic table, because it behaves… | Rare Earth Elements | 12,500metric tons · mine production of Y2O3 equivalent contained in rare-earth mineral concentrates | — | China — NA% of world production | 100% | Y |
| Zeolites (Natural) Minerals full of molecule-sized cages that trap specific ions and gases and let everything else… | Industrial Minerals | 1,300,000metric tons · Mine production | — | — | — | |
| Zinc critical The metal that steel is dipped in so it does not rust — a sacrificial coating that corrodes… | Steel & Alloy Metals | 13,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | 240,000 | China — 32% of world production | — | Zn |
| Zirconium critical A metal that barely absorbs neutrons, which is why nuclear fuel rods are wrapped in it, and… | Nuclear Materials | 1,200thousand metric tons · Zirconium mineral concentrates, mine production (thousand metric tons, gross weight) | 70,000 | — | — | Zr |
Browse by picture
Alumina
A fine white powder of aluminium oxide, the halfway product between bauxite rock and aluminium metal.
Aluminium
A light silvery metal made by passing an enormous electric current through dissolved bauxite — which is why people call…
Antimony
A brittle, silvery metalloid used mostly to stop things burning, and in the primers and tracer rounds of ammunition.
Argon
Almost one percent of the air you are breathing, and the cheapest way to keep oxygen away from hot metal.
Arsenic
Famous as a poison, but in ultra-pure form it is half of gallium arsenide, the compound behind high-frequency radio…
Asbestos
A group of naturally fibrous minerals that are strong, fireproof, cheap — and cause fatal lung disease decades after…
Barite
A very heavy, soft mineral used mostly to weigh down drilling mud so an oil well does not blow out.
Bauxite
A reddish soil-like rock, formed where tropical rain has rotted rock for millions of years, and the only ore aluminium…
Beryllium
A very light, very stiff metal that is transparent to X-rays and dangerous to breathe as dust.
Bismuth
A heavy metal that is, unusually, not very toxic — which is why it replaces lead in solders, plumbing brass and stomach…
Boron
An element that makes glass resist thermal shock, fibreglass strong, and — with iron and neodymium — the strongest…
Bromine
The only non-metal that is liquid at room temperature, pulled out of very salty water.
Cadmium
A toxic soft metal recovered from zinc refining, now used mainly in thin-film solar panels rather than in the batteries…
Caesium
The softest metal, liquid on a warm day, and the element that defines the second.
Cement
Powdered limestone and clay cooked at 1,450 C, which sets hard when mixed with water — the glue that holds concrete…
Cerium
The most abundant rare earth — more common in the crust than copper — mostly used as a polishing powder and in…
Chromium
The element that makes stainless steel stainless — at about eleven percent chromium, steel grows an invisible film that…
Clays
Soft, fine-grained rock made of microscopic plates that slide over each other when wet — which is why it can be shaped…
Cobalt
A hard, bluish metal that keeps a battery's cathode stable so it does not overheat, and that holds its strength when…
Construction Sand & Gravel
The most-mined material on Earth by weight, and the one nobody thinks of as mining.
Copper
The reddish metal that carries electricity better than anything except silver, and which humans have been smelting for…
Crude Oil
Ancient marine plankton, cooked underground for millions of years into a liquid that carries more energy per litre than…
Crushed Stone
Rock blasted and broken to size — limestone, granite, trap rock — and, with sand, the largest tonnage humans move.
Diamond (Industrial)
Diamond used not as a gem but as a cutting edge — most of it grown in a press rather than dug out of the ground.
Diatomite
Rock made from the glass skeletons of microscopic algae, so porous that a lump of it floats on water.
Dimension Stone
Rock cut into blocks and slabs rather than crushed — granite, marble, limestone, slate — sold for what it looks like.
Dysprosium
A heavy rare earth added in small amounts to magnets so they keep working when they get hot.
Erbium
The rare earth that amplifies light inside a fibre-optic cable without ever turning it back into electricity.
Europium
The rare earth that glows red under ultraviolet light, and which for decades put the red in every colour television.
Feldspar & Nepheline Syenite
The most abundant mineral group in the crust, used as the flux that lets glass and ceramic melt at a workable…
Fluorspar
Calcium fluoride, the mineral that every fluorine atom in industry ultimately comes from — including the fluorine in…
Gadolinium
A rare earth that absorbs neutrons better than almost anything, and that makes MRI scans easier to read.
Gallium
A silvery metal that melts in your hand, and the basis of the compound semiconductors in fast chargers, radar and LEDs.
Garnet (Industrial)
A hard, sharp-edged mineral more familiar as a gemstone, used industrially as the grit in waterjet cutting and…
Gemstones
Minerals people want because of how they look — hardness, clarity and colour, priced on rarity rather than on tonnage.
Germanium
The element the very first transistors were made from, now used mainly for infrared lenses and fibre-optic glass.