All · 146
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 · 13Wood & Forest Products · 25
Critical Mineral · 63Strategic · 36Construction · 35Byproduct Only · 27Energy Transition · 26Defence · 24Chip Chain · 17Forest Product · 12Recyclable at Scale · 9Magnet Chain · 8Hardwood · 8Softwood · 7Renewable · 6Food Chain · 6Engineered Wood · 4Grid Chain · 2
35 materials shown. Figures are from USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · as each source defines it for each commodity · source ↗
Scroll the table sideways for the remaining columns.
| Material | World production 2025 | World reserves | Leading producer | U.S. imported |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
CementPowdered limestone and clay cooked at 1,450 C, which sets hard when mixed with water — the glue…
|
3,800,000thousand metric tons · Cement production | — | China45% of world production† | 21% |
|
SaltSodium chloride — the seasoning on a table, and the feedstock for the chlorine and caustic soda…
|
270,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | — | China21% of world production† | 31% |
|
Soda AshSodium carbonate, mined from trona rock or made from salt, and the second ingredient in almost…
|
19,000thousand metric tons · Mine production: natural, rounded | 25,000,000 | — | — |
|
Fluorspar criticalCalcium fluoride, the mineral that every fluorine atom in industry ultimately comes from —…
|
10,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | 330,000 | China60% of world production | 100% |
|
Barite criticalA very heavy, soft mineral used mostly to weigh down drilling mud so an oil well does not blow…
|
8,700thousand metric tons · Mine production | — | India34% of world production | 75% |
|
Boron criticalAn element that makes glass resist thermal shock, fibreglass strong, and — with iron and…
|
not published | — | Turkeyshare withheld | — |
|
HeliumThe only element cold enough to keep an MRI magnet superconducting, and the only one light…
|
190.0million cubic meters · Helium Production | — | United States43% of world production† | — |
|
Silicon Carbide & AbrasivesMan-made grit — silicon carbide and fused alumina — harder than almost every natural mineral…
|
not published | — | — | — |
|
SulfurA yellow element stripped out of oil and gas to stop it polluting, then turned into sulfuric…
|
84,000thousand metric tons · Production, all forms | — | China23% of world production† | — |
|
LimeLimestone burned until it becomes quicklime — a chemical used to purify steel, treat water and…
|
420,000thousand metric tons · Production | — | China74% of world production† | — |
|
Construction Sand & GravelThe most-mined material on Earth by weight, and the one nobody thinks of as mining.
|
not published | — | — | — |
|
GypsumA soft white rock that becomes plasterboard — the interior surface of most buildings in the…
|
160,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | — | United States12% of world production† | — |
|
Diamond (Industrial)Diamond used not as a gem but as a cutting edge — most of it grown in a press rather than dug…
|
38.00million carats · Mine production | 1,700 | Russia42% of world production† | — |
|
ClaysSoft, fine-grained rock made of microscopic plates that slide over each other when wet — which…
|
20,000thousand metric tons · Mine production: Bentonite, rounded | — | — | — |
|
MicaA mineral that splits into sheets so thin you can see through them, and that resists both heat…
|
not published | — | — | — |
|
Talc & PyrophylliteThe softest mineral there is — a fingernail scratches it — used as a filler that makes plastics…
|
6,900thousand metric tons · Mine production | — | Korea, Republic of4% of world production† | — |
|
PerliteA volcanic glass with water trapped inside it that pops like popcorn when heated, expanding to…
|
4,600thousand metric tons · Production | — | China33% of world production† | 23% |
|
DiatomiteRock made from the glass skeletons of microscopic algae, so porous that a lump of it floats on…
|
2,500thousand metric tons · Mine production | — | United States29% of world production† | — |
|
VermiculiteA mica-like mineral that unfolds into a concertina when heated, becoming light, fireproof and…
|
460.0thousand metric tons · Mine production | — | South Africa35% of world production† | 25% |
|
Industrial Sand & GravelSand selected for what it is made of rather than what size it is — nearly pure quartz, for…
|
430,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | — | United States28% of world production† | — |
|
Magnesium CompoundsMagnesia and its relatives, made from magnesite rock or extracted from seawater, which survive…
|
21,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | 7,800,000 | — | 59% |
|
Iron Oxide PigmentsRust, refined — the reds, yellows, browns and blacks that have coloured paint and pottery since…
|
not published | — | — | — |
|
ArgonAlmost one percent of the air you are breathing, and the cheapest way to keep oxygen away from…
|
not published | — | — | — |
|
IodineA purple-black element that turns straight from solid to vapour, extracted from ancient nitrate…
|
34,000metric tons · Mine production | 6,300,000 | — | 50% |
|
BromineThe only non-metal that is liquid at room temperature, pulled out of very salty water.
|
430,000metric tons · Production | — | — | 25% |
|
StrontiumA soft metal whose salts burn bright red, which is why every red firework contains it.
|
450,000metric tons · Mine production | — | Iran56% of world production† | 100% |
|
Feldspar & Nepheline SyeniteThe most abundant mineral group in the crust, used as the flux that lets glass and ceramic melt…
|
31,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | — | India19% of world production† | 95% |
|
Garnet (Industrial)A hard, sharp-edged mineral more familiar as a gemstone, used industrially as the grit in…
|
730,000metric tons · Mine production | — | Australia48% of world production† | 71% |
|
Zeolites (Natural)Minerals full of molecule-sized cages that trap specific ions and gases and let everything else…
|
1,300,000metric tons · Mine production | — | Slovakia22% of world production† | — |
|
Kyanite & Related MineralsBlue-bladed crystals that expand rather than shrink when fired, which makes them the backbone…
|
not published | — | — | — |
|
Pumice & PumiciteVolcanic froth — rock so full of gas bubbles that it floats — quarried for lightweight concrete…
|
20,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | — | Turkey48% of world production† | — |
|
Crushed StoneRock blasted and broken to size — limestone, granite, trap rock — and, with sand, the largest…
|
not published | — | — | — |
|
Dimension StoneRock cut into blocks and slabs rather than crushed — granite, marble, limestone, slate — sold…
|
not published | — | — | 85% |
|
WollastoniteA needle-shaped white mineral used as a safe replacement for asbestos fibre in brakes, boards…
|
860,000metric tons · Mine production | — | — | — |
|
AsbestosA group of naturally fibrous minerals that are strong, fireproof, cheap — and cause fatal lung…
|
960,000metric tons · Mine production | 150,000,000 | Russia32% of world production† | 100% |
† Worked out from the USGS production table: the leading country’s output divided by the world total. Where the USGS publishes the share itself, that figure is shown instead.
Photographs on this page · 36
- Königswartha Caminau Kaolin quarry Aerial.jpg · Gunther Tschuch · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Cement kiln in Gorazdze Cement plant.JPG · Jb957 · CC0
- UFO-shaped constructions in the underground lake, Mina Terezia, Turda s… · DimiTalen · CC0
- Trona - USGS Mineral Specimens 1116.jpg · Andrew Silver · Public domain
- Fluorite crystals.jpg · Marek Novotňák · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Barite - Cerro Warihuyn, Miraflores, Huamalies, Huanuco, Peru.jpg · Ivar Leidus · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Borax crystals.jpg · Aram Dulyan ( User:Aramgutang ) · Public domain
- ISS Magnet.jpg · Ordan, Julien Marius · CC BY 4.0
- Craftsman hand-carving a traditional stone grinding wheel (chakki), Kha… · Suyash Dwivedi · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Union Sulphur Co Reserve Sulphur Storage in Louisiana.jpg · Underwood and Underwood · Public domain
- LimestoneKilnsTalybont.jpg · Martinvl · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Kongensbro gravel pit 2014-09-17.jpg · Slaunger · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Gypsum crystals 1802-0312a.jpg · Mozzihh · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Diamond blade very macro.jpg · Hustvedt · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Kaznějov kaolin quarry revitalisation.jpg · Jan Macura · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Muscovite mica 2.jpg · James St. John · CC BY 2.0
- Talc-386099.jpg · John Krygier · Public domain
- Expanded & popped perlite (Hollinger Quarry, Wilson Creek Range, Nevada… · James St. John · CC BY 2.0
- Diatomite (diatomaceous earth) Monterey Formation at a diatomite quarry… · James St. John · CC BY 2.0
- Vermiculite board fireproofing 001.png · Achim Hering · CC BY 3.0
- Wrotham Quarry, Addinton 07.jpg · Simon Burchell · CC BY-SA 4.0
- MagnesiteSaxe.jpg · Didier Descouens · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Fragment of red pigment Ochre - Museo Egizio, Turin S 9927 p02.jpg · CC0
- US Navy 090715-N-5821P-002 Aviation Support Equipment Technician Airman… · U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialis… · Public domain
- Iodine crystals, 99.9% purity.jpg · Dnn87 · CC BY 3.0
- Bromine-ampoule.jpg · Jurii · CC BY 3.0
- Celestine from Madagascar in the Mineral Museum of Siófok.jpg · Szilas · Public domain
- Feldspar Mineral Museum Display Exhibit.jpg · QueenCityCebu · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Garnet - Spessartine crystal detail.jpg · ButtShark · CC0
- Estonian Museum of Natural History Specimen No 203540 photo (g232 g232-… · Tõnis Saadre · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Kyanite 5.jpg · James St. John · CC BY 2.0
- Pumice stones.JPG · Mauro Cateb · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Abandoned limestone quarry on Furilden Gotland 1.jpg · W.carter / Ann-Sophie Qvarnström · CC BY-SA 2.0
- Red marble quarry Cava Buscada - Erto e Casso, Pordenone, Friuli-Venezi… · Mænsard vokser · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Wollastonite madagascar.jpg · Didier Descouens · CC BY-SA 3.0
- Chrysotile asbestos veins in serpentinized komatiite (Upper Komatiitic … · James St. John · CC BY 2.0
Every photograph is from Wikimedia Commons and is used under the licence shown.