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
17 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 | Shelf | 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…
|
Industrial Minerals | 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…
|
Industrial Minerals | 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…
|
Industrial Minerals | 19,000thousand metric tons · Mine production: natural, rounded | 25,000,000 | — | — |
|
LimeLimestone burned until it becomes quicklime — a chemical used to purify steel, treat water and…
|
Industrial Minerals | 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.
|
Industrial Minerals | not published | — | — | — |
|
GypsumA soft white rock that becomes plasterboard — the interior surface of most buildings in the…
|
Industrial Minerals | 160,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | — | United States12% of world production† | — |
|
ClaysSoft, 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 | — | — | — |
|
PerliteA volcanic glass with water trapped inside it that pops like popcorn when heated, expanding to…
|
Industrial Minerals | 4,600thousand metric tons · Production | — | China33% of world production† | 23% |
|
VermiculiteA mica-like mineral that unfolds into a concertina when heated, becoming light, fireproof and…
|
Industrial Minerals | 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…
|
Industrial Minerals | 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…
|
Industrial Minerals | 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…
|
Industrial Minerals | not published | — | — | — |
|
Feldspar & Nepheline SyeniteThe 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 | — | India19% of world production† | 95% |
|
Kyanite & Related MineralsBlue-bladed crystals that expand rather than shrink when fired, which makes them the backbone…
|
Industrial Minerals | not published | — | — | — |
|
Pumice & PumiciteVolcanic froth — rock so full of gas bubbles that it floats — quarried for lightweight concrete…
|
Industrial Minerals | 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…
|
Industrial Minerals | not published | — | — | — |
|
Dimension StoneRock cut into blocks and slabs rather than crushed — granite, marble, limestone, slate — sold…
|
Industrial Minerals | not published | — | — | 85% |
† 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 · 18
- 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
- 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
- Kaznějov kaolin quarry revitalisation.jpg · Jan Macura · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Expanded & popped perlite (Hollinger Quarry, Wilson Creek Range, Nevada… · 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
- Feldspar Mineral Museum Display Exhibit.jpg · QueenCityCebu · 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
Every photograph is from Wikimedia Commons and is used under the licence shown.