Alle · 121
Seltene-Erden-Elemente · 18Werkstoffe für Luft- und Raumfahrt & Verteidigung · 10Agrarmineralien · 3Batteriematerialien · 5Kupfer- und Elektromaterialien · 4Energierohstoffe · 7Industrieminerale · 35Nuklearmaterialien · 5Edelmetalle · 10Halbleitermaterialien · 11Stahl & Legierungsmetalle · 13
Kritisches Mineral · 63Strategisch · 36Nur Nebenprodukt · 27Energiewende · 26Bau · 25Verteidigung · 24Chip-Lieferkette · 17Im großen Maßstab recycelbar · 8Magnetkette · 8Lieferkette Nahrung · 6Netzkettenansicht · 2
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121 Angezeigte Materialien. Produktion und Reserven sind USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · 2025-Schätzungen, enthaltenes Metall oder Bruttogewicht, je nach Definition der Quelle für den jeweiligen Rohstoff · Quelle ↗
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| Material | Regal | Weltproduktion 2025 | Weltreserven | Führender Produzent | USA importierten | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alumina kritisch A fine white powder of aluminium oxide, the halfway product between bauxite rock and aluminium… | Kupfer- und Elektromaterialien | 150,000thousand metric dry tons · Alumina, refinery production | — | — | 71% | |
| Aluminium kritisch A light silvery metal made by passing an enormous electric current through dissolved bauxite —… | Kupfer- und Elektromaterialien | 74,000thousand metric tons · Smelter production | — | — | 60% | Al |
| Antimony kritisch A brittle, silvery metalloid used mostly to stop things burning, and in the primers and tracer… | Werkstoffe für Luft- und Raumfahrt & Verteidigung | 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… | Industrieminerale | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | Ar |
| Arsenic kritisch Famous as a poison, but in ultra-pure form it is half of gallium arsenide, the compound behind… | Halbleitermaterialien | 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… | Industrieminerale | 960,000metric tons · Mine production | 150,000,000 | — | 100% | |
| Barite kritisch A very heavy, soft mineral used mostly to weigh down drilling mud so an oil well does not blow… | Industrieminerale | 8,700thousand metric tons · Mine production | — | India — 34% of world production | 75% | |
| Bauxite kritisch A reddish soil-like rock, formed where tropical rain has rotted rock for millions of years, and… | Kupfer- und Elektromaterialien | 440,000thousand metric dry tons · Bauxite, mine production | 29,000,000 | — | 75% | |
| Beryllium kritisch A very light, very stiff metal that is transparent to X-rays and dangerous to breathe as dust. | Nuklearmaterialien | 430.0metric tons · Mine production | — | United States — 53% of world production | — | Be |
| Bismuth kritisch A heavy metal that is, unusually, not very toxic — which is why it replaces lead in solders… | Werkstoffe für Luft- und Raumfahrt & Verteidigung | 16,000metric tons · Refinery production | — | China — 88% of world production | 92% | Bi |
| Boron kritisch An element that makes glass resist thermal shock, fibreglass strong, and — with iron and… | Industrieminerale | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | Turkey — W% of world production | — | B |
| Bromine The only non-metal that is liquid at room temperature, pulled out of very salty water. | Industrieminerale | 430,000metric tons · Production | — | — | 25% | Br |
| Cadmium A toxic soft metal recovered from zinc refining, now used mainly in thin-film solar panels… | Stahl & Legierungsmetalle | 23,000metric tons · Refinery production | — | — | 25% | Cd |
| Caesium kritisch The softest metal, liquid on a warm day, and the element that defines the second. | Werkstoffe für Luft- und Raumfahrt & Verteidigung | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | 100% | Cs |
| Cement Powdered limestone and clay cooked at 1,450 C, which sets hard when mixed with water — the glue… | Industrieminerale | 3,800,000thousand metric tons · Cement production | — | — | 21% | |
| Cerium kritisch The most abundant rare earth — more common in the crust than copper — mostly used as a… | Seltene-Erden-Elemente | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | Ce |
| Chromium kritisch The element that makes stainless steel stainless — at about eleven percent chromium, steel… | Stahl & Legierungsmetalle | 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… | Industrieminerale | 20,000thousand metric tons · Mine production: Bentonite, rounded | — | — | — | |
| Cobalt kritisch A hard, bluish metal that keeps a battery's cathode stable so it does not overheat, and that… | Batteriematerialien | 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. | Industrieminerale | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | |
| Copper kritisch The reddish metal that carries electricity better than anything except silver, and which humans… | Kupfer- und Elektromaterialien | 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… | Energierohstoffe | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | |
| Crushed Stone Rock blasted and broken to size — limestone, granite, trap rock — and, with sand, the largest… | Industrieminerale | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | |
| Diamond (Industrial) Diamond used not as a gem but as a cutting edge — most of it grown in a press rather than dug… | Industrieminerale | 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… | Industrieminerale | 2,500thousand metric tons · Mine production | — | — | — | |
| Dimension Stone Rock cut into blocks and slabs rather than crushed — granite, marble, limestone, slate — sold… | Industrieminerale | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | 85% | |
| Dysprosium kritisch A heavy rare earth added in small amounts to magnets so they keep working when they get hot. | Seltene-Erden-Elemente | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | Dy |
| Erbium kritisch The rare earth that amplifies light inside a fibre-optic cable without ever turning it back… | Seltene-Erden-Elemente | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | Er |
| Europium kritisch The rare earth that glows red under ultraviolet light, and which for decades put the red in… | Seltene-Erden-Elemente | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | Eu |
| Feldspar & Nepheline Syenite The most abundant mineral group in the crust, used as the flux that lets glass and ceramic melt… | Industrieminerale | 31,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | — | — | 95% | |
| Fluorspar kritisch Calcium fluoride, the mineral that every fluorine atom in industry ultimately comes from —… | Industrieminerale | 10,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | 330,000 | China — 60% of world production | 100% | |
| Gadolinium kritisch A rare earth that absorbs neutrons better than almost anything, and that makes MRI scans easier… | Seltene-Erden-Elemente | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | Gd |
| Gallium kritisch A silvery metal that melts in your hand, and the basis of the compound semiconductors in fast… | Halbleitermaterialien | 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… | Industrieminerale | 730,000metric tons · Mine production | — | — | 71% | |
| Gemstones Minerals people want because of how they look — hardness, clarity and colour, priced on rarity… | Edelmetalle | 69,000 thousands of carats · Mine production | 2,000,000 | — | 99% | |
| Germanium kritisch The element the very first transistors were made from, now used mainly for infrared lenses and… | Halbleitermaterialien | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | 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… | Edelmetalle | 3,300metric tons · Mine production | 66,000 | — | — | Au |
| Graphite kritisch Pure carbon in soft, slippery sheets — the same stuff as pencil lead — and the material that… | Batteriematerialien | 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… | Industrieminerale | 160,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | — | — | — | |
| Hafnium kritisch Zirconium's chemical shadow — always found with it, almost impossible to separate from it, and… | Nuklearmaterialien | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | Hf |
| Helium The only element cold enough to keep an MRI magnet superconducting, and the only one light… | Industrieminerale | 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… | Halbleitermaterialien | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | |
| Holmium kritisch The rare earth with the strongest magnetic moment of any element, used in the pole pieces of… | Seltene-Erden-Elemente | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | Ho |
| Indium kritisch A soft metal whose oxide is both transparent and electrically conductive — the invisible wiring… | Halbleitermaterialien | 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… | Industrieminerale | 430,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | — | — | — | |
| Iodine A purple-black element that turns straight from solid to vapour, extracted from ancient nitrate… | Industrieminerale | 34,000metric tons · Mine production | 6,300,000 | — | 50% | I |
| Iridium kritisch The most corrosion-resistant metal known, and the second densest — a litre of it weighs about… | Edelmetalle | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | Ir |
| Iron & Steel Iron with a little carbon in it, and the most-produced manufactured material on the planet. | Stahl & Legierungsmetalle | 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… | Stahl & Legierungsmetalle | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | |
| Iron Ore Rust-coloured rock that is roughly one-third to two-thirds iron, and the single largest tonnage… | Stahl & Legierungsmetalle | 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… | Industrieminerale | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | |
| Krypton A rare noble gas, about one part per million of the air, separated only where enough air is… | Halbleitermaterialien | 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… | Industrieminerale | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | |
| Lanthanum kritisch The first of the rare earths, used by the tonne in the catalysts that crack crude oil into… | Seltene-Erden-Elemente | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | La |
| Lead kritisch A soft, dense, blue-grey metal that blocks radiation and stores charge cheaply — and that is… | Stahl & Legierungsmetalle | 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… | Industrieminerale | 420,000thousand metric tons · Production | — | — | — | |
| Lithium kritisch A soft, silvery metal so light it floats on water, and the element that lets a rechargeable… | Batteriematerialien | 290,000metric tons · Mine production | 37,000,000 | Australia — 32% of world production | 50% | Li |
| Lutetium kritisch The last and densest rare earth, used in the crystals that detect gamma rays inside a PET… | Seltene-Erden-Elemente | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | Lu |
| Magnesium Compounds Magnesia and its relatives, made from magnesite rock or extracted from seawater, which survive… | Industrieminerale | 21,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | 7,800,000 | — | 59% | |
| Magnesium Metal kritisch The lightest structural metal, about a third lighter than aluminium, and the ingredient that… | Stahl & Legierungsmetalle | 1,100thousand metric tons · Smelter production | — | — | 75% | Mg |
| Manganese kritisch A brittle grey metal that steel cannot be made without, and that is now being used to stretch… | Batteriematerialien | 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… | Stahl & Legierungsmetalle | 210.0metric tons · Mine production | — | — | — | Hg |
| Metallurgical Coal Coal of the specific quality that, when baked without air, turns into coke — the hard carbon… | Energierohstoffe | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | |
| Mica A mineral that splits into sheets so thin you can see through them, and that resists both heat… | Industrieminerale | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | |
| Molybdenum A silvery metal added to steel so it keeps its strength at high temperature and under pressure. | Stahl & Legierungsmetalle | 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… | Energierohstoffe | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | |
| Neodymium kritisch The rare earth at the heart of the strongest magnet ever made — the kind in headphones, hard… | Seltene-Erden-Elemente | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | Nd |
| Neon A noble gas so unreactive it forms no compounds at all, separated out of ordinary air in tiny… | Halbleitermaterialien | 800.0million liters · Rare gases production, (million liters) | — | — | 52% | Ne |
| Nickel kritisch A silvery metal that resists rust, which is why it goes into stainless steel — and, more… | Batteriematerialien | 3,900,000metric tons · Mine production | 140,000,000 | Indonesia — 67% of world production | 41% | Ni |
| Niobium kritisch A metal that makes steel much stronger when added in tiny amounts — a few hundred grams per… | Werkstoffe für Luft- und Raumfahrt & Verteidigung | 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… | Agrarmineralien | 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… | Energierohstoffe | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | |
| Osmium The densest naturally occurring element, and one of the least used — most of it sits unrefined… | Edelmetalle | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | Os |
| Palladium kritisch Platinum's cheaper cousin for most of the twentieth century, then briefly more expensive than… | Edelmetalle | 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… | Energierohstoffe | 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… | Industrieminerale | 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… | Energierohstoffe | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | |
| Phosphate Rock kritisch Rock full of the element phosphorus — the P in fertiliser, and now the P in the LFP batteries… | Agrarmineralien | 250,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | 73,000,000 | China — 44% of world production | — | P |
| Platinum kritisch A dense, unreactive metal that speeds up chemical reactions without being consumed by them. | Edelmetalle | 170,000kilograms · Mine production: Platinum, rounded | — | South Africa — 71% of world production | 89% | Pt |
| Platinum-Group Metals kritisch Six metals — platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium and osmium — that occur together… | Edelmetalle | Nicht veröffentlicht | 76,000,000 | — | — | |
| Potash kritisch Potassium salts mined from ancient dried-up seas — the K in NPK fertiliser, which plants need… | Agrarmineralien | 49,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | 10,000,000 | Canada — 31% of world production | 92% | K |
| Praseodymium kritisch Neodymium's near-twin, so alike that magnet makers usually do not bother separating the two and… | Seltene-Erden-Elemente | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | Pr |
| Promethium The one rare earth with no stable form at all — every atom of it is radioactive and decays… | Seltene-Erden-Elemente | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | Pm |
| Pumice & Pumicite Volcanic froth — rock so full of gas bubbles that it floats — quarried for lightweight concrete… | Industrieminerale | 20,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | — | — | — | |
| Rare Earths (all) kritisch A family of seventeen metals that are not actually rare in the ground, but are hard to separate… | Seltene-Erden-Elemente | 390,000metric tons · Mine production | 85,000,000 | — | — | |
| Rhenium kritisch One of the rarest metals in the crust, recovered from molybdenum roasting, and the ingredient… | Werkstoffe für Luft- und Raumfahrt & Verteidigung | 81,000kilograms · Mine production | — | Chile — 37% of world production | 75% | Re |
| Rhodium kritisch The rarest of the metals traded in any volume, produced in tens of tonnes a year, and the only… | Edelmetalle | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | Rh |
| Rubidium kritisch Caesium's cheaper neighbour, recovered from the same rare deposits, and the basis of the atomic… | Werkstoffe für Luft- und Raumfahrt & Verteidigung | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | 100% | Rb |
| Ruthenium kritisch A hard platinum-group metal used in tiny quantities inside hard drives and increasingly in chip… | Edelmetalle | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | Ru |
| Salt Sodium chloride — the seasoning on a table, and the feedstock for the chlorine and caustic soda… | Industrieminerale | 270,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | — | — | 31% | |
| Samarium kritisch The rare earth in the magnet that works where neodymium cannot: very hot, or very cold, or in a… | Seltene-Erden-Elemente | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | Sm |
| Scandium kritisch A light metal that makes aluminium dramatically stronger and weldable — and which is produced… | Seltene-Erden-Elemente | 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… | Stahl & Legierungsmetalle | 3,800metric tons · Refinery production | — | — | 50% | Se |
| Silicon kritisch The second-most-common element in the Earth's crust — ordinary sand — purified until only one… | Halbleitermaterialien | 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… | Industrieminerale | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | |
| Silver kritisch The best electrical conductor there is, and the metal that has been used as money for longer… | Edelmetalle | 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… | Industrieminerale | 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. | Industrieminerale | 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… | Industrieminerale | 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… | Industrieminerale | 6,900thousand metric tons · Mine production | — | — | — | |
| Tantalum kritisch A dense metal whose oxide layer stores charge extremely reliably, which is why it is in the… | Werkstoffe für Luft- und Raumfahrt & Verteidigung | 2,500metric tons · Mine production | — | Congo (Kinshasa) — 52% of world production | 100% | Ta |
| Tellurium kritisch A brittle, silvery element recovered from the slime at the bottom of a copper refinery tank… | Halbleitermaterialien | 1,000metric tons · Refinery production | — | China — 80% of world production | 25% | Te |
| Terbium kritisch The scarcest of the four magnet rare earths, used in tiny quantities to make a magnet survive… | Seltene-Erden-Elemente | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | Tb |
| Thallium A soft, extremely toxic metal recovered in tiny amounts from smelter dusts. | Halbleitermaterialien | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | Tl |
| Thermal Coal Coal burned to make steam and therefore electricity — still, despite everything, one of the… | Energierohstoffe | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | |
| Thorium A weakly radioactive metal three to four times more common than uranium, which can be bred into… | Nuklearmaterialien | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | Th |
| Thulium kritisch The least abundant stable rare earth, used in portable X-ray sources and in surgical lasers. | Seltene-Erden-Elemente | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | Tm |
| Tin kritisch A soft metal with a low melting point, which is why nearly every electrical joint in every… | Stahl & Legierungsmetalle | 290,000metric tons · Mine production | 6,000,000 | China — 24% of world production | — | Sn |
| Titanium kritisch A metal as strong as steel at about half the weight, which does not corrode in seawater or in… | Werkstoffe für Luft- und Raumfahrt & Verteidigung | 370,000metric tons · Titanium sponge metal production | — | — | — | Ti |
| Titanium Mineral Concentrates kritisch Black beach sand — ilmenite and rutile — that is the starting point both for titanium metal and… | Werkstoffe für Luft- und Raumfahrt & Verteidigung | 9,400thousand metric tons · Mine production: ilmenite, rounded | 490,000 | — | 88% | |
| Tungsten kritisch The metal with the highest melting point of them all — you can heat it to 3,400 C before it… | Werkstoffe für Luft- und Raumfahrt & Verteidigung | 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… | Nuklearmaterialien | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | U |
| Vanadium kritisch A metal that makes rebar dramatically stronger in tiny doses, and that can also store… | Stahl & Legierungsmetalle | 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… | Industrieminerale | 460.0thousand metric tons · Mine production | — | — | 25% | |
| Wollastonite A needle-shaped white mineral used as a safe replacement for asbestos fibre in brakes, boards… | Industrieminerale | 860,000metric tons · Mine production | — | — | — | |
| Xenon The rarest stable gas in the atmosphere — under one part in ten million — and the heaviest… | Halbleitermaterialien | 12.00million liters · Rare gases production, (million liters) | — | — | 98% | Xe |
| Ytterbium kritisch A rare earth used in the fibre lasers that cut steel in factories, and in some of the most… | Seltene-Erden-Elemente | Nicht veröffentlicht | — | — | — | Yb |
| Yttrium kritisch Counted as a rare earth even though it sits elsewhere on the periodic table, because it behaves… | Seltene-Erden-Elemente | 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… | Industrieminerale | 1,300,000metric tons · Mine production | — | — | — | |
| Zinc kritisch The metal that steel is dipped in so it does not rust — a sacrificial coating that corrodes… | Stahl & Legierungsmetalle | 13,000thousand metric tons · Mine production | 240,000 | China — 32% of world production | — | Zn |
| Zirconium kritisch A metal that barely absorbs neutrons, which is why nuclear fuel rods are wrapped in it, and… | Nuklearmaterialien | 1,200thousand metric tons · Zirconium mineral concentrates, mine production (thousand metric tons, gross weight) | 70,000 | — | — | Zr |
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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.