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