Mineral Production by Country 2024

The many minerals found in the earth are critical to many different types of products and manufacturing. And when it's broken down by country and category, some interesting facts emerge.

China is the world's leader in mineral production by a significant margin, with 4.6 billion tons per year in total, compared to the United States in second place with 2.2 billion tons. Russia has the third most mineral production, roughly 1.7 billion tons, with Australia close behind at 1.4 billion. India is fifth with 1.1 billion, the final country to cross the billion-ton mark.

The Central African Republic registers the least mineral production, just a single ton of precious metals. Mali produces 72 tons, also solely precious metals, while Burundi (375 tons) and Benin (500 tons) are also among the globe's smallest mineral producers. Six of the world's ten lowest mineral-producing nations are located in Africa.

Breaking mineral production down by category also reveals some interesting information about global economies. Mineral fuels are the world's largest category, making up 4.1 billion of China's 4.6 billion ton production. They similarly make up 2.1 out of the United States' 2.2 billion tons and 1.6 out of Russia's 1.7 billion. In fact, they make up the majority of almost every sizeable mineral-producing nation's output, except for Brazil, which mines 274.4 million tons of iron and ferro-alloys, compared to just 176.1 million tons of mineral fuels. That's enough to rank as the world's second-largest iron producer, behind Australia's 575.2 million tons. China also mines a large amount of iron and ferro-alloys, 259.5 million tons.

In addition, China produces the world's overwhelming majority of non-ferrous metals. The 46.9 million ton output is more than the rest of the top ten combined. It also leads in industrial metals, though it produces less than twice the amount of second place, the United States. Precious metals have a more unusual list due to their relative rarity. Mexico produces the most, a relatively paltry (compared to other categories) 6,200 tons. Still, that's nearly double China in second place (3,800 tons) and Peru (3,400 tons.)