American Mineral Production for 2016

The U.S. Geological Survey has just released their annual summary of non-fuel mineral production in the U.S. for 2016. They estimate that the value of all non-fuel minerals produced from U.S. mines was $74.6 billion, a slight increase over production in 2015. “ Domestic raw materials and domestically recycled materials were used to process mineral materials worth $675 billion. These mineral materials were, in turn, consumed by downstream industries with an estimated value of $2.78 trillion in 2016.”

Principal contributors to the total value of metal mine production in 2016 were gold (37%), copper (29%), iron ore (15%), and zinc (7%). The estimated value of U.S. industrial minerals production in 2016 was $51.6 billion which was dominated by crushed stone (31%), cement (18%), and construction sand and gravel (17%).

Nevada was ranked first with a total mineral production value of $7.65 billion, mainly from gold. Arizona came in second in total production with a value of $5.56 billion and first in U.S. copper production. Texas, California, Minnesota, Florida, Alaska, Michigan, Wyoming, Missouri, and Utah, in that order, were next in value of production.

“In 2016, U.S. production of 13 mineral commodities was valued at more than $1 billion each. These were, in decreasing order of value, crushed stone, cement, construction sand and gravel, gold, copper, industrial sand and gravel, iron ore (shipped), lime, phosphate rock, salt, soda ash, zinc, and clays (all types).” Does that order surprise you?

Most of the material mined (stone, sand, lime, clay) is used in construction of our infrastructure.

Gold is used as coinage and to manufacture jewelry. Because gold does not corrode, it is used in solid state electronic devices that use very low voltages and currents which are easily interrupted by corrosion or tarnish at the contact points.

Copper is used mainly to generate and transmit electricity and it occurs in all our electronic devices.

Zinc is used for galvanizing to prevent corrosion and, combined with copper to make brass. Zinc is also combined with other metals to form materials that are used in automobiles, electrical components, and household fixtures. Zinc oxide is used in the manufacture of rubber and as a skin ointment.

Iron is used mainly to make steel.

Phosphate rock is used mainly as a fertilizer and also as a nutritional supplement for animals and humans.

Soda ash (sodium carbonate) is an essential raw material used in the manufacturing of glass, detergents chemicals, softening water, making baking soda, and used in many industrial products.

“U.S. mine production of copper in 2016 increased slightly, to about 1.41 million tons, and was valued at about $6.8 billion. Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Montana, and Michigan, in descending order of production, accounted for more than 99% of domestic mine production; copper also was recovered in Missouri. Twenty-four mines recovered copper, 17 of which accounted for about 99% of production.”

A  note on reserves and resources:

Reserves data are dynamic. They may be reduced as ore is mined and (or) the feasibility of extraction diminishes, or more commonly, they may continue to increase as additional deposits (known or recently discovered) are developed, or currently exploited deposits are more thoroughly explored and (or) new technology or economic variables improve their economic feasibility. Reserves may be considered a working inventory of mining companies’ supplies of an economically extractable mineral commodity. As such, the magnitude of that inventory is necessarily limited by many considerations, including cost of drilling, taxes, price of the mineral commodity being mined, and the demand for it. Reserves will be developed to the point of business needs and geologic limitations of economic ore grade and tonnage. For example, in 1970, identified and undiscovered world copper resources were estimated to contain 1.6 billion metric tons of copper, with reserves of about 280 million tons of copper. Since then, more than 500 million tons of copper have been produced worldwide, but world copper reserves in 2016 were estimated to be 720 million tons of copper, more than double those of 1970, despite the depletion by mining of almost double the original estimated reserves.

As can be seen in the table above, there was a decline in the production of coal, probably due to the rise in natural gas production. Metal production also decreased. According to the USGS, “Several U.S. metal mines and processing facilities were idled or closed permanently in 2016, including iron ore mines in Michigan and Minnesota; three primary aluminum smelters in Indiana, Missouri, and Washington; one secondary zinc smelter in North Carolina; a titanium sponge facility in Utah, the only such facility in the United States; and titanium mineral operations in Virginia.” In 2016, imports made up more than one-half of the U.S. apparent consumption of 50 non-fuel mineral commodities, and the United States was 100% import reliant for 20 of those.

The 200-page report gives detailed information for each commodity.

The full report is available online here: https://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/mcs/2017/mcs2017.pdf

Note to readers: