USGS estimates US mines produced $90.4 bn in non-fuel mineral commodities in 2021

US mines produced approximately $90.4 billion in mineral commodities in 2021—a $9.7 billion increase over the 2020 revised total of $80.7 billion—according to the US Geological Survey USGS.

This information comes from the 27th annual Mineral Commodity Summaries report from the USGS National Minerals Information Center. The report is a comprehensive source of 2021 mineral data for the world and includes information on the domestic industry structure, government programs, tariffs, world production and five-year salient statistics for nonfuel mineral commodities that are important to the US economy and national security. It also identifies events, trends and issues in the domestic and international minerals industries that impact production and consumption. This report covers more than 90 nonfuel mineral commodities monitored by the USGS.

Industries that use nonfuel mineral materials—such as steel, aerospace and electronics—created an estimated $3.32 trillion in value-added products in 2021, which represents an 8% increase from that in 2020. – Steven M. Fortier, USGS National Minerals Information Center director.

Increases in consumption of nonfuel mineral commodities were attributed to the restarting of markets in 2021 following closures due to the global COVID 19 pandemic in the prior year.

The 90.4 billion dollars worth of nonfuel mineral commodities produced by US mines in 2021 included other industrial minerals and natural aggregates, as well as ferrous and nonferrous metals. The estimated value of US production of all industrial minerals in 2021 was $56.6 billion, which is 63% of the total value of US mine production value. Crushed stone was the leading nonfuel mineral commodity domestically produced in 2021, accounting for 21% of the total value of US mine production.

US metal mine production in 2021 was estimated to be valued at $33.8 billion, or 23% higher than that in 2020. The principal contributors to the total value of metal mine production in 2021 were copper (35%), gold (31%), iron ore (13%), and zinc (7%).

There were 14 mineral commodities produced in the US valued at more than $1 billion each. These commodities were, in order of value, crushed stone, copper, cement, gold, construction sand and gravel, iron ore, salt, lime, industrial sand and gravel, zinc, soda ash, phosphate rock, palladium and molybdenum.

In 2021, the top 10 producing states were, in descending order of rank, Arizona, Nevada, Texas, California, Minnesota, Alaska, Utah, Florida, Missouri and Michigan.

Other key findings in the report include:

In 2021, the USGS published a draft proposed revision of the critical minerals list (86 FR 62199) as an update to the original list published in 2018 (83 FR 23295). Critical minerals are discussed in a new critical minerals update added to the front section of the Mineral Commodity Summaries 2022. The minerals in this new section are those from the original list published in 2018. USGS anticipates the publication of the finalized revision of the critical minerals list by the end of February 2022, following the close of a 60-day public comment period on 10 January 2022.

Due to supply constraints and increasing consumption, prices increased for many commodities, particularly for metals, and contributed significantly to the increase in the value of nonfuel mineral production in the US. For example, copper was projected to average about $4.20 per pound in 2021, which was an all-time high.

Domestically, $43 billion of metals and mineral products were recycled including metals such as copper, gold, iron and steel scrap, and platinum-group elements to supply domestic consumption. This was an increase in value of more than 50% from that in 2020.

Source: https://www.greencarcongress.com/