Mapped: U.S. Non-fuel Mineral Production, by State

Just how many minerals does the U.S. consume? In 2020, non-fuel mineral consumption worked out to around 19,000 pounds or 8.6 tonnes per person.

This includes metals like copper, iron ore, and zinc, along with construction sand, stone, cement, and other industrial minerals. With such high demand, changes in the production of these commodities often reflect how the overall economy is performing.

The above infographic maps U.S. non-fuel mineral production by state in 2021 using data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS).

The Most Valuable Minerals

As the U.S. economy restarted in 2021, American mines generated over $90 billion in non-fuel mineral production, a 12% increase from 2020.

Before diving into the breakdown by state, here’s a look at production value by mineral type:

Each of the categories accounted for roughly one-third of the total production value, with metals making up the largest share. Within metals, copper and gold collectively accounted for 66% of the total, followed by iron ore (13%) and zinc (7%).

The production of sand, gravel, and crushed stone—important inputs for construction—also made up a significant chunk of the value, along with other industrial minerals. Furthermore, crushed stone was the leading non-fuel mineral in 2021, with $19.3 billion in production value.

Which States Lead in Mineral Production?

Arizona, Nevada, Texas, California, and Minnesota—the top five states—accounted for nearly 40% of non-fuel mineral production value.

Arizona and Nevada, the top two states, are the country’s biggest producers of copper and gold, respectively. Arizona also produced over $1 billion worth of construction sand and gravel in 2021, in addition to being the country’s leading producer of gemstones.

In third place was Texas, where mines produced nearly $6 billion worth of non-fuel minerals, of which 38% came from crushed stone. California, meanwhile, led in the production of construction sand and gravel, and was the country’s sole source of rare earth elements.

Minnesota also made the top five as the nation’s largest producer of iron ore. In fact, mines in Minnesota and Michigan shipped 98% of domestic usable iron ore products in 2021.

The Missing Critical Minerals

Although the U.S. is a major producer of non-fuel minerals, it still relies on imports for the supply of several minerals.

In 2021, the U.S. imported $5.3 billion worth of raw materials, in addition to $90 billion in net imports of processed mineral materials. Of the 50 minerals deemed critical to national security, the country was 100% net import reliant for 26, including graphite, manganese, and several rare earth metals.

To meet the rising demand for these minerals, U.S. President Biden announced major investments in domestic critical mineral production, including a $35 million grant to MP Materials for the processing of rare earths.

It remains to be seen whether these investments will pay off in building more resilient, end-to-end domestic critical mineral supply chains.

How Metals Prices Performed in 2021

Looking back on what gave investors strong returns in 2021, it was the year of industrial and energy metals.

As demand for industrial goods surged, so too did their material metals. But unlike energy prices which rose across the board last year, not all metals managed positive returns.

This infographic looks at the year-over-year return on metals prices from January 1 to December 31 of 2021, using pricing data tracked by Tradingeconomics.com.

Inflation and Raw Material Demand Spur Industrial Metals

Last year saw inflation hit 30-year highs as the world’s reopening resulted in unprecedented demand for base and energy metals.

Essential materials for electric vehicle (EV) battery production like lithium and cobalt were among the top performers as EV sales continued to grow in 2021.

Source: Tradingeconomics.com

Magnesium was another top performer last year, as skyrocketing coal prices impacted the metal, which uses coal as part of the feedstock in the smelting process. In addition, concerns over production suspensions in China for environmental reasons spurred magnesium prices further amidst potential shortage fears.

Iron ore was the only base metal with negative returns, with demand largely curbed by China’s slowing growth and pledge to reduce steel output in May of last year.

Lithium and Other EV Metals Outperform

Last year saw major automakers like Ford and GM commit themselves to all new car sales being zero emission by 2040, spurring an 80% rise in electric vehicle sales in 2021.

As a result, essential battery metals like lithium, cobalt, lead, and nickel were all in high demand as automakers secured these essential materials for their battery production.

The start of 2022 has also seen more positive catalysts for nickel specifically, as Tesla secured a supply deal with Talon Metals for 75,000 tonnes of nickel concentrate over six years.

PGM Prices Falter

Palladium and platinum had strong starts in the first half of the year as well, but chip shortages resulted in a slowdown in automotive production and a drop in demand for the two metals.

Both of these key platinum group metals (PGMs) finished 2021 with double-digit drawdowns, with platinum returning -10.4% and palladium returning -22.0%.

Metals analysts are mixed on whether the two metals (primarily used in automotive catalytic converters) will see a recovery in demand, which would be led by easing chip shortages and supply chain issues.

Gold and Silver Struggle to Hold Value

As the world focused on securing the necessary raw materials for the clean energy transition, gold and silver lagged behind.

Although both precious metals wavered as stores of value, returning -3.5% and -11.5% respectively, bullion sales from the U.S. mint rose by 48.4% compared to 2020.

Despite gold’s underwhelming performance while equities, cryptocurrencies, and other commodities surged, upcoming forecasted rate hikes have historically spurred reversals for the precious metal.

As 2022 has started with equity prices slumping, a potential flight to the safety of hard assets and the continuous demand for raw materials needed for the clean energy transition could set up a positive 2022 for metals.