How much do you know about the mineral production of a beautiful country?

How many minerals does the vast United States need to consume in a year? According to 2020 data, non-fuel mineral consumption is about 19,000 pounds or 8.
6 tons
per person.
This includes metals such as copper, iron ore and zinc, as well as sand, stone, cement and other industrial minerals
for construction.
Because demand is so high, changes in the production of these goods tend to reflect the performance of the
economy as a whole.

Data from the U.
S.
Geological Survey (USGS) plots U.
S.
non-fuel mineral production
by state in 2021.
Data shows that as the U.
S.
economy recovers in 2021, U.
S.
mines generate more than $90 billion in non-fuel mineral production, up 12%
from 2020.

Before diving down by state, let's take a look at the value of production by mineral type:

The output value of metals reached US$33.
8 billion in 2021, accounting for 37.
4% of the total; Construction materials accounted for US$29.
2 billion, accounting for 32.
3%; The total output value of industrial minerals was US$27.
4 billion, accounting for 30.
3%.

Among metals, copper and gold together account for 66% of the total, followed by iron ore (13%) and zinc (7%)
.

The production of sand, gravel and crushed stone – an important input to construction – also forms a large part
of the value along with other industrial minerals.
In addition, crushed stone was the main non-fuel mineral in 2021, with a production value of US$19.
3 billion.

Which states are leading in mineral production?

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

The top two states of Arizona and Nevada are the largest producers of copper and gold in the United States
, respectively.
In 2021, Arizona produced 71% of U.
S.
copper production, totaling $10 billion; Nevada accounts for 74% of US gold production, totaling US$9.
4 billion; Arizona also produced more than $1 billion worth of construction sand and gravel in 2021, in addition to being the country's leading gemstone producing state
.

In third place is Texas, where mines produce nearly $6 billion worth of non-fuel minerals, 38 percent of which come from crushed rock
.
Meanwhile, California leads the way in the production of construction sand and gravel and is the country's only source of
rare earth elements.

Minnesota also became one of
the top five largest iron ore producers in the United States.
In fact, mines in Minnesota and Michigan shipped 98% of domestically usable iron ore products
in 2021.

Although the United States is a major producer of non-fuel minerals, it still relies on imports to supply several minerals
.

In 2021, the United States imported $5.
3 billion worth of raw materials, in addition to $90 billion in net imports
of processed mineral materials.
Of the 50 minerals considered critical to national security, the country relies 100 percent on net imports, including graphite, manganese and several rare earth metals
.

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

For now, it remains to be seen whether these investments will pay off in building a more resilient end-to-end
domestic supply chain for critical minerals.