U.S. Mines Produced $90.4 Billion in Commodities in 2021
Increases in consumption of nonfuel mineral commodities were attributed to the restarting of markets in 2021 following closures in 2020 due to COVID-19.
Edited by Margo Ellis
Share
The 27th annual Mineral Commodity Summaries report from the USGS National Minerals Information Center was published Jan. 31. 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 U.S. 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.
“Decision makers and leaders in both the private and public sectors rely on the crucial, unbiased statistics and data provided in the Mineral Commodity Summaries to make business decisions and determine national policy,” said Steven M. Fortier, USGS National Minerals Information Center director. “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.”
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 worth of nonfuel mineral commodities produced by U.S. mines in 2021 included other industrial minerals and natural aggregates, as well as ferrous and nonferrous metals. The estimated value of U.S. production of all industrial minerals in 2021 was $56.6 billion, which is 63% of the total value of U.S. mine production value. Crushed stone was the leading nonfuel mineral commodity domestically produced in 2021, accounting for 21% of the total value of U.S. mine production.
U.S. 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 U.S. 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.
The full USGS report is available here.
RELATED CONTENT
-
PFAS Chemicals and PTFE: Should the Valve Industry Be Concerned?
Legislation moving through Congress could affect the future use of thousands of PFAS chemicals (per- and polyfluoroalkyl). The house passed H.R. 2467 in July of 2021 and, though the bill is general in nature, it assigns the responsibility to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for determining which PFAS chemicals will be controlled or banned altogether.
-
The Role of Valves in HAZOP Studies
Process hazard analysis (PHA) is required by U.S.
-
The Diverse Role Valves Play in the Chemical Industry
The chemical industry is extremely diverse with more than 60,000 known products. Like all process industries, the chemical industry needs valves designed for safe, efficient and reliable process operation.
 Unloading large gate valve.jpg;maxWidth=214)
