U.S. Mineral Production Rose 3.8% in 2022, Reaching $98.2 Billion
- February 3, 2023
- Posted by: Quatro Strategies
- Category: Mining
The United States produced $98.2 billion non-fuel mineral commodities in 2022, 3.8% more than a year earlier, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said on Thursday. The production figures include mineral commodities such as cement, iron ore, sand and gravel, precious metals and rare earth minerals. USGS also said that industries that use non-fuel minerals created an estimated $3.64 trillion in value added products in 2022, a 9% increase from 2021. The increase in mineral production is attributed to the continued recovery of markets from the Covid-19 pandemic. Global supply chains and the often-volatile mineral commodity markets were significantly disrupted by the pandemic, especially in the first half of 2020.
The second half of 2020 and all of 2021 have seen a rebound in demand for mineral commodities, and a consequent price hike. This upward trend continued in 2022 with consumption of many mineral commodities now near or exceeding pre-pandemic levels.
The $98.2 billion value of non-fuel mineral commodities produced by U.S. mines in 2022 included other industrial minerals and natural aggregates, as well as ferrous and nonferrous metals.
The production of industrial minerals was $53.5 billion, which is around 65% of the total value. Crushed stone was the leading non-fuel mineral commodity domestically produced in 2022, accounting for 21% of the total value of mine production.
Meanwhile, metal mine production was 6% lower in 2022 from a year earlier, with an estimated value of $34.7 billion. The main contributors in 2022 were copper (33%), gold (28%), iron ore (15%), zinc (9%) and molybdenum (5%), a rare earth mineral.
There were 13 mineral commodities produced in the US valued at more than $1 billion each. These commodities were, from high to low: crushed stone, cement, copper, construction sand and gravel, gold, industrial sand and gravel, iron ore, zinc, salt, lime, phosphate rock, molybdenum and soda ash.
Arizona, Nevada, Texas, California, Minnesota, Alaska, Florida, Utah, Michigan and Missouri were the top 10 producing U.S. states.
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