The overall value of U.S. mineral production edged up by $1 billion in 2024 to $106 billion, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) annual Mineral Commodity Summaries. Record prices for gold and silver offset a 40%-60% fall in the value of U.S. production of battery minerals.
The report also highlights the overall importance of nonfuel minerals to American industries including aerospace, electronics and construction. These industries represented more than $4 trillion in value in 2024, a 4% increase over 2023, and nearly one-seventh of the U.S. economy.
The 30th annual Mineral Commodity Summaries report prepared by the USGS National Minerals Information Center is a comprehensive source of nonfuel mineral commodity data for the world. It includes information on the domestic industry structure, government programs, tariffs, reserves, world production and five-year salient statistics for 90 nonfuel mineral commodities that are important to U.S. national security and the economy. It also identifies events, trends and issues in the domestic and international minerals industries that impact production and consumption.
“For decades, leaders in industry and government have relied on the objective, robust data and analysis provided in this report to help make business decisions and determine national commerce, security, and intelligence policy surrounding minerals.” said Sarah Ryker, acting director of the USGS. “The USGS leads Federal coordination on the Nation’s mineral supply chains and informs our partners from our rich data. We continue to add new data and analysis to the Mineral Commodity Summaries and develop new ways to shed light on mining, minerals and our economy’s need for them.”
In 2024, the U.S. was 100% reliant on imports for 12 of the 50 minerals on the List of Critical Minerals, unchanged from 2023, and the number of critical minerals where the U.S. is more than 50% reliant on imports fell from 29 to 28.
U.S. metal mine production in 2024 was estimated to be valued at $33.5 billion, a slight increase from $33 billion in 2023. The principal contributors to the total value of metal mine production in 2024 were gold, 35%; copper, 30%; iron ore, 16%; zinc, 7%; and molybdenum, 5%.