The overall value of year-over-year U.S. mineral production edged up by $1 billion in 2024 to $106 billion, according to the U.S. Geological Survey’s annual Mineral Commodity Summaries. Record gold and silver prices buoyed the total, more than compensating for a 40 percent to 60 percent fall in the value of U.S. production of critical minerals used to make lithium-ion batteries.
Fourteen mineral commodities produced in the United States each surpassed more than $1 billion, crushed stone, construction sand & gravel and portland cement leading the way by value, followed by gold, copper, iron ore, industrial sand & gravel, lime, soda ash, salt, zinc, phosphate rock, molybdenum and helium. Prices for the battery materials, principally cobalt, lithium and nickel, fell due to oversupply by dominant producers including China. The USGS report also highlights the overall importance of nonfuel minerals to American industries including construction, aerospace and electronics. The industries represented $4.08 trillion in value in 2024, a 4 percent 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,” says USGS Acting Director Sarah Ryker. “The USGS leads federal coordination on the nation’s mineral supply chains and informs 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 metal sector had another year of decreasing prices attributed to oversupply in the global market. There were notable reductions in prices from dominant producing countries including China. The value of U.S. production of many of the metals required to make lithium-ion batteries used in phones, power tools and vehicles, such as cobalt, lithium and nickel, fell sharply by 40 percent to 60 percent from 2023 levels. The drop in value was caused by both the fall in prices and a resulting decrease in U.S. production. The largest decreases in metal production quantities, in descending order, were nickel, cobalt, platinum, palladium and cadmium.
The $106 billion worth of nonfuel mineral commodities produced by U.S. mines in 2024 included ferrous and nonferrous metals as well as industrial minerals and natural aggregates. The estimated value of U.S. production of all industrial minerals in 2024 was $72.1 billion, which was about 68 percent of the total value of U.S. mine production. Crushed stone was the leading nonfuel mineral commodity domestically produced, accounting for 24 percent of the total value of production.
The report also details progress from investments in the domestic minerals base. In fiscal year 2024 alone, the USGS Earth Mapping Resources Initiative distributed more than $57 million across 39 states to fund geoscience data collection and mapping in partnership with state geological surveys, data preservation programs, and scientific interpretation efforts to identify areas of the country with potential for the occurrence of critical minerals.
PCA GAUGES CEMENT IMPORT TARIFFS
“While the U.S. cement industry agrees with the objectives of bolstering American manufacturing, increasing border security, and advancing energy independence, it believes 25 percent tariffs on cement imported from Canada and Mexico could adversely affect energy and national security while delaying infrastructure projects and raising their costs,” Portland Cement Association CEO Mike Ireland noted last month in response to the White House pause on the imposition of tariffs for imports from U.S. neighbors to the north and south.
“The availability of affordable cement and concrete is vital to meet our country’s infrastructure needs and for the oil and gas sector’s expansion. Mexico and Canada play a crucial role in stabilizing U.S. supply, so we appreciate that the Administration is open to negotiations and taking a flexible approach to implementing trade policy. PCA looks forward to working with the Trump administration to achieve its manufacturing priorities and ensure potential tariffs do not result in unintended consequences,” he concluded.
PCA’s position on the proposed 25 percent tariffs factors these cement import and consumption metrics:
- Canada and Mexico account for 27 percent of U.S. cement imports and nearly 7 percent of U.S. cement consumption.
- The U.S. respectively imported 5 million and 2 million metric tons of cement from Canada and Mexico in 2023.
- Texas and Arizona each represents roughly 30 percent of Mexican imports’ port of entry followed by California and Florida (20 percent each), reflecting 5 percent of the states’ cement consumption.
- Canadian imports enter through New York (28 percent), Washington (14 percent) and New England (11 percent), with the remaining 20 percent spread across Montana, North Dakota, and other Great Lakes states. Those shipments account for upward of one-third the cement consumed in the combined states.
The Bronx Terminal on the East River is one of the principal New York destinations for powder imported from the St Marys Quebec mill.