U.S. mines increased the production of nonfuel mineral commodities in 2022 by an estimated $3.6 billion compared to 2021.
A U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Commodity Summaries report, released Jan. 31, showed U.S. mines produced approximately $98.2 billion in nonfuel mineral commodities in 2022, a news release said. The revised total in 2021 was $94.6 billion.
“Industries that use nonfuel mineral materials created an estimated $3.64 trillion in value-added products in 2022, which represents a 9% increase from 2021,” Steven Fortier, the Geological Survey’s National Minerals Information Center director, said in the release. “Decision-makers and leaders in both the private and public sectors rely on the crucial, unbiased statistics and data provided by the USGS in the Mineral Commodity Summaries to make business decisions and determine national policy.”
More than 90 nonfuel mineral commodities monitored by the U.S. Geological Survey are included in the report such as minerals like cement, sand, iron ore and gravel; precious metals such as gold and silver; and rare earth minerals such as dysprosium, lanthanum and neodymium.
In June 2022, the U.S. Geological Survey invested in projects “in geoscience data collection, mapping, data preservation and scientific interpretation of areas with potential for critical minerals,” a news release said. More than $74.6 million was to be distributed in 30 states.
That Mineral Commodity Summaries report also said $42 billion of metals and minerals such as copper, gold, iron and steel scrap were recycled in the U.S., a decrease from 2021.
