Manufactured Abrasives Statistics and Information

Manufactured Abrasives Insights and Data

Pictured: alumina-zirconia abrasive

Statistics and information on the worldwide supply of, demand for, and flow of the mineral commodity manufactured abrasives (metallic abrasives, fused aluminum oxide, Aluminum-zirconium oxide, silicon carbide, and boron carbide)

Manufactured abrasives are made by heating or chemically treating metals or minerals to give them physical properties needed to abrade, clean, etch, grind, polish, scour, or otherwise remove material by rubbing action (as in a grinding wheel) or impact (pressure blasting). Their most important properties are hardness, toughness (rigidity), grain shape and size, character of fracture, and purity (uniformity). Additional considerations include thermal stability, bonding characteristics, cost, and availability. No single property is paramount for any use.

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We are currently in the process of transitioning our datasets to the USGS ScienceBase platform to improve long-term accessibility, documentation, and version control. As part of that transition, we have temporarily paused public posting of our Mineral Industry Surveys (MIS), so the latest available posted data are from December 2025. We will start publication of the MIS as soon as this process is completed. Users subscribed to the automatic notification will be informed as each MIS becomes available. Thank you for your patience.

Mineral Industry Surveys