Publications

The rare-earth elements (REEs) are 15 elements that range in atomic number from 57 (lanthanum) to 71 (lutetium); they are commonly referred to as the “lanthanides.” Yttrium (atomic number 39) is also commonly regarded as an REE because it shares chemical and physical similarities and has affinities with the lanthanides. Although REEs are not rare in terms of average crustal abundance...

Antimony is an important mineral commodity used widely in modern industrialized societies. The element imparts strength, hardness, and corrosion resistance to alloys that are used in many areas of industry, including in lead-acid storage batteries. Antimony’s leading use is as a fire retardant in safety equipment and in household goods, such as mattresses. The U.S. Government has...

Titanium is a mineral commodity that is essential to the smooth functioning of modern industrial economies. Most of the titanium produced is refined into titanium dioxide, which has a high refractive index and is thus able to impart a durable white color to paint, paper, plastic, rubber, and wallboard. Because of their high strength-to-weight ratio and corrosion resistance, titanium...

Germanium and indium are two important elements used in electronics devices, flat-panel display screens, light-emitting diodes, night vision devices, optical fiber, optical lens systems, and solar power arrays. Germanium and indium are treated together in this chapter because they have similar technological uses and because both are recovered as byproducts, mainly from copper and zinc...

Tellurium (Te) is a very rare element that averages only 3 parts per billion in Earth’s upper crust. It shows a close association with gold and may be present in orebodies of most gold deposit types at levels of tens to hundreds of parts per million. In large-tonnage mineral deposits, such as porphyry copper and seafloor volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits, sulfide minerals may contain...

Cobalt is a silvery gray metal that has diverse uses based on certain key properties, including ferromagnetism, hardness and wear-resistance when alloyed with other metals, low thermal and electrical conductivity, high melting point, multiple valences, and production of intense blue colors when combined with silica. Cobalt is used mostly in cathodes in rechargeable batteries and in...

Increasing reliance on non-renewable mineral resources reinforces the need for identifying potential supply constraints before they occur. The US National Science and Technology Council recently released a report that outlines a methodology for screening potentially critical minerals based on three indicators: supply risk (R), production growth (G), and market dynamics (M). This early...

The economic growth of an industrialized nation such as the United States requires raw materials for construction (buildings, bridges, highways, and so forth), defense, and processing and manufacture of goods and services. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the types and quantities of raw materials used have increased and changed significantly. This fact sheet quantifies the...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Minerals Yearbook discusses the performance of the worldwide minerals and materials industries and provides background information to assist in interpreting that performance. Content of the individual Minerals Yearbook volumes follows:Volume I, Metals and Minerals, contains chapters about virtually all metallic and industrial mineral commodities...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Minerals Yearbook discusses the performance of the worldwide minerals and materials industries and provides background information to assist in interpreting that performance. Content of the individual Minerals Yearbook volumes follows:Volume I, Metals and Minerals, contains chapters about virtually all metallic and industrial mineral commodities...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Minerals Yearbook discusses the performance of the worldwide minerals and materials industries and provides background information to assist in interpreting that performance. Content of the individual Minerals Yearbook volumes follows:Volume I, Metals and Minerals, contains chapters about virtually all metallic and industrial mineral commodities...

Solar photovoltaic (PV) and wind turbine technologies are projected to make up an increasing proportion of electricity generation capacity in the United States in the coming decades. By 2050, they will account for 36 percent (or 566 gigawatts) of capacity compared with about 11 percent (or 118 gigawatts) in 2016 (fig. 1; EIA, 2017). There are several different types of commercial solar...