{
  "edition": "2026-11-14",
  "source": "USGS MCS 2026 v1.3",
  "datasets": [
    {
      "id": "aluminium",
      "materialIds": [
        "aluminium"
      ],
      "year": 2025,
      "name": "Aluminium",
      "label": "Primary smelter production",
      "definition": "Annual output of primary aluminium metal at smelters. This is neither bauxite mining nor alumina refining, and it excludes secondary aluminium recovered from scrap.",
      "worldTotal": 74000,
      "unit": "thousand metric tonnes",
      "interpretation": "The largest reported smelter output is in China, followed by India and Russia. Smelting geography depends on industrial capacity and electricity supply as well as access to alumina. Countries with large smelters need not have large bauxite mines. These figures describe output during 2025; they do not measure all aluminium used by consumers, because recycled metal also enters manufacturing.",
      "pathway": "Bauxite is refined into alumina before smelters make primary aluminium. Rolling mills, foundries and component factories can be in further countries. Scrap remelting adds another route. A can, window or bicycle may combine primary and recycled metal, so this country distribution cannot establish where a particular object’s aluminium originated.",
      "uncertainty": "2025 estimates published in USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, version 1.3 (May 2026). Values are rounded and may be revised. No confidence interval is supplied. Country markers indicate approximate locations, not mines or plants.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "usgs-aluminium-2026",
        "usgs-mcs-2026-data"
      ],
      "countries": [
        {
          "name": "China",
          "value": 45000,
          "lat": 35,
          "lon": 104
        },
        {
          "name": "India",
          "value": 4200,
          "lat": 22,
          "lon": 79
        },
        {
          "name": "Russia",
          "value": 3900,
          "lat": 61,
          "lon": 100
        },
        {
          "name": "Canada",
          "value": 3300,
          "lat": 58,
          "lon": -106
        },
        {
          "name": "United Arab Emirates",
          "value": 2700,
          "lat": 24,
          "lon": 54
        },
        {
          "name": "Bahrain",
          "value": 1600,
          "lat": 26,
          "lon": 50.5
        },
        {
          "name": "Australia",
          "value": 1500,
          "lat": -25,
          "lon": 134
        },
        {
          "name": "Norway",
          "value": 1300,
          "lat": 62,
          "lon": 10
        },
        {
          "name": "Brazil",
          "value": 1200,
          "lat": -10,
          "lon": -53
        },
        {
          "name": "Malaysia",
          "value": 1100,
          "lat": 4,
          "lon": 103
        },
        {
          "name": "Iceland",
          "value": 750,
          "lat": 65,
          "lon": -19
        },
        {
          "name": "United States",
          "value": 660,
          "lat": 39,
          "lon": -98
        },
        {
          "name": "Other countries",
          "value": 7000,
          "lat": null,
          "lon": null
        }
      ],
      "totalNotes": "USGS world total is rounded independently; country rows may not sum exactly to it. “Other countries” is the source’s own aggregate, not a calculated residual."
    },
    {
      "id": "copper",
      "materialIds": [
        "copper"
      ],
      "year": 2025,
      "name": "Copper",
      "label": "Mine production, contained copper",
      "definition": "Copper content of annual mine production. The source table reports refinery production separately; the atlas uses only the mine-production column.",
      "worldTotal": 23000,
      "unit": "thousand metric tonnes",
      "interpretation": "Chile has the largest reported mine output, followed by Congo (Kinshasa) and Peru. The table’s mined copper is a different measure from refined copper: refineries can process imported feed as well as domestic material. A country can therefore be prominent in refining without corresponding mine production. These numbers show one stage in the supply chain during one observation year.",
      "pathway": "Copper-bearing ore must be concentrated or leached, then converted and refined through routes suited to the ore. Metal may cross borders before being drawn into wire or formed into sheet. Recycled copper contributes additional feed. A country’s mine output is evidence about global supply, not the provenance of a phone or cable.",
      "uncertainty": "2025 estimates published in USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, version 1.3 (May 2026). Values are rounded and may be revised. No confidence interval is supplied. Country markers indicate approximate locations, not mines or plants.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "usgs-copper-2026",
        "usgs-mcs-2026-data"
      ],
      "countries": [
        {
          "name": "Chile",
          "value": 5300,
          "lat": -30,
          "lon": -71
        },
        {
          "name": "Congo (Kinshasa)",
          "value": 3200,
          "lat": -3,
          "lon": 23
        },
        {
          "name": "Peru",
          "value": 2700,
          "lat": -10,
          "lon": -76
        },
        {
          "name": "China",
          "value": 1800,
          "lat": 35,
          "lon": 104
        },
        {
          "name": "Russia",
          "value": 1300,
          "lat": 61,
          "lon": 100
        },
        {
          "name": "United States",
          "value": 1000,
          "lat": 39,
          "lon": -98
        },
        {
          "name": "Zambia",
          "value": 940,
          "lat": -14,
          "lon": 28
        },
        {
          "name": "Australia",
          "value": 730,
          "lat": -25,
          "lon": 134
        },
        {
          "name": "Indonesia",
          "value": 710,
          "lat": -2,
          "lon": 118
        },
        {
          "name": "Kazakhstan",
          "value": 710,
          "lat": 48,
          "lon": 68
        },
        {
          "name": "Mexico",
          "value": 690,
          "lat": 23,
          "lon": -102
        },
        {
          "name": "Canada",
          "value": 500,
          "lat": 58,
          "lon": -106
        },
        {
          "name": "Poland",
          "value": 410,
          "lat": 52,
          "lon": 19
        },
        {
          "name": "India",
          "value": 23,
          "lat": 22,
          "lon": 79
        },
        {
          "name": "Germany",
          "value": 0,
          "lat": 51,
          "lon": 10
        },
        {
          "name": "Japan",
          "value": 0,
          "lat": 36,
          "lon": 138
        },
        {
          "name": "Korea, Republic of",
          "value": 0,
          "lat": 36,
          "lon": 128
        },
        {
          "name": "Other countries",
          "value": 3000,
          "lat": null,
          "lon": null
        }
      ],
      "totalNotes": "USGS world total is rounded independently; country rows may not sum exactly to it. “Other countries” is the source’s own aggregate, not a calculated residual."
    },
    {
      "id": "lithium",
      "materialIds": [
        "lithium"
      ],
      "year": 2025,
      "name": "Lithium",
      "label": "Mine production, lithium content",
      "definition": "Lithium content recovered from mineral and brine operations. Values are tonnes of contained lithium, not tonnes of ore, lithium carbonate equivalent or battery material. The published total excludes U.S. production.",
      "worldTotal": 290000,
      "unit": "metric tonnes of lithium",
      "interpretation": "Australia has the largest reported output, followed by China and Chile. These countries use different combinations of mineral and brine resources. The common lithium-content unit makes the quantities comparable without treating a tonne of concentrate as a tonne of metal. U.S. output is withheld, so it is absent from the reported total and must never be shown as zero.",
      "pathway": "Mineral concentrates and brines follow different processing routes to lithium chemicals. Further purification and cathode manufacture may occur elsewhere. Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries typically contain lithium in compounds, rather than a block of lithium metal. A production map therefore cannot identify the origin, chemistry or recycling prospects of an individual battery.",
      "uncertainty": "2025 estimates published in USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, version 1.3 (May 2026). Values are rounded and may be revised. No confidence interval is supplied. Country markers indicate approximate locations, not mines or plants. U.S. production is withheld to protect proprietary data; a blank value means unknown, not zero.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "usgs-lithium-2026",
        "usgs-mcs-2026-data"
      ],
      "countries": [
        {
          "name": "Australia",
          "value": 92000,
          "lat": -25,
          "lon": 134
        },
        {
          "name": "China",
          "value": 62000,
          "lat": 35,
          "lon": 104
        },
        {
          "name": "Chile",
          "value": 56000,
          "lat": -30,
          "lon": -71
        },
        {
          "name": "Zimbabwe",
          "value": 28000,
          "lat": -19,
          "lon": 30
        },
        {
          "name": "Argentina",
          "value": 23000,
          "lat": -34,
          "lon": -64
        },
        {
          "name": "Brazil",
          "value": 12000,
          "lat": -10,
          "lon": -53
        },
        {
          "name": "Mali",
          "value": 9400,
          "lat": 17,
          "lon": -4
        },
        {
          "name": "Canada",
          "value": 5600,
          "lat": 58,
          "lon": -106
        },
        {
          "name": "Portugal",
          "value": 380,
          "lat": 40,
          "lon": -8
        },
        {
          "name": "United States",
          "value": null,
          "lat": 39,
          "lon": -98,
          "status": "Withheld"
        },
        {
          "name": "Other countries",
          "value": 0,
          "lat": null,
          "lon": null
        }
      ],
      "totalNotes": "World total excludes withheld U.S. production. The published country rows sum to 288,380 tonnes; the reported total is rounded to 290,000. “Other countries” is reported as zero in this table, not a measure of all possible unreported output."
    },
    {
      "id": "cobalt",
      "materialIds": [
        "cobalt"
      ],
      "year": 2025,
      "name": "Cobalt",
      "label": "Mine production, contained cobalt",
      "definition": "Cobalt content of annual mine production. The numbers measure mine output, not refined cobalt, cobalt chemicals, exports or battery manufacture.",
      "worldTotal": 310000,
      "unit": "metric tonnes of cobalt",
      "interpretation": "Congo (Kinshasa) has the largest reported mine output, with Indonesia second. This concentration describes mining, not all later processing. Cobalt is commonly recovered alongside copper or nickel, so its supply is connected to the economics and processing of other metals. Production estimates alone do not quantify labour conditions, environmental performance or the content of any particular battery.",
      "pathway": "Cobalt-bearing feed is separated and refined into products such as metal or chemical salts. These may be made into alloys or certain battery cathodes in different countries. Some lithium-ion chemistries contain no cobalt. Identifying a product’s actual supply chain requires manufacturer and supplier evidence beyond this worldwide production table.",
      "uncertainty": "2025 estimates published in USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, version 1.3 (May 2026). Values are rounded and may be revised. No confidence interval is supplied. Country markers indicate approximate locations, not mines or plants.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "usgs-cobalt-2026",
        "usgs-mcs-2026-data"
      ],
      "countries": [
        {
          "name": "Congo (Kinshasa)",
          "value": 230000,
          "lat": -3,
          "lon": 23
        },
        {
          "name": "Indonesia",
          "value": 44000,
          "lat": -2,
          "lon": 118
        },
        {
          "name": "Russia",
          "value": 7700,
          "lat": 61,
          "lon": 100
        },
        {
          "name": "Madagascar",
          "value": 3900,
          "lat": -20,
          "lon": 47
        },
        {
          "name": "Australia",
          "value": 3700,
          "lat": -25,
          "lon": 134
        },
        {
          "name": "Philippines",
          "value": 3700,
          "lat": 13,
          "lon": 123
        },
        {
          "name": "Canada",
          "value": 3500,
          "lat": 58,
          "lon": -106
        },
        {
          "name": "Papua New Guinea",
          "value": 2800,
          "lat": -6,
          "lon": 145
        },
        {
          "name": "China",
          "value": 2000,
          "lat": 35,
          "lon": 104
        },
        {
          "name": "Cuba",
          "value": 2000,
          "lat": 22,
          "lon": -79.5
        },
        {
          "name": "Turkey",
          "value": 1900,
          "lat": 39,
          "lon": 35
        },
        {
          "name": "United States",
          "value": 300,
          "lat": 39,
          "lon": -98
        },
        {
          "name": "Other countries",
          "value": 9100,
          "lat": null,
          "lon": null
        }
      ],
      "totalNotes": "USGS world total is rounded independently; country rows may not sum exactly to it. “Other countries” is the source’s own aggregate, not a calculated residual."
    },
    {
      "id": "graphite",
      "materialIds": [
        "graphite"
      ],
      "year": 2025,
      "name": "Natural graphite",
      "label": "Mine production, natural graphite",
      "definition": "Annual mine output of natural graphite. Synthetic graphite is excluded, as are measures of battery-grade processing capacity or finished anode production.",
      "worldTotal": 1800000,
      "unit": "metric tonnes of natural graphite",
      "interpretation": "China has the largest reported natural-graphite output. Madagascar, Tanzania, Brazil and Mozambique are the next largest named producers in this table. Different deposits yield different forms and qualities; mined graphite is not automatically battery-ready material. Comparing the mine figures with battery demand requires care because battery anodes can also use synthetic graphite, which is outside this dataset.",
      "pathway": "Natural graphite is mined and beneficiated. Battery applications require further shaping, purification and other processing; pencils and industrial products use different specifications. Synthetic graphite follows a manufactured route instead. Processing and assembly may take place far from the mine, and a product may mix graphite types. Country totals cannot identify an individual anode’s origin.",
      "uncertainty": "2025 estimates published in USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, version 1.3 (May 2026). Values are rounded and may be revised. No confidence interval is supplied. Country markers indicate approximate locations, not mines or plants.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "usgs-graphite-2026",
        "usgs-mcs-2026-data"
      ],
      "countries": [
        {
          "name": "China",
          "value": 1400000,
          "lat": 35,
          "lon": 104
        },
        {
          "name": "Madagascar",
          "value": 80000,
          "lat": -20,
          "lon": 47
        },
        {
          "name": "Tanzania",
          "value": 75000,
          "lat": -6,
          "lon": 35
        },
        {
          "name": "Brazil",
          "value": 65000,
          "lat": -10,
          "lon": -53
        },
        {
          "name": "Mozambique",
          "value": 60000,
          "lat": -18,
          "lon": 35
        },
        {
          "name": "Russia",
          "value": 25000,
          "lat": 61,
          "lon": 100
        },
        {
          "name": "India",
          "value": 17000,
          "lat": 22,
          "lon": 79
        },
        {
          "name": "Canada",
          "value": 8000,
          "lat": 58,
          "lon": -106
        },
        {
          "name": "Korea, North",
          "value": 8000,
          "lat": 40,
          "lon": 127
        },
        {
          "name": "Norway",
          "value": 6600,
          "lat": 62,
          "lon": 10
        },
        {
          "name": "Sri Lanka",
          "value": 3200,
          "lat": 8,
          "lon": 81
        },
        {
          "name": "Turkey",
          "value": 2200,
          "lat": 39,
          "lon": 35
        },
        {
          "name": "Ukraine",
          "value": 800,
          "lat": 49,
          "lon": 32
        },
        {
          "name": "Mexico",
          "value": 740,
          "lat": 23,
          "lon": -102
        },
        {
          "name": "Korea, Republic of",
          "value": 500,
          "lat": 36,
          "lon": 128
        },
        {
          "name": "Vietnam",
          "value": 500,
          "lat": 16,
          "lon": 106
        },
        {
          "name": "Austria",
          "value": 200,
          "lat": 48,
          "lon": 14
        },
        {
          "name": "Germany",
          "value": 140,
          "lat": 51,
          "lon": 10
        },
        {
          "name": "United States",
          "value": 0,
          "lat": 39,
          "lon": -98
        }
      ],
      "totalNotes": "USGS world total is rounded independently; country rows may not sum exactly to it. All country rows from the source are shown; no residual “other” category has been invented."
    },
    {
      "id": "nickel",
      "materialIds": [
        "nickel"
      ],
      "year": 2025,
      "name": "Nickel",
      "label": "Mine production, contained nickel",
      "definition": "Nickel content of annual mine production, not ore tonnage, refined-metal output or battery-grade nickel sulphate. New Caledonia is reported separately by USGS and is an overseas territory of France.",
      "worldTotal": 3900000,
      "unit": "metric tonnes of nickel",
      "interpretation": "Indonesia has the largest reported mine output, followed by the Philippines and Russia. Nickel ores and processing routes vary, and production can feed stainless steel as well as batteries and other uses. A tonne of contained nickel from mining is not automatically a tonne of battery-grade product. The table gives no ranking of the environmental performance of those routes.",
      "pathway": "Laterite and sulphide ores require different treatment routes to usable nickel products. Intermediate material may be traded, refined and alloyed in several places. Stainless steel and some battery cathodes use nickel in different forms; other battery chemistries avoid it. A material’s mine geography should not be mistaken for a finished product’s supplier record.",
      "uncertainty": "2025 estimates published in USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, version 1.3 (May 2026). Values are rounded and may be revised. No confidence interval is supplied. Country markers indicate approximate locations, not mines or plants.",
      "sourceIds": [
        "usgs-nickel-2026",
        "usgs-mcs-2026-data"
      ],
      "countries": [
        {
          "name": "Indonesia",
          "value": 2600000,
          "lat": -2,
          "lon": 118
        },
        {
          "name": "Philippines",
          "value": 270000,
          "lat": 13,
          "lon": 123
        },
        {
          "name": "Russia",
          "value": 200000,
          "lat": 61,
          "lon": 100
        },
        {
          "name": "Canada",
          "value": 140000,
          "lat": 58,
          "lon": -106
        },
        {
          "name": "New Caledonia",
          "value": 140000,
          "lat": -21.5,
          "lon": 165.5
        },
        {
          "name": "China",
          "value": 120000,
          "lat": 35,
          "lon": 104
        },
        {
          "name": "Brazil",
          "value": 70000,
          "lat": -10,
          "lon": -53
        },
        {
          "name": "Australia",
          "value": 45000,
          "lat": -25,
          "lon": 134
        },
        {
          "name": "United States",
          "value": 10000,
          "lat": 39,
          "lon": -98
        },
        {
          "name": "Other countries",
          "value": 290000,
          "lat": null,
          "lon": null
        }
      ],
      "totalNotes": "USGS world total is rounded independently; country rows may not sum exactly to it. “Other countries” is the source’s own aggregate, not a calculated residual."
    }
  ]
}