Where materials begin.
Mining, refining and manufacturing are different stages—and often different places. Explore the first six production stories, with the observation year, units and limits kept in view.
Aluminium ↗
Annual output of primary aluminium metal at smelters. This is neither bauxite mining nor alumina refining, and it excludes secondary aluminium recovered from scrap.
2025 / Mine production, contained copperCopper ↗
Copper content of annual mine production. The source table reports refinery production separately; the atlas uses only the mine-production column.
2025 / Mine production, lithium contentLithium ↗
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.
2025 / Mine production, contained cobaltCobalt ↗
Cobalt content of annual mine production. The numbers measure mine output, not refined cobalt, cobalt chemicals, exports or battery manufacture.
2025 / Mine production, natural graphiteNatural graphite ↗
Annual mine output of natural graphite. Synthetic graphite is excluded, as are measures of battery-grade processing capacity or finished anode production.
2025 / Mine production, contained nickelNickel ↗
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.
A map is not a supply-chain certificate.
These data describe output attributed to countries at a particular production stage. A finished object may pass through several countries and mix primary and recycled inputs. Neither a large producer’s rank nor the location of final assembly establishes a particular product’s provenance.
Production is a flow. Reserves are a stock.
Annual production describes output during a year. Reserves estimate the part of a mineral resource considered economically extractable under defined conditions. They can change with prices, exploration, technology and reporting. This atlas maps production, not reserves.
Follow the evidence
Original explanations informed by the sources below. Technical and industry sources support material behaviour; industry environmental marketing is not treated as a universal comparison. Read our editorial method.
- Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 Data Release ↗U.S. Geological Survey, National Minerals Information Center · 2026-09-18 (landing page) · Checked 2026-11-13