Infographics

Mineral infographics: the numbers, drawn

One poster per mineral and per big mining country, drawn from the numbers as you scroll: world production, the top producers, reserves, a century of output, where it is mined, what it is used for, the biggest trade routes and the government lists it sits on. 36 minerals and 12 countries, every figure from a named public source, each poster downloadable as SVG or PNG.

Data year 2025: production and reserves from the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries, trade from CEPII BACI, demand from the IEA Global Critical Minerals Outlook, country indicators from the World Bank, list membership from the government critical mineral lists. Figures are rounded on the posters and given in full below each one.

Minerals

LiLithium290 ktAustralia 32%CoCobalt310 ktDR Congo 74%NiNickel3.9 MtIndonesia 67%CGraphite (natural)1.8 MtChina 78%MnManganese20 MtSouth Africa 38%CuCopper23 MtChile 23%ZnZinc13 MtChina 32%PbLead4.5 MtChina 42%AlAluminium and bauxite440 MtGuinea 34%SnTin290 ktChina 24%WTungsten85 ktChina 79%TaTantalum2.5 ktDR Congo 52%NbNiobium112 ktBrazil 93%REERare earths390 ktChina 69%GaGallium900 tChina 99%GeGermanium140 tChina 68%InIndium1.1 ktChina 69%SbAntimony110 ktChina 36%BiBismuth16 ktChina 88%BeBeryllium430 tUnited States 53%CsCaesium VVanadium110 ktChina 75%CrChromium51 MtSouth Africa 45%MoMolybdenum260 ktChina 37%TiTitanium minerals9.4 MtChina 34%ZrZirconium (zircon)1.2 MtAustralia 33%MgMagnesium1.1 MtChina 86%SiSilicon8.8 MtChina 68%FeIron ore2.6 GtAustralia 38%UUranium PGMPlatinum group metals190 tRussia 44%AuGold3.3 ktChina 12%AgSilver26 ktMexico 24%CaF2Fluorspar10 MtChina 60%K2OPotash49 MtCanada 31%P2O5Phosphate rock250 MtChina 44%

Countries

The twelve countries that dominate the production tables, each with its mineral rents, export dependence, world ranks and governance estimates.

CHNMining in China0.5% of GDPtop 3 in 24 minerals AUSMining in Australia10.5% of GDPtop 3 in 8 minerals RUSMining in Russia2.1% of GDPtop 3 in 11 minerals BRAMining in Brazil4.5% of GDPtop 3 in 6 minerals ZAFMining in South Africa3.8% of GDPtop 3 in 5 minerals PERMining in Peru12.1% of GDPtop 3 in 5 minerals CODMining in DR Congo28.8% of GDPtop 3 in 4 minerals USAMining in United States0.1% of GDPtop 3 in 4 minerals CHLMining in Chile16.2% of GDPtop 3 in 3 minerals IDNMining in Indonesia1.9% of GDPtop 3 in 3 minerals CANMining in Canada1.2% of GDPtop 3 in 3 minerals KAZMining in Kazakhstan9.1% of GDPtop 3 in 2 minerals

How the posters are made

Each infographic is one SVG drawing built from our atlas data. The page draws it stroke by stroke as you scroll and counts the numbers up; with reduced-motion settings or without JavaScript it simply shows the finished poster. The download buttons serialise that same drawing, so the file you get is the poster you saw, fonts and sources included. Read the full stories at Minerals and Mining by country.