Critical Minerals by Country
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A handful of countries control most critical mineral mining, and the profiles here put each one's share beside its policy. By USGS estimates for 2025, China mined 69% of the world's rare earths, Indonesia 67% of its nickel, Congo (Kinshasa) 73% of its cobalt, Australia 32% of its lithium, Brazil 93% of its niobium and South Africa 71% of its platinum. The other profiles cover the large buyers, the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Japan and South Korea, whose policies decide where demand goes.
69%
of world rare earth mine production came from China in 2025
67%
of world nickel mine production came from Indonesia in 2025
73%
of world cobalt mine production came from Congo (Kinshasa) in 2025
93%
of world niobium mine production came from Brazil in 2025
Which countries lead in which critical minerals?
The table lists all 21 profiles with the minerals in which each country has at least 10% of world production in USGS's 2025 estimates, then a one-line summary. Rows for the buyers show no mineral above 10% because they mine little of what they use.
| Country | Region | Largest shares of world production (10% or more, up to three) | In brief |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | North America | Beryllium 53%, Molybdenum 15%, Rare earths 13% | Imports more than half of its use of 54 mineral commodities; leads the world in beryllium. |
| Canada | North America | Potash 31% | Largest potash producer, with a 34-mineral list, a Major Projects Office and the G7 alliance. |
| Australia | Oceania | Iron ore 38%, Lithium 32%, Bauxite 22% | Largest lithium and iron ore producer, with an A$1 billion strategic reserve and a processing tax offset. |
| China | East Asia | Gallium 99%, Silicon metal 87%, Magnesium metal 86% | Mines most of the world's rare earths, tungsten and graphite and licenses their export. |
| European Union | Europe | No mineral above 10% of world output | 34 critical and 17 strategic raw materials, 2030 benchmarks and 93 strategic projects in member states. |
| United Kingdom | Europe | No mineral above 10% of world output | Vision 2035 aims for 10% domestic supply, 20% recycling and no more than 60% from one country. |
| Japan | East Asia | Iodine 26% | Imports about 70% of its rare earths from China; runs a rare metals stockpile since 1983. |
| South Korea | East Asia | Indium 16% | Names 33 critical minerals and aims to cut China dependence from 80% to 50% by 2030. |
| Chile | South America | Iodine 68%, Rhenium 37%, Copper 23% | Largest producer of copper, iodine and rhenium, third in lithium, with a state-majority lithium venture. |
| Peru | South America | Molybdenum 15%, Silver 14%, Copper 12% | Second in silver and zinc, third in copper and tin; informal mining registry extended to December 2026. |
| Indonesia | Southeast Asia | Nickel 67%, Tin 21%, Cobalt 14% | Mines two thirds of the world's nickel and uses an ore export ban and quotas. |
| DR Congo | Central Africa | Cobalt 73%, Tantalum 52%, Copper 14% | Mines about three quarters of the world's cobalt and has used an export ban and quotas. |
| South Africa | Southern Africa | Platinum 71%, Chromium 45%, Manganese 38% | Leads in platinum, chromium and manganese and holds most known platinum group metal reserves. |
| Bolivia | South America | No mineral above 10% of world output | Holds 23 Mt of lithium resources but produces none in USGS data; contracts with Russian and Chinese firms await approval. |
| Argentina | South America | No mineral above 10% of world output | Fifth-largest lithium producer, with a 30-year stability regime for investments above US$200 million. |
| Brazil | South America | Niobium 93%, Beryllium 19%, Iron ore 16% | Mines 93% of the world's niobium; a national critical minerals law of September 2026 and US-financed rare earths. |
| India | South Asia | Barite 34%, Feldspar 19%, Iron ore 12% | Leads in barite and feldspar; a Rs 34,300 crore mission and a rare earth magnet scheme. |
| Vietnam | Southeast Asia | No mineral above 10% of world output | Fifth-largest rare earth reserves in USGS data, a second-ranked tungsten miner and a 2026 raw ore export ban. |
| Kazakhstan | Central Asia | Chromium 14% | Mines 39% of the world's uranium and is the site of a US-backed tungsten joint venture. |
| Turkey | Middle East / Europe | Chromium 18%, Feldspar 17% | Largest producer of refined borates, with 950 Mt of USGS boron reserves and the second-largest chromium output. |
| Ukraine | Eastern Europe | No mineral above 10% of world output | A US-Ukraine minerals fund made its first minerals deal in October 2026; lithium and graphite projects are recognised. |
Shares are calculated by this site from USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 for the 40 production series on this site, using the larger of the USGS world total and the sum of the country figures. Production here is mine or primary output; processing shares are often higher and are on the processing bottlenecks page. The European Union is listed by member states USGS names, so its shares are not shown.
How are the profiles built?
Each profile has the same parts: a USGS production table calculated from the Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 chapters, a dated table of the country's main policies and projects, and sourced notes on what matters most for that country. Production figures come from one data file, so a figure never differs between pages. Policy and project facts come from government releases, company filings and named press reports, and each profile's Sources list says where a figure was read in a press report and not a primary document. Where the European Commission recognises a project in a country, the profile lists it from the Commission annexes.
What do the profiles not cover?
The profiles do not cover every producing country: Russia, the Philippines, Zimbabwe, Mexico, Malaysia, Madagascar and others appear in the USGS tables but have no profile. They also do not rank countries by processing, because few processing shares are published by country. The processing bottlenecks page compares mining and processing, and the list comparison shows which minerals each government lists.
Frequently asked questions
Which country mines the most critical minerals?
No single country mines the most of every mineral, but China leads in the most: by USGS estimates for 2025 it mined 69% of rare earths and led in tungsten, graphite, antimony, vanadium and gallium. Indonesia leads in nickel, Congo (Kinshasa) in cobalt and Australia in lithium.
Which countries are the largest buyers of critical minerals?
The United States, the European Union, Japan, South Korea and the United Kingdom are the buyers profiled here. USGS reports that the United States was more than 50% import reliant for 54 nonfuel mineral commodities in 2025.
Where do the production figures come from?
They come from the US Geological Survey Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 world production tables. They are USGS estimates for 2025 and shares are calculated by this site from them.
Why is the European Union profiled as a group?
The European Union sets critical raw materials policy for its 27 member states and has its own list, targets and strategic project regime, so its profile covers the Critical Raw Materials Act and sums the member states USGS names.
Sources
Read on October 13, 2026. Figures on this page come from these documents; where a number is an estimate, the source says so.
- USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026. Production, reserves and import reliance
- Each country profile lists its own policy, company and project sources
