Production of mineral commodities and geospatial map of the mineral industries and related infrastructure of China

Jaewon Chung; Elizabeth R. Neustaedter; Ji Won Moon; Sean Xun; Steven D. Textoris

doi:10.3133/ofr20261018

Production of Mineral Commodities and Geospatial Map of the Mineral Industries and Related Infrastructure of China

Open-File Report 2026-1018

Mineral Resources Program

By: Jaewon Chung, Elizabeth R. Neustaedter, Ji Won Moon, Sean Xun, and Steven D. Textoris

https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20261018

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Abstract

As part of the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) mission to distribute global mineral information and analyze supply chains, this study provides a comprehensive review of the global significance of China’s mineral production and capacity in 2023. Of 77 mineral commodities in the USGS dataset, China produced 74 and was the world’s first-ranked producer for 39 of the 74. Compared to the high share of global mineral production, including up to 98 percent of global gallium production, the country’s share of global mineral reserves was relatively small, ranging from 20 percent (zinc ore) to 52 percent (tungsten ore). China’s imports of metal ores, slag, and ash accounted for 64 percent of global imports of such commodities by value. The country’s exports of base metals and articles of base metal accounted for 17 percent of the global exports. To help nongeographic information system users assess the spatial distribution of mineral mines, processing facilities, and ports for trades in China, this study created a geospatial (also called “georeferenced”) portable document format (GeoPDF) map. In addition, the GeoPDF contains mineral resource tracts (such as antimony, copper, potash, coal, and oil and gas), exploration sites, and energy infrastructure based on the preexisting USGS data.

Introduction

The National Minerals Information Center (NMIC) of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reports annual statistics for mineral commodities in about 180 countries and compiles information on the world’s mineral facilities. To understand the spatial characteristics of the worldwide mineral commodity supply chains, the NMIC has compiled geographic information system (GIS) geodatabases for the mineral industries and related infrastructure of Latin America and the Caribbean (Baker and other, 2017), Africa (Padilla and others, 2021), countries in Southwest Asia (Padilla and others, 2022) and in the Indo-Pacific (Trimmer and others, 2024), and China (Neustaedter and others, 2023).

The USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries (MCS) by the NMIC have provided the latest annual production and (or) reserves of 77 individual minerals by country. In 2023, China continued to be the dominant global mineral producer. Of 77 mineral commodities, China produced 74, and it was the world’s leading producer for 39 (including 25 metals and 14 industrial minerals) (table 1; U.S. Geological Survey, 2025b). The geodatabase for China, with updated information on major mines and mineral processing plants using Moon (2026), provides a dataset for a total of 932 mines and quarries (including oil and gas fields) and 1,506 mineral processing plants. These numbers reflected counting a facility more than once for producing multiple commodities; for example, if a mine produces copper and gold, the mine was listed under both copper and gold (table 2; Neustaedter and others, 2023).

Table 1.

Number of mineral commodities listed in the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries and those commodities that China was the leading global producer in 2023.

^{[Data from U.S. Geological Survey (2025b) and Moon (2026). MCS, mineral commodity summaries; USGS, U.S. Geological Survey]}

Table 1. Number of mineral commodities listed in the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries and those commodities that China was the leading global producer in 2023.
Mineral commodity group	Mineral commodities listed in MCS	Mineral commodities China produced¹	Mineral commodities for which China was the world’s first-ranked producer
Metals	40	39	25
Industrial minerals	37	35	14
Total	77	74	39

¹

China's production of iron oxide pigments, peat, and pumice has not been reported.

Table 2.

Number of commodities produced at mineral facilities as listed in Neustaedter and others (2023) and updated with Moon (2026), and indication of critical minerals of China and the United States.

^{[The number of critical minerals in common with both China and the United States [for
example, "CN, U.S." in last column] is 16; the three aluminum commodities shown are
considered one commodity. CN, China; U.S., United States; -, not applicable for critical
minerals of China in 2016 or critical minerals of the United States in 2025]}

Table 2. Number of commodities produced at mineral facilities as listed in Neustaedter and others (2023) and updated with Moon (2026), and indication of critical minerals of China and the United States.
Commodity	Mines and quarries	Processing plants	Critical minerals
Metals
Aluminum, bauxite	21	0	CN, U.S.
Aluminum, alumina	0	25	CN, U.S.
Aluminum, metal	0	44	CN, U.S.
Antimony	4	9	CN, U.S.
Beryllium	0	5	U.S.
Bismuth	0	11	U.S.
Cadmium	6	1	-
Cesium	0	0	U.S.
Chromium (chromite)	1	0	CN, U.S.
Cobalt	6	34	CN, U.S.
Copper	54	74	CN, U.S.
Ferroalloys, ferrochromium	0	29	-
Ferroalloys, ferromanganese	0	26	-
Ferroalloys, ferromolybdenum	0	1	-
Ferroalloys, ferronickel	0	20	-
Ferroalloys, ferrosilicon	0	8	-
Ferroalloys, ferrotitanium	0	3	-
Ferroalloys, ferrotungsten	0	5	-
Ferroalloys, silicomanganese	0	32	-
Gallium	0	16	U.S.
Germanium	0	8	U.S.
Gold	178	11	CN
Hafnium	0	0	U.S.
Indium	0	20	U.S.
Iron ore	55	0	CN
Iron and steel, raw steel	0	356	CN
Lead	59	63	U.S.
Magnesium	3	32	U.S.
Manganese	10	18	U.S.
Mercury	3	4	-
Molybdenum	7	0	CN
Nickel	9	23	CN, U.S.
Niobium	1	19	U.S.
Platinum-group metals	6	6	U.S.
Rare earths	15	15	CN, U.S.
Rhenium	0	5	U.S.
Rubidium	1	0	U.S.
Scandium (rare-earth element)	0	1	U.S.
Selenium	0	4	-
Silicon, metal	0	23	U.S.
Silver	69	32	U.S.
Strontium	0	6	-
Tantalum	4	20	U.S.
Tellurium	0	2	U.S.
Tin	9	4	CN, U.S.
Titanium	11	16	U.S.
Tungsten	19	26	CN, U.S.
Vanadium	1	13	U.S.
Zinc	65	52	U.S.
Zirconium	1	1	CN, U.S.
Total	618	1,123
Industrial Minerals
Arsenic	0	0	U.S.
Asbestos	2	0	-
Barite	3	1	U.S.
Boron	4	4	U.S.
Cement	0	312	-
Clay, kaolin	4	0	-
Clay, vermiculite	1	0	-
Fluorspar	7	4	CN, U.S.
Graphite	5	1	CN, U.S.
Gypsum	13	6	-
Lithium	20	29	CN, U.S.
Magnesite (magnesium oxide)	1	0	U.S.
Nitrogen, ammonia	0	1	-
Phosphate	8	1	CN, U.S.
Potash	6	0	CN, U.S.
Salt	10	1	-
Sand and gravel, construction	8	0	-
Talc	3	0	-
Total	95	360
Mineral Fuels and Related Materials
Coal	109	0	CN
Coke, metallurgical	0	7	U.S.
Natural gas	32	3	CN
Petroleum	71	13	CN
Uranium	7	0	CN, U.S.
Coalbed methane, shale gas	0	0	CN
Total	219	23
Grand total	932	1,506

Purpose and Scope

Considering the importance of China’s mineral industry to the global economy, this study reviewed the significance of China’s mineral production and summarized the country’s major mineral facilities as of 2023. To provide non-GIS users with insights into the spatial distribution of mineral facilities (including oil and gas) and ports for trade, this study also created a geospatial (also called “georeferenced”) portable document format (GeoPDF) map using the GIS-based geodatabase by Neustaedter and others (2023). The GeoPDF also contains mineral resource tracts (such as antimony, copper, potash, coal, and oil and gas), mineral exploration sites, and energy infrastructure. This effort reflects USGS’s ongoing mission of analyzing the contribution of an individual country to the mineral industry and global commodity supply chains and providing the spatial distribution of global mineral resources and mineral facilities.

China’s Economy

China’s economic growth in the past two decades, driven largely by investment in manufacturing and exports of goods, resulted in large increases in China’s production of, and demand for, mineral commodities (Xun, 2022; Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China, 2024). As a result, China had become the world’s leading producer and consumer of numerous mineral commodities. Beginning with the economic slowdown that started late 2012, the country’s economic development had been, and was continuing to be, increasingly consumption driven (International Monetary Fund, 2025). China’s manufacturing sector, however, still accounted for about 25 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2024 (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2025b), which is notably higher than the percentage for the world’s major economies by GDP, such as Germany and Japan (19 percent each), India (13 percent), and the United States (11 percent) in 2023 (Our World in Data, 2025).

Mineral Industry

After the implementation of the National Mineral Resources Plan (2008 to 2015) of China, the domestic reserves of major metal minerals, such as copper-gold, lead-zinc, molybdenum, and tungsten, have continued to increase. The outputs of minerals have substantially increased as well (National Development and Reform Commission of the People’s Republic of China, 2017). The large and growing industrial base was helping keep downstream demand strong and supporting the mineral industry’s move to expand capacity. The mineral industry (except for oil and gas extraction) has nonetheless been faced with some challenges, such as underutilization of production capacity, slow growth in demand, depletion of high-quality resources, and stricter environmental regulations (Xun, 2022; Moon, 2026).

In 2024, China’s capacity utilization rate of the smelting and pressing of nonferrous metals was 79 percent; the smelting and pressing of ferrous metals, 78 percent; the mining industry, 75 percent; and the manufacturing of nonmetallic mineral products, 62 percent (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2025a). These low utilization rates indicate the existence of overcapacity relative to domestic and global demands. It also implies that these facilities operating at low utilization rates could ramp up production to full capacity in the short term and export excess output to oversupply the global market, driving down global prices and undermining sustainability of foreign competitors (Alonso and others, 2025). For example, more than 800 million metric tons per year (Mt/yr) of raw steel capacity came online in China between 2000 and 2015. The production by China has been about equal to or greater than the total of the rest of the world since 2013. The overstock by China resulted in record low steel prices and consequently led to the decreased utilization rates of foreign steelmakers (Shambaugh, 2024).

Export Measures and Mineral Production

Table 3 highlights mineral production, reserves, and annual production capacity for 39 mineral commodities, for which China was the world’s leading producer in 2023 (U.S. Geological Survey, 2025b; Moon, 2026). These 39 mineral commodities include all mineral commodities and related products and (or) technologies that China has implemented export controls on since 2023. These minerals are antimony, bismuth, gallium, germanium, graphite, indium, magnesium, molybdenum, rare earths, tellurium, and tungsten (table 3; Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China, 2025a, b). Because China holds a majority share of global production, any instances of export or production restriction of these commodities by China could cause a considerable supply chain disruption.

For 15 of the 39 mineral commodities, China accounted for more than 65 percent of global production. These included, in order of China’s share, gallium (primary refined, 98 percent), magnesium (metal, 89 percent), mercury (mined, 88 percent), silicon (metal, 85 percent), tungsten (mined, 83 percent), bismuth (refined, 82 percent), graphite (natural, 79 percent), germanium (refined, 77 percent), tellurium (refined, 77 percent), wollastonite (76 percent), lime (73 percent), titanium (sponge metal, 69 percent), indium (refined, 68 percent), rare earths (mined, 68 percent), and vanadium (mined, 67 percent).

Production Capacity and Reserves

China’s shares of global annual production capacity were estimated to range from 45 percent (abrasives, silicon carbide) to 91 percent (primary, refined gallium) (table 3). Some production capacity data on alumina, raw steel, and refined copper that were not available for 2023 are estimated based on prior-year data (Flanagan, 2024; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2024; Merrill, 2025). China has implemented new capacity management policies in raw materials industry in recent years, including restrictions on new capacity for certain minerals, capacity replacement (allowing new, efficient capacity to replace old, outdated capacity), reinforcement of a capacity ceiling for certain minerals, and abolition of inefficient capacity (Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, 2021). An example is the capacity ceiling for primary aluminum, which was established in 2017 to be 45 Mt/yr and has been kept at this level as of 2024 (China Nonferrous Metals News, 2025).

Compared with production and production capacity, China’s share of global mineral reserves was relatively small, ranging from 20 percent (zinc, mined) to 52 percent (tungsten, mined) (table 3). The smaller shares were in line with the fact that China has lower reserves-to-production (R/P) ratios (in years) for some minerals compared with those of other mineral-rich countries. For example, the R/P ratio of gold in China was 8 years as of 2023, whereas those in Russia and South Africa were 38 and 48 years, respectively. Russia and South Africa held more gold reserves but produced less mined gold compared with China in 2023 (U.S. Geological Survey, 2024, 2025b). The low R/P ratio indicates that the mining activities have outpaced the discovery of new mineral resources in the country.

Table 3.

Mineral production, reserves, and annual production capacity for which China was the world’s first-ranked producer in 2023.

^{[Data from Flanagan (2024), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2024), U.S. Geological Survey (2024, 2025b), Merrill (2025), and Moon (2026). NA, not applicable for commodity refined at a mineral facility; n.r., not reported;
<, less than; %, percent]}

Table 3. Mineral production, reserves, and annual production capacity for which China was the world’s first-ranked producer in 2023.
Mineral commodity	Production		Reserves		Annual production capacity¹
Mineral commodity	China, in metric tons	China's share of world total, in %	China, in metric tons	China's share of world total, in %	China, in metric tons	China's share of world total, in %
Abrasives (fused aluminum oxide)	n.r.	n.r.	NA	NA	800,000	61
Abrasives (fused aluminum oxide)
Abrasives (silicon carbide)	n.r.	n.r.	NA	NA	450,000	45
Abrasives (silicon carbide)
Alumina	82,400,000	58	NA	NA	91,200,000	n.r.
Aluminum	41,600,000	59	NA	NA	45,000,000	57
Antimony² (mined)	62,300	59	830,000	<39	80,000³	n.r.
Bismuth² (refined)	13,300	82	NA	NA	17,800	n.r.
Cadmium (refined)	9,300	39	NA	NA	n.r.	n.r.
Cement	2,000,000,000	49	NA	NA	3,800,000,000	53
Copper (refined)	12,000,000	44	NA	NA	12,500,000	42
Fluorspar (mined)	6,000,000	63	67,000,000	24	6,300,000³	n.r.
Gallium² (primary)	621	98	NA	NA	1,000	91
Germanium² (refined)⁴	154	77	NA	NA	262	n.r.
Gold (mined)	375	12	3,000	5	380³	n.r.
Graphite² (natural)	1,210,000	79	78,000,000	28	1,800,000	n.r.
Indium² (refined)	690	68	NA	NA	1,100	61
Iron and steel (raw)	1,020,000,000	54	NA	NA	1,150,000,000	47
Lead (mined)	1,960,000	45	20,000,000	21	2,010,000³	n.r.
Lime	310,000,000	73	NA	NA	n.r.	n.r.
Magnesite	13,000,000	59	580,000,000	8	14,100,000³	n.r.
Magnesium² (metal)	805,000	89	NA	NA	1,800,000	86
Mercury (mined)	1,000	88	n.r.	n.r.	2,300³	n.r.
Molybdenum² (mined)	96,000	39	5,800,000	39	120,000³	n.r.
Nitrogen (ammonia)	47,000,000	31	NA	NA	n.r.	n.r.
Perlite (mined)	1,500,000	35	32,000,000	n.r.	n.r.	n.r.
Phosphate rock	105,000,000	45	3,800,000,000	5	n.r.	n.r.
Rare earths² (mined)⁵	255,000	68	44,000,000	40	255,000³	n.r.
Salt	54,000,000	20	n.r.	n.r.	68,000,000³	n.r.
Selenium (refined)	1,780	50	NA	NA	n.r.	n.r.
Silicon (metal)	3,630,000	85	NA	NA	6,400,000	n.r.
Sulfur	19,400,000	23	NA	NA	n.r.	n.r.
Talc and pyrophyllite	1,400,000	21	72,000,000	n.r.	n.r.	n.r.
Tellurium² (refined)	725	77	NA	NA	n.r.	n.r.
Tin (mined)	70,000	23	1,100,000	26	95,000³	n.r.
Titanium (mined)⁵	3,250,000	34	210,000,000	28	n.r.	n.r.
Titanium (sponge metal)	220,000	69	NA	NA	260,000	63
Tungsten² (mined)	66,000	83	2,300,000	52	71,000³	n.r.
Vanadium (mined)	70,000	67	4,400,000	23	84,000³	n.r.
Wollastonite	770,000	76	n.r.	n.r.	890,000³	n.r.
Zinc (mined)	4,060,000	34	44,000,000	20	4,200,000³	n.r.

¹

Estimated.

²

Mineral commodity and related items subject to China's export control announced in 2023–2025.

³

Based on the highest production between 2019 and 2023.

⁴

This study assumed global germanium production in 2023 was 200 metric tons based on global production in 2020 (the latest year for which data were available) (U.S. Geological Survey, 2021).

⁵

Mineral concentrates.

Mineral Trade

In 2023, China maintained its position as the world’s leading producer and importer of numerous mineral commodities as well as the world’s leading manufacturer and exporter. The country’s imports of metal ores, slag, and ash were valued at $239 billion, which accounted for 64 percent of global imports of such commodities by value. The country’s exports of base metals and articles of base metal were valued at $268 billion, accounting 17 percent of the global exports (U.S. Geological Survey, 2025b; Zen Innovations AG, 2025).

Of the 39 mineral commodities, for which China was the world’s leading producer in 2023, China’s mineral exports of 11 of these accounted for more than 30 percent (about one-third) of total global exports by value (table 4; Zen Innovations AG, 2025). These included, in order of China’s share of total global exports, gallium (metal, 68 percent), magnesium (metal, 68 percent), abrasives (fused aluminum oxide, 63 percent), graphite (natural, 58 percent), bismuth (metal, alloys, and scrap, 44 percent), abrasives (silicon carbide, 43 percent), germanium (metal, 41 percent), indium (metal, 41 percent), magnesium (compounds, 37 percent), antimony (metal and oxide, 35 percent), and molybdenum (metal, 32 percent).

China’s shares of global exports (table 4) are lower than China’s shares of global production (table 3), which indicates that the production was mostly (and unproportionally) consumed by domestic downstream markets. It is likely a considerable amount of the consumption of the mineral materials (from domestic supply and imports) were also exported as embedded components in downstream manufactured products, although the magnitude is not straightforward to quantify (McCaffrey and others, 2023; Renaud and others, 2023). For example, China’s exports of high-tech products, which is the main consumption sector for critical minerals, amounted to about $875 billion (6,279.2 billion Chinese Yuan) in 2024, accounting for 25 percent of the country’s total export of goods (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2025c).

Table 4.

China's share of global exports and of U.S. apparent consumption averaged in 2020–2023.

^{[Trade codes of commodities are detailed in U.S. Geological Survey (2025b). FeV, ferrovanadium; NA, not applicable; U.S., United States; V₂O₅, vanadium pentoxide; >, greater than; <, less than; %, percent]}

Table 4. China's share of global exports and of U.S. apparent consumption averaged in 2020–2023.
Mineral commodity	Global exports, in metric tons	Global exports, in U.S. dollars	China's share of global exports by value, in %	U.S. net import reliance of apparent consumption, in %	China's share of U.S. apparent consumption, in %
Abrasives (fused aluminum oxide)	1,220,000	1.5 billion	63	>95	60
Abrasives (silicon carbide)	707,000	400 million	43	74	63
Alumina	38,400,000	14 billion	3	58	2
Aluminum	16,200,000	36 billion	1	44	1
Antimony (metal and oxide)	27,400	250 million	35	84	53
Bismuth (metal, alloys, and scrap)	12,100	100 million	44	94	63
Cadmium (metal)	8,620	22 million	14	>50	17
Cement	224,000,000	13 billion	2	20	0
Copper (refined)	10,600,000	84 billion	2	45	0
Fluorspar	2,320,000	730 million	18	100	8
Gallium (metal)	66	14 million	68	100	19
Germanium (metal)	92	40 million	41	>50	26
Gold (metal)	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
Graphite (natural)	650,000	560 million	58	100	43
Indium (metal)	64	9 million	41	100	8
Iron and steel	NA	NA	NA	14	0
Lead (refined)	2,000,000	4.3 billion	5	28	1
Lime	NA	NA	NA	<1	0
Magnesium (compounds)	8,500,000	2.5 billion	37	53	24
Magnesium (metal)	303,000	1.3 billion	68	>50	10
Mercury (metal)	1,010	25 million	3	NA	NA
Molybdenum (metal)	22,000	737 million	32	NA	NA
Nitrogen (ammonia)	NA	NA	NA	9	0
Perlite	1,780,000	240 million	14	25	1
Phosphate rock (calcium phosphates)	25,200,000	3 billion	2	11	0
Rare earths (compounds and metals)	281,000	3 billion	26	96	67
Salt	57,000,000	3 billion	4	28	1
Selenium (metal)	5,400	98 million	26	>56	1
Silicon (metal)	1,660,000	8.5 billion	21	<44	0
Sulfur	23,200,000	2 billion	10	13	0
Talc and pyrophyllite	2,720,000	950 million	16	11	1
Tellurium	NA	NA	NA	82	4
Tin (refined)	300,000	6 billion	5	77	2
Titanium (mineral concentrates)	5,140,000	2 billion	2	87	0
Titanium (sponge metal)	78,400	850 million	4	>95	1
Tungsten (concentrates and other forms)	29,600	510 million	26	>50	14
Vanadium (V₂O₅ and FeV)	70,500	1.4 billion	15	59	<1
Wollastonite	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
Zinc (refined)	5,430,000	16 billion	1	77	0

U.S. Mineral Reliance

Of 39 mineral commodities, for which China was the world’s leading producer in 2023, imports of 6 commodities from China accounted for more than 30 percent (about one-third) of U.S. apparent consumption. These included, in order of China’s share, rare earths (compounds and metals, 67 percent), bismuth (metal, alloys, and scrap, 63 percent), abrasives (silicon carbide, 63 percent), abrasives (fused aluminum oxide, 60 percent), antimony (metal and oxide, 53 percent), and graphite (43 percent). Higher shares indicate that U.S. consumption is more dependent on China’s supplies (table 4; U.S. Geological Survey, 2025b; Zen Innovations AG, 2025; Moon, 2026).

Critical Minerals of China and the United States

In 2016, the Government of China released a list of 24 critical (called “strategic”) minerals for the country. Critical minerals refer to minerals (elements and deposits) that have no substitutes and are key materials in high-tech industries, such as new materials, new energy, next generation information technology, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, advanced equipment manufacturing, and national defense and military industries (table 2; Ministry of Land and Resources, 2016).

For the United States, according to the Energy Act of 2020 (Public Law 116–260), critical minerals are defined as a nonfuel mineral or mineral material essential to the economic or national security of the United States and which has a supply chain vulnerable to disruption. Critical minerals are also characterized as serving an essential function in the manufacturing of a product, the absence of which would have significant consequences for the economy or national security. The most recent list of the U.S. critical minerals published in 2025 contains 60 minerals (including individual rare earth elements and platinum-group metals) (U.S. Geological Survey, 2025a). Of these 60 critical minerals, 16 are also found in China’s list, including rare earths, tungsten, potash, aluminum, and antimony, which are the top 5 minerals in order of risk ranking (U.S. Geological Survey, 2025a); these 16 overlapping minerals are shown in table 2.

Mineral Facilities

Table 5 shows China’s largest (up to the top 4) mineral facility operators by annual production capacity and location (latitude and longitude) for which China was the world’s leading producer for mineral commodities in the mining and processing stages as of 2023. Namely, China was the world’s leading alumina and aluminum producer and the world’s third bauxite producer. Table 5 shows the locations of major bauxite mines, alumina refineries, and aluminum smelters, providing data for future analyses of spatial proximity of these facilities and mapping domestic logistics and supply chains. Commonly, a mine and a smelter (or a refinery) may produce multiple metals during the mining and processing of ore concentrates. For example, gold is produced as a coproduct with copper mine production; gallium, as a byproduct from bauxite and zinc; and indium, as a byproduct from zinc concentrate (Nassar and Fortier, 2021). The data of these mineral facilities were collected and reproduced from USGS publications (Neustaedter and others, 2023; Moon, 2026).

Table 5.

Major mines and mineral processing plants for mineral commodities listed in table 3.

^{[Data from U.S. Geological Survey (Neustaedter and others, 2023; Moon, 2026). Annual capacity is in thousand metric tons unless otherwise specified. Latitude
and longitude are in decimal degrees. Au, gold; Corp., Corporation; Cu, copper; Hg,
mercury; Mo, molybdenum; NA, not available; Pb, lead; Sb, antimony; Sn, tin; WGS 84,
World Geodetic System of 1984; Zn, zinc]}

Table 5. Major mines and mineral processing plants for mineral commodities listed in table 3.
Commodity	Operating company or owner¹	Facility	Province or autonomous region^{2, 3}	Annual capacity⁴	Latitude (WGS 84)	Longitude (WGS 84)
Aluminum
Bauxite	Aluminum Corp. of China	Pingguo Mine	Guangxi	5,800	23.38	107.51
Bauxite	Aluminum Corp. of China	Huaxing Mine	Shanxi	2,800	38.47	111.14
Bauxite	Yunnan Wenshan Aluminum Co. Ltd.	Mine in Wenshan	Yunnan	3,000	23.48	104.13
Alumina	Aluminum Corp. of China	Zhongzhou Refinery	Henan	3,050	35.38	113.45
Alumina	Shandong Weiqiao Aluminum and Power Co. Ltd.	Shandong Weiqiao Refinery	Shandong	15,000	36.90	117.76
Alumina	SPIC Shanxi Aluminum Co. Ltd.	Refinery in Yuanping	Shanxi	2,900	38.79	112.76
Aluminum, metal	Aluminum Corp. of China	Baotou Aluminum Plant	Nei Mongol	1,340	40.57	110.13
Aluminum, metal	Shandong Weiqiao Aluminum and Power Co. Ltd.	Shandong Weiqiao Plant	Shandong	6,500	36.90	117.76
Aluminum, metal	Gansu Dongxing Aluminum Co. Ltd.	Plant in Jiayuguan	Gansu	1,700	39.83	98.27
Antimony
Mine, ore	Hsikwangshan Twinkling Star Co. Ltd.	Mine in Lengshuijiang	Hunan	600	27.79	111.48
Mine, concentrate	Hunan Gold Corp. Ltd.	Chenzhou Mine	Hunan	8	28.53	110.87
Mine, Sb content	Tibet Huayu Mining Co. Ltd.	Zhaxikang Mine⁵	Xizang	8	28.39	92.00
Metal, including intermediate	Hsikwangshan Twinkling Star Co. Ltd.	Plant in Lengshuijiang	Hunan	40	27.75	111.47
Metal, including intermediate	Huaxi Group Industrial Co. Ltd.	Plant in Hechi⁵	Guangxi	40	24.69	108.02
Metal, including intermediate	Hunan Chenzhou Mining Group Co. Ltd.	Plant in Yuanling	Hunan	20	28.58	110.57
Bismuth
Bismuth, metal	Beijing GeoEnviron Engineering & Technology Inc. (BGE)	Plant in Baiyin⁵	Gansu	3,600⁶	36.54	104.15
Bismuth, metal	Hunan Jinwang Bismuth Industry Co. Ltd.	Plant in Chenzhou	Hunan	8,000⁶	25.87	113.11
Bismuth, metal	Shizhuyuan Nonferrous Metals Co. Ltd.	Zhuying Smelter	Hunan	1,200⁶	27.85	113.15
Cadmium
Cadmium, refinery	Yunnan Chihong Zinc and Germanium Co. Ltd.	Chihong Smelter	Yunnan	1,000⁶	25.55	103.73
Cadmium, refinery	Zhuye Torch Metals Co. Ltd.	Zhuzhou Smelter	Hunan	1,000⁶	27.87	113.08
Copper
Mine, Cu content	China Gold International Resources Corp. Ltd.	Jiama Mine	Xizang	150	29.69	91.75
Mine, Cu content	Jiangxi Copper Co. Ltd.	Dexing Complex	Jiangxi	190	29.01	117.72
Mine, Cu content	Western Mining Co. Ltd	Qulong Mine	Xizang	150	29.59	91.61
Mine, Cu content	Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd.	Duobaoshan Mine	Heilongjiang	110	50.14	125.79
Refined	Guangxi Nanguo Copper Industry Co. Ltd.	Nanguo Copper Smelter	Guangxi	700	22.53	107.80
Refined	Jiangxi Copper Co. Ltd.	Guixi Smelter	Jiangxi	1,800	28.34	117.23
Refined	Tongling Nonferrous Metals Group Holding Co. Ltd.	Jinlong (Tongdu) Smelter	Anhui	1,600	31.00	117.79
Fluorspar
Fluorspar	Inner Mongolia Huasheng Fluorite Mining Co. Ltd.	Aobao Mine	Nei Mongol	300	43.13	111.83
Fluorspar	Jinshi Resources Group Co. Ltd.	Mine in Hangzhou	Zhejiang	500	29.92	119.44
Fluorspar	Zhejiang Wuyi Shenlong Flotation Co. Ltd.	Xili Mine	Zhejiang	300	28.89	119.81
Gallium
Gallium	Aluminum Corp. of China	Zunyi Smelter	Guizhou	150⁶	27.52	106.84
Gallium	East Hope Mianchi Gallium Industry Co. Ltd.	Smelter in Sanmenxia	Henan	80⁶	34.78	111.80
Gallium	Zhuhai SEZ Fangyuan Inc. (Aluminum Corp. of China)	Nanchuan Refinery	Chongqing	NA	29.16	107.17
Gallium	Zhuhai SEZ Fangyuan Inc. (Aluminum Corp. of China)	Jingxi Refinery	Guangxi	NA	23.16	106.34
Gallium	Zhuhai SEZ Fangyuan Inc. (Aluminum Corp. of China)	Dengfeng Refinery	Henan	NA	34.40	113.04
Gallium	Zhuhai SEZ Fangyuan Inc. (Aluminum Corp. of China)	Lushan County Refinery	Henan	NA	33.73	112.80
Gallium	Zhuhai SEZ Fangyuan Inc. (Aluminum Corp. of China)	Zouping Refinery	Shandong	NA	36.89	117.77
Gallium	Zhuhai SEZ Fangyuan Inc. (Aluminum Corp. of China)	Yuanping Refinery	Shanxi	NA	38.79	112.70
Germanium
Germanium, refinery	China Germanium Co. Ltd.	Plant in Nanjing	Jiangsu	30⁶	31.66	119.02
Germanium, refinery	Shenzhen Nonfemet Co. Ltd.	Shaoguan Smelter	Guangdong	30⁶	24.85	113.66
Germanium, refinery	Yunnan Chihong Zinc and Germanium Co. Ltd.	Chihong Smelter	Yunnan	70⁶	25.55	103.73
Germanium, refinery	Yunnan Lincang Xinyuan Germanium Industrial Co. Ltd.	Plant in Lincang	Yunnan	50⁶	23.92	100.10
Gold
Mine, Au content	China National Gold Group Co. Ltd.	Wenyu Mine	Henan	20⁶	34.43	110.44
Mine, Au content	Hunan Gold Corp. Ltd.	Chenzhou Mine	Hunan	36⁶	28.53	110.87
Mine, Au content	Shandong Gold Mining Co. Ltd.	Jiaojia Mine⁵	Shandong	33⁶	37.40	120.13
Mine, Au content	Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd.	Zijinshan Gold-Copper Mine	Fujian	15⁶	25.19	116.41
Refinery	Shandong Zhaojin Gold & Silver Refining Co. Ltd.	Shandong Zhaojin Refinery⁵	Shandong	200⁶	37.37	120.43
Refinery	Sichuan Tianze Precious Metals Co. Ltd.	Sichuan Tianze Refinery⁵	Sichuan	150⁶	30.68	104.17
Refinery	Zijin Mining Group Gold Smelting Co. Ltd.	Fujian Refinery⁵	Fujian	160⁶	25.12	116.99
Graphite
Graphite	Jixi Aoyu Graphite Co. Ltd.	Mine in Jixi	Heilongjiang	100	45.62	132.46
Graphite	Jixi Puchen Graphite Co. Ltd.	Liumao Mine	Heilongjiang	80	45.08	130.78
Graphite	Qingdao Haida Graphite Co. Ltd.	Mine in Pingdu⁵	Shandong	60	36.73	119.92
Indium
Indium, refinery	China Germanium Co. Ltd.	Plant in Nanjing	Jiangsu	150⁶	31.66	119.02
Indium, refinery	Guangxi Debang Technology Co. Ltd.	Plant in Xinxing	Guangxi	120⁶	24.48	109.39
Indium, refinery	Xiangtan Zhengtan Nonferrous Metal Co. Ltd.	Plant in Xiangtan	Hunan	75⁶	27.90	112.97
Iron ore
Iron ore, mine, concentrate	Anshan Mining Co. Ltd.	Gongchangling Mine	Liaoning	10,000	41.10	123.51
Iron ore, mine, concentrate	Panzhihua Fengyuan Mining Co. Ltd.	Baima Mine	Sichuan	13,000	27.03	102.10
Iron ore, mine, concentrate	Taiyuan Iron and Steel Co. Ltd.	Mine in Taiyuan	Shanxi	12,000	37.95	112.30
Iron and steel
Iron and steel, raw steel	Ansteel Group Corp. Ltd.	Plant in Anshan	Liaoning	56,000	41.12	122.98
Iron and steel, raw steel	Baowu Steel Group Corp. Ltd.	Plants in multiple locations	Shanghai	115,000	31.18	121.49
Iron and steel, raw steel	Hebei Iron and Steel Group Co. Ltd. (HBIS)	Plant in Fuxing District	Hebei	57,500	36.60	114.44
Iron and steel, raw steel	Jiangsu Shagang Group Co. Ltd.	Plant in Jinfeng	Jiangsu	39,000	31.98	120.64
Lead
Mine, Pb content	China Gold International Resources Corp. Ltd.	Jiama Mine	Xizang	54	29.69	91.75
Mine, Pb content	Shenzhen Zhongjin Lingnan Nonferrous Metals Co. Ltd.	Fankou Mine	Guangdong	93	25.10	113.60
Mine, Pb content	Yunnan Chihong Zinc and Germanium Co. Ltd.	Qilinchang Mine	Yunnan	50	26.64	103.72
Refinery, primary	Henan Jinli Gold and Lead Group Co. Ltd.	Jiyuan Smelter	Henan	300	35.09	112.55
Refinery, primary	Henan Yuguang Gold and Lead Co. Ltd.	Yuguang Smelter	Henan	400	35.09	112.55
Refinery, primary	Yunnan Chihong Zinc and Germanium Co. Ltd.	Chihong Smelter	Yunnan	300	25.55	103.73
Magnesium
Magnesium, metal	Baowu Magnesium Technology Co. Ltd.	Plant in Nanjing	Jiangsu	200	31.60	118.98
Magnesium, metal	Century Sunshine Group Holding Ltd.	Plant in Baishan⁵	Jilin	75	41.95	126.43
Magnesium, metal	Shanxi Regal Advanced Material Co. Ltd.	Plant in Wenxi	Shanxi	55	35.28	111.31
Magnesium, metal	Shanxi Yinguang Huasheng Magnesium Industry Co. Ltd.	Plant in Wenxi	Shanxi	65	35.48	111.35
Mercury
Mine, Hg content	Guizhou Dalong Yinxing Mercury Co. Ltd.	Wanshan Mercury Mine	Guizhou	500⁶	27.53	109.21
Mine, Hg content	Guizhou Hongling Mercury Co. Ltd.	Tongren Mine	Guizhou	NA	27.70	109.38
Mine, Hg content	Shaanxi Mercury and Antimony Technology Co. Ltd.	Qingtonggou and Xunyang Mines	Shaanxi	NA	33.05	109.37
Smelter	Guizhou Hongjing Mercury Industry Co. Ltd.	Plant in Wanshan	Guizhou	350⁶	27.52	109.20
Smelter	Shaanxi Mercury and Antimony Technology Co. Ltd.	Plant in Xi'An	Shaanxi	NA	34.20	108.93
Molybdenum
Molybdenum, mine, Mo content	China Molybdenum Co. Ltd. (CMOC)	Sandaozhuang Mine⁵	Henan	15	33.92	111.50
Molybdenum, mine, Mo content	Jinduicheng Molybdenum Industry Co. Ltd. (Shaanxi Non-ferrous Metals Holding Group Co. Ltd.)	Jinduicheng Mine⁵	Shaanxi	12	34.33	109.96
Molybdenum, mine, Mo content	Yichun Luming Mining Co. Ltd. (China Railway Group Ltd.)	Luming Mine⁵	Heilongjiang	20	47.35	128.54
Phosphate
Phosphate rock	Guizhou Kailin (Group) Co. Ltd.	Mine in Xifeng	Guizhou	10,000	27.19	106.71
Phosphate rock	Yunnan Phosphate Chemical Group Co. Ltd.	Haikou Mine⁵	Yunnan	11,500	24.77	102.48
Phosphate rock	Yunnan Tianning Mining Co. Ltd.	Mine in Anning	Yunnan	12,000	24.85	102.39
Rare earths (rare-earth-oxide equivalent)
Mine	China Northern Rare Earth (Group) High-Tech Co. Ltd.	Banyan Obo Mine	Nei Mongol	179,000⁶	41.80	109.97
Mine	China Rare Earth Group Co. Ltd.	Weishanhu Mine	Shandong	NA	34.87	116.99
Mine	China Rare Earth Group Co. Ltd.	Mines in Ganzhou	Jiangxi	8,500⁶	25.70	115.24
Mine	China Rare Earth Group Co. Ltd.	Maoniuping Mine	Sichuan	34,000⁶	28.46	101.98
Smelter	China Northern Rare Earth (Group) High-Tech Co. Ltd.	Plant in Baotou	Nei Mongol	164,000⁶	40.66	109.75
Smelter	China Rare Earth Group Co. Ltd.	Plants in Jinshanzhen	Shandong	NA	36.75	118.26
Smelter	China Southern Rare Earth Group Co. Ltd.	Plant in Ganzhou	Jiangxi	28,300⁶	24.85	114.81
Selenium
Primary	Jiangxi Copper Co. Ltd.	Guixi Smelter	Jiangxi	300⁶	28.33	117.23
Primary	Jinchuan Group Co. Ltd.	Jinchuan Smelter⁵	Gansu	50⁶	38.51	102.20
Secondary	Vital Materials Co. Ltd. (Guangdong Xiandao Co. Ltd.)	High Purity Materials Plant	Guangdong	1,000⁶	23.91	112.91
Silicon
Silicon, metal	Changji Jisheng New Building Materials Co. Ltd.	Plant in Changji	Xinjiang Uyghur	370	44.78	88.86
Silicon, metal	Inner Mongolia Erdos Power and Metallurgy Group Co. Ltd.	Plant in Qipanjing Industrial Park	Nei Mongol	800	39.37	107.02
Silicon, metal	Xinjiang Hoshine Silicon Industry Co. Ltd.	Plant in Karamay	Xinjiang Uyghur	1,400	44.73	84.93
Talc
Talc	China National Nonmetallic Industry Corp.	Fanjiabauzi Mine	Liaoning	50	40.81	122.91
Talc	Guangxi Longguang Talc Development Co. Ltd.	Mine in Longshen	Guangxi	130	25.86	109.10
Tellurium
Refined, primary	Jiangxi Copper Co. Ltd.	Guixi Smelter	Jiangxi	70⁶	28.33	117.23
Refined, secondary	Vital Materials Co. Ltd. (Guangdong Xiandao Co. Ltd.)	High Purity Materials Plant	Guangdong	280⁶	23.92	112.91
Tin
Mine, Sn content	Liuzhou Huaxi Group Co.	Nandan Longquan Mine⁵	Guangxi	11	24.86	107.65
Mine, Sn content	Yunnan Hualian Zinc Indium Co. Ltd.	Wenshandulong Mine	Yunnan	12	22.98	104.49
Mine, Sn content	Yunnan Tin Industry Group Co. Ltd.	Yunnan Mine	Yunnan	80	23.17	103.09
Smelter	Chenzhou Yunxiang Mining and Metallurgy Co. Ltd. (Yunnan Tin Industry Group Co. Ltd.)	Smelter in Chenzhou⁵	Hunan	20	25.93	113.22
Smelter	Guangxi Huaxi Nonferrous Metals Co. Ltd.	Laibin (Liuzhou) Smelter⁵	Guangxi	25	23.70	109.22
Smelter	Yunnan Tin Industry Group Co. Ltd.	Gejiu (YTC) Smelter⁵	Yunnan	80	23.38	103.15
Titanium
Mine, concentrate	Pangang Group Vanadium and Titanium Resources Co. Ltd.	Sichuan Panzhihua Mine	Sichuan	1,000	26.62	101.73
Mine, concentrate	Panzhihua Longmang Mineral Products Co. Ltd.	Mine in Yanbian County	Sichuan	950	26.63	101.99
Mine, concentrate	Xichang Mining Co. (Chongqing Iron and Steel Co. Ltd.)	Mine in Xichang	Sichuan	600	27.87	102.10
Sponge	Chaoyang Jinda Titanium Co. Ltd.	Plant in Chaoyang	Liaoning	16	41.52	120.39
Sponge	Luoyang Sunrui Wanji Titanium Industry Co. Ltd.	Plant in Xin'an County	Henan	30	34.73	112.06
Sponge	Panzhihua Iron and Steel Group Co. Ltd. (Pangang)	Plant in Dong District	Sichuan	23	26.56	101.69
Tungsten
Mine, WO₃ in concentrate	China Molybdenum Co. Ltd.	Sandaozhuang Mine	Henan	8	33.92	111.50
Mine, WO₃ in concentrate	Jiangxi Rare Earth and Rare Metals Tungsten Group Corp.	Kuimeishan Mine	Jiangxi	7	24.71	114.88
Mine, WO₃ in concentrate	Jiangxi Tungsten Industry Holding Group Co. Ltd.	Dangping Mine	Jiangxi	9	25.47	114.33
Ammonium paratungstate	Hunan Shizhuyuan Nonferrous Metals Co. Ltd.	Plant in Suxian District	Hunan	20	25.80	113.16
Ammonium paratungstate	Jiangxi Xinsheng Tungsten Industry Co. Ltd.	Plant in Futian	Jiangxi	12	29.14	114.70
Ammonium paratungstate	Xiamen Tungsten Co. Ltd. (XTC)	Plant in Xiamen	Fujian	6	24.46	117.97
Vanadium
Vanadium, V₂O₅ equivalent	HBIS Chengde Vanadium Titanium New Material Co.	Chengde Chenggang Plant	Hebei	22	40.95	117.72
Vanadium, V₂O₅ equivalent	Pangang Group Vanadium & Titanium Resources Co. Ltd.	Plant in Xiangyang Village	Sichuan	44	26.56	101.69
Vanadium, V₂O₅ equivalent	Sichuan Neijiang Tranvic Special Steel Co. Ltd.	Plant in Nejiang	Sichuan	24	29.68	104.98
Zinc
Mine, Zn content	Yunnan Chihong Zinc and Germanium Co. Ltd.	Dashuijing Mine	Yunnan	300	25.65	99.05
Mine, Zn content	Yunnan Jinding Zinc Industry Co. Ltd.	Lanping Jinding Mine	Yunnan	200	26.40	99.43
Mine, Zn content	Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd.	Wulagen Mine	Xinjiang Uyghur	140	39.69	75.06
Refinery, primary	Guangxi Nandan Nanfang Nonferrous Metal Smelting Co. Ltd.	Nanfang Smelter	Guangxi	400	24.86	107.66
Refinery, primary	Hanzhong Zinc Industry Co. Ltd. (Youser Group)	Mianxian Smelter	Shaanxi	360	33.08	106.72
Refinery, primary	Huludao Zinc Smelting Co. Ltd.	Huludao Smelter	Liaoning	390	40.73	120.94
Refinery, primary	Zhuzhou Smelter Group Co. Ltd.	Zhuzhou Smelter	Hunan	560	27.87	113.08

¹

Most companies are owned by the central Government or a provincial government.

²

Listed by province or autonomous region, followed by locality. Only headquarter locations are provided for some companies that have numerous facilities throughout the country.

³

Some locations have different official translations; for example, “Nei Mongol” is also known as “Inner Mongolia,” and “Xizang” is also known as “Tibet.”

⁴

Estimated, rounded to no more than three significant digits.

⁵

Facility added in this study based on Moon (2026).

⁶

Estimated, in metric tons.

As shown in table 5, Yunnan is one of the country’s major mineral industry provinces by the number of major mineral facilities. The province held the country’s major mines of bauxite, lead-zinc, phosphate rock, and tin, and processing plants of lead and tin. Other provinces with major mineral facilities include Henan, Hunan, Jiangxi, Shandong, and Sichuan. For rare earths, Nei Mongol is the province with the country’s largest mine and smelter.

Geospatial PDF Map and Feature Datasets

One of the goals of this study is to create a GeoPDF of the geodatabase from Neustaedter and others (2023) with updated major mineral facilities using Moon (2026). Updated feature attributes in the mineral facilities feature class from the original geodatabase included annual production capacity, capacity notes, commodity, facility name, major operating company, and (or) operating status as well as the addition of 21 new entries. The GeoPDF map presents data on mineral facilities, exploration sites, and permissive tracts for mineral resource assessment of antimony, coal, copper, phosphate, and potash. The permissive tracts refer to the geologic environments of formation that were described in the deposit model; that is, the tracts will contain all the undiscovered deposits postulated in the assessment. Base cartographic elements from Natural Earth (2025) were also incorporated on the GeoPDF map to represent political and physical features in the study area and to aid in visual interpretation.

Figure 1 presents a screenshot of the GeoPDF map showing the locations of zinc mines and smelters (mineral processing plants), of which the major facilities were listed in table 5. Zinc is classified as critical by the United States and is a host commodity of other critical minerals, such as gallium, germanium, indium, and tellurium (U.S. Geological Survey, 2025a).

Screenshot of a map of China and surrounding countries. Zinc mine and smelter locations
are located most abundantly in the SE and NE (smelters especially in the SE); only
a few locations in NW China. — Figure 1.
Screenshot of the GeoPDF map showing the locations of zinc mines (red circles) and smelters (mineral processing plants, green triangles) in China. Information on the major mineral facilities is detailed in table 5.

Table 6 summarizes the feature datasets organized as folders in the GeoPDF, which contain individual selectable map layers, and lists the subset of feature attributes that are viewable on the map. The updated mineral facilities feature class contains the location of 932 mines and quarries and 1,506 processing plants across China (table 2). To aid in the visual interpretation of the mineral facilities feature class, it was divided by commodity into separate map layers, which were grouped into subfolders in the mineral facilities feature dataset called “Critical Minerals” of the United States and “Other Fuel and Nonfuel Minerals” (see “Layers” on GeoPDF map). Additionally, the electric power generating facilities feature class was divided by capacity classification into separate map layers to aid in visual interpretation. All other feature classes from the original geodatabase were included on the GeoPDF map as a single layer. The original full dataset as well as comprehensive metadata containing detailed definitions for all user-defined attribute data and documentation of all data sources are available via the accompanying USGS data release (Neustaedter and others, 2023). Instructions on how to view the layers and attribute data are included on the GeoPDF map. Additional information and instructions for navigating the layers of the GeoPDF map as well as accessing the attribute data can be found in Baker and others (2017) and TerraGo Technologies Inc. (2025a, b).

Table 6.

GeoPDF feature datasets, map layers, and feature attributes.

^{[ID, identification; LNG, liquefied natural gas; NA, not applicable; USGS, U.S. Geological
Survey]}

Table 6. GeoPDF feature datasets, map layers, and feature attributes.
GeoPDF feature datasets	GeoPDF map layers	GeoPDF feature attributes (field alias names)
Mineral facilities	Critical minerals¹	USGS Facility ID, facility name, feature type, commodity, commodity product, annual production capacity, capacity units, capacity notes, operating status, major operating company
	Other fuel and nonfuel minerals
Mineral resources and mineral exploration sites	Antimony resources	Tract name, commodity, deposit type, geologic age
	Coal resources	Geologic age
	Copper resources	Tract name, commodity, deposit type, expected deposits
	Phosphate resources	Commodity, geologic age, geology
	Potash resources	Tract name, commodity, deposit type
	Mineral deposits	Deposit ID, deposit name, commodity
	Mineral exploration sites	Exploration ID, site name, commodity
Energy infrastructure	Liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals	Facility name, LNG plant type, capacity, operating status
	Dams	Project name, storage capacity, installed capacity
	Electric power generating facilities	Project name, installed capacity, fuel type
	Electric power transmission lines	Voltage classification
Transportation infrastructure	Ports	USGS port ID, port name, port type, commodity exports, commodity form, port operator
Oil and gas resources	Continuous undiscovered oil and gas resources	Province name, mean total volume of oil, gas, and natural gas liquids each from oil and gas fields
	Province groups with conventional undiscovered oil and gas resources
	Conventional undiscovered oil and gas resources
	Oil and gas recoverable resources ± production	NA
Cartographic elements	Cities, lakes, rivers, China, China provinces, international boundaries²	NA

¹

Critical materials of the United States (U.S. Geological Survey, 2025a).

²

Map layers from Natural Earth (2025).

Acknowledgments

We express our appreciation to the scientists and economists of the National Minerals Information Center (U.S. Geological Survey) for compiling and analyzing global mineral production and reserves data. Special thanks are extended to Amanda S. Brioche and Dalton M. McCaffrey (U.S. Geological Survey) for their reviews that improved the original manuscript. The authors wish to acknowledge David A. Shields (U.S. Geological Survey) for editing the manuscript.

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Conversion Factors

International System of Units to U.S. customary units


Multiply	By	To obtain
Length
meter (m)	3.281	foot (ft)
kilometer (km)	0.6214	mile (mi)
kilometer (km)	0.5400	mile, nautical (nmi)
Mass
gram (g)	0.03527	ounce, avoirdupois (oz)
kilogram (kg)	2.205	pound avoirdupois (lb)
metric ton (t)	1.102	ton, short [2,000 lb]
metric ton (t)	0.9842	ton, long [2,240 lb]
Energy
joule (J)	0.0000002	kilowatthour (kWh)

U.S. customary units to International System of Units


Multiply	By	To obtain
Length
foot (ft)	0.3048	meter (m)
mile (mi)	1.609	kilometer (km)
mile, nautical (nmi)	1.852	kilometer (km)
Mass
ounce, avoirdupois (oz)	28.35	gram (g)
pound, avoirdupois (lb)	0.4536	kilogram (kg)
ton, short (2,000 lb)	0.9072	metric ton (t)
ton, long (2,240 lb)	1.016	metric ton (t)
Energy
kilowatthour (kWh)	3,600,000	joule (J)

Datum

Horizontal coordinate information is referenced to the World Geodetic System of 1984.

Abbreviations

$: U.S. dollars
GDP: gross domestic product
GeoPDF: geospatial (or georeferenced) portable document format
GIS: geographic information system
MCS: Mineral Commodity Summaries
Mt/yr: million metric tons per year
NMIC: National Minerals Information Center
R/P: reserves-to-production
U.S.: United States
USGS: U.S. Geological Survey
WGS 84: World Geodetic System of 1984

Disclaimers

Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also may contain copyrighted materials as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items must be secured from the copyright owner.

Suggested Citation

Chung, J., Neustaedter, E.R., Moon, J.W., Xun, S., and Textoris, S.D., 2026, Production of mineral commodities and geospatial map of the mineral industries and related infrastructure of China: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2026–1018, 1 map sheet, scale 1:17,500,000, 19-p. pamphlet, https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20261018.

ISSN: 2331-1258 (online)

Study Area

Additional publication details
Publication type	Report
Publication Subtype	USGS Numbered Series
Title	Production of mineral commodities and geospatial map of the mineral industries and related infrastructure of China
Series title	Open-File Report
Series number	2026-1018
DOI	10.3133/ofr20261018
Publication Date	June 12, 2026
Year Published	2026
Language	English
Publisher	U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location	Reston, VA
Contributing office(s)	National Minerals Information Center
Description	Report: v, 19 p.; 1 Sheet: 18 x 12 inches; Data Release
Country	China
Online Only (Y/N)	Y
Additional Online Files (Y/N)	Y