What changed in the data
Statistics get revised. When USGS prints its first estimate of a year's world mine output, the next edition usually moves it: across 58 mineral-years since 2021 the median revision was 2.7%, and 8 of them moved by 10% or more. This page lists those revisions, any change this site has logged since the last data refresh, and corrections USGS has made to a published chapter. It is not the same as what's new, which lists changes to the site itself, or data status, which lists when each source was last fetched.
Logged after each data refresh
Tracking started with the 2026-10-10 build. After each monthly refresh the site compares every commodity's published production, reserves and benchmark price with the previous run and lists what moved: new years of data, revised figures for a year already published, a new largest producer, revised reserves and new all-time-high prices. Nothing has changed since tracking began.
How far USGS revised its own first estimates
USGS's Mineral Commodity Summaries print the latest year as an estimate and the year before it as a settled figure. The table compares, for world mine production in 2024, the estimate printed in the 2025 edition with the figure in the 2026 edition. Rows where the two editions use a different table definition are left out, because that is a change of basis, not a revision. A mineral can appear with a large revision because the underlying data are poor, not because the world's output changed.
| Mineral | 2025 edition (estimate) | 2026 edition | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antimony | 100 thousand tonnes | 119 thousand tonnes | +19.0% |
| Vanadium | 100 thousand tonnes | 118 thousand tonnes | +18.0% |
| Fluorspar | 9.5 million tonnes | 10.3 million tonnes | +8.4% |
| Lithium | 0.24 million tonnes | 0.22 million tonnes | −7.5% |
| Lead | 4.3 million tonnes | 4.6 million tonnes | +7.0% |
| Manganese | 20 million tonnes | 18.7 million tonnes | −6.5% |
| Chromium | 47 million tonnes | 49.6 million tonnes | +5.5% |
| Bauxite | 0.45 billion tonnes | 0.43 billion tonnes | −4.9% |
| Cobalt | 0.29 million tonnes | 0.30 million tonnes | +4.1% |
| Graphite | 1.6 million tonnes | 1.55 million tonnes | −3.1% |
| Potash | 48 million tonnes | 46.7 million tonnes | −2.7% |
| Barite | 8.2 million tonnes | 8.0 million tonnes | −2.4% |
| Tin | 0.30 million tonnes | 0.29 million tonnes | −2.0% |
| Niobium | 110 thousand tonnes | 112 thousand tonnes | +1.8% |
| Rare earths | 0.39 million tonnes | 0.38 million tonnes | −1.8% |
| Molybdenum | 0.26 million tonnes | 0.26 million tonnes | −1.5% |
| Tungsten | 81 thousand tonnes | 82 thousand tonnes | +1.2% |
| Zinc | 12 million tonnes | 11.9 million tonnes | −0.8% |
| Gold | 3.3 thousand tonnes | 3.28 thousand tonnes | −0.6% |
| Phosphate rock | 0.24 billion tonnes | 0.24 billion tonnes | −0.4% |
| Silver | 25.2 thousand tonnes | 25.3 thousand tonnes | +0.4% |
| Nickel | 3.7 million tonnes | 3.71 million tonnes | +0.3% |
| Copper | 23 million tonnes | 23 million tonnes | 0.0% |
| Iron ore | 1.6 billion tonnes | 1.6 billion tonnes | 0.0% |
All 58 mineral-years, 2021 to 2024
| Mineral | Year | First printed | Next edition | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Niobium | 2023 | 83 thousand tonnes | 110 thousand tonnes | +32.5% |
| Graphite | 2022 | 1.3 million tonnes | 1.68 million tonnes | +29.2% |
| Antimony | 2022 | 110 thousand tonnes | 83.1 thousand tonnes | −24.5% |
| Antimony | 2024 | 100 thousand tonnes | 119 thousand tonnes | +19.0% |
| Vanadium | 2024 | 100 thousand tonnes | 118 thousand tonnes | +18.0% |
| Lithium | 2023 | 0.18 million tonnes | 0.20 million tonnes | +13.3% |
| Lithium | 2022 | 0.13 million tonnes | 0.15 million tonnes | +12.3% |
| Potash | 2023 | 39 million tonnes | 43.3 million tonnes | +11.0% |
| Bauxite | 2023 | 0.40 billion tonnes | 0.44 billion tonnes | +9.5% |
| Fluorspar | 2024 | 9.5 million tonnes | 10.3 million tonnes | +8.4% |
| Lithium | 2024 | 0.24 million tonnes | 0.22 million tonnes | −7.5% |
| Lead | 2024 | 4.3 million tonnes | 4.6 million tonnes | +7.0% |
| Manganese | 2024 | 20 million tonnes | 18.7 million tonnes | −6.5% |
| Tungsten | 2021 | 79 thousand tonnes | 83.8 thousand tonnes | +6.1% |
| Niobium | 2022 | 79 thousand tonnes | 83.7 thousand tonnes | +5.9% |
| Lead | 2021 | 4.3 million tonnes | 4.55 million tonnes | +5.8% |
| Chromium | 2024 | 47 million tonnes | 49.6 million tonnes | +5.5% |
| Tin | 2023 | 0.29 million tonnes | 0.30 million tonnes | +5.2% |
| Bauxite | 2024 | 0.45 billion tonnes | 0.43 billion tonnes | −4.9% |
| Barite | 2022 | 7.9 million tonnes | 8.26 million tonnes | +4.6% |
| Cobalt | 2024 | 0.29 million tonnes | 0.30 million tonnes | +4.1% |
| Vanadium | 2023 | 100 thousand tonnes | 104 thousand tonnes | +4.0% |
| Zinc | 2022 | 13 million tonnes | 12.5 million tonnes | −3.8% |
| Iron ore | 2022 | 1.6 billion tonnes | 1.54 billion tonnes | −3.7% |
| Cobalt | 2022 | 0.19 million tonnes | 0.20 million tonnes | +3.7% |
| Phosphate rock | 2022 | 0.22 billion tonnes | 0.23 billion tonnes | +3.6% |
| Graphite | 2024 | 1.6 million tonnes | 1.55 million tonnes | −3.1% |
| Lead | 2023 | 4.5 million tonnes | 4.37 million tonnes | −2.9% |
| Copper | 2023 | 22 million tonnes | 22.6 million tonnes | +2.7% |
| Potash | 2024 | 48 million tonnes | 46.7 million tonnes | −2.7% |
| Barite | 2024 | 8.2 million tonnes | 8.0 million tonnes | −2.4% |
| Zinc | 2021 | 13 million tonnes | 12.7 million tonnes | −2.3% |
| Potash | 2022 | 40 million tonnes | 40.9 million tonnes | +2.2% |
| Silver | 2023 | 26 thousand tonnes | 25.5 thousand tonnes | −2.0% |
| Tin | 2024 | 0.30 million tonnes | 0.29 million tonnes | −2.0% |
| Manganese | 2023 | 20 million tonnes | 19.6 million tonnes | −2.0% |
| Vanadium | 2022 | 100 thousand tonnes | 102 thousand tonnes | +2.0% |
| Tungsten | 2023 | 78 thousand tonnes | 79.5 thousand tonnes | +1.9% |
| Niobium | 2024 | 110 thousand tonnes | 112 thousand tonnes | +1.8% |
| Rare earths | 2024 | 0.39 million tonnes | 0.38 million tonnes | −1.8% |
| Molybdenum | 2024 | 0.26 million tonnes | 0.26 million tonnes | −1.5% |
| Gold | 2022 | 3.1 thousand tonnes | 3.06 thousand tonnes | −1.3% |
| Tungsten | 2024 | 81 thousand tonnes | 82 thousand tonnes | +1.2% |
| Molybdenum | 2022 | 0.25 million tonnes | 0.25 million tonnes | +1.2% |
| Manganese | 2022 | 20 million tonnes | 19.8 million tonnes | −1.0% |
| Tin | 2022 | 0.31 million tonnes | 0.31 million tonnes | −1.0% |
| Nickel | 2022 | 3.3 million tonnes | 3.27 million tonnes | −0.9% |
| Zinc | 2024 | 12 million tonnes | 11.9 million tonnes | −0.8% |
| Gold | 2024 | 3.3 thousand tonnes | 3.28 thousand tonnes | −0.6% |
| Manganese | 2021 | 20 million tonnes | 20.1 million tonnes | +0.5% |
| Copper | 2022 | 22 million tonnes | 21.9 million tonnes | −0.5% |
| Phosphate rock | 2024 | 0.24 billion tonnes | 0.24 billion tonnes | −0.4% |
| Silver | 2024 | 25.2 thousand tonnes | 25.3 thousand tonnes | +0.4% |
| Nickel | 2024 | 3.7 million tonnes | 3.71 million tonnes | +0.3% |
| Fluorspar | 2022 | 8.3 million tonnes | 8.32 million tonnes | +0.2% |
| Copper | 2024 | 23 million tonnes | 23 million tonnes | 0.0% |
| Rare earths | 2022 | 0.30 million tonnes | 0.30 million tonnes | 0.0% |
| Iron ore | 2024 | 1.6 billion tonnes | 1.6 billion tonnes | 0.0% |
Source: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2022 to 2026, world production tables, as compiled for how much is left. Minerals without a long-run history on this site are not in the table.
Corrections USGS made to a published chapter
Each month the site compares 1,705 country figures in the USGS data release (the CSV file) with the published chapters (the PDFs) for 42 chapters. 11 disagreements have been looked at and explained; none is new. One matters for the numbers:
- rare earths, Brazil reserves: the data release says 21,000,000 tonnes; USGS's reissued chapter says 11,000,000. The site uses the chapter's figure. Found 2026-10-08.
- rare earths, world reserves: the data release says 85,000,000 tonnes; USGS's reissued chapter says 75,000,000. The site uses the chapter's figure. Found 2026-10-08.
The corrected figures are applied through data/registry/usgs_overrides.yaml and stop being applied as soon as USGS corrects the data release. See the methodology.