Which minerals and fuels are still setting production records?
Of 22 materials with a long production record, 14 set their highest output on record in the final two years on file (cobalt, copper, crude oil, graphite, lithium, natural gas, nickel, niobium, potash, rare earths, tungsten, coal, fluorspar, vanadium), while 8 peaked five or more years ago (gold, manganese, phosphate rock, zinc, silver, lead, molybdenum, tin). 3 are more than a tenth below their peak (lead, molybdenum, tin).
"Peak" here is the highest year of world mine production in the record this site holds, nothing more: it is not a forecast, and a mineral that peaked can rise again, as several did when prices rose. Output can fall because deposits decline, because prices fall, because demand changes or because a producer closes; this table does not say which. For why reserves have not fallen along with mining, see how much is left.
| Material | Peak year | Latest as share of peak | Years since peak | Output at peak | Latest output | Record starts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cobalt | 2025 | 100.0% | peak is latest | 0.31 | 0.31 | 1901 |
| Copper | 2024 | 100.0% | 1 | 23 | 23 | 1900 |
| Crude oil | 2025 | 100.0% | peak is latest | 36.7 | 36.7 | 1965 |
| Graphite | 2025 | 100.0% | peak is latest | 1.8 | 1.8 | 1900 |
| Lithium | 2025 | 100.0% | peak is latest | 0.29 | 0.29 | 2000 |
| Natural gas | 2025 | 100.0% | peak is latest | 4.2 | 4.2 | 1970 |
| Nickel | 2025 | 100.0% | peak is latest | 3.9 | 3.9 | 1900 |
| Niobium | 2024 | 100.0% | 1 | 112 | 112 | 1964 |
| Potash | 2025 | 100.0% | peak is latest | 49 | 49 | 1919 |
| Rare earths | 2025 | 100.0% | peak is latest | 0.39 | 0.39 | 1900 |
| Tungsten | 2025 | 100.0% | peak is latest | 85 | 85 | 1905 |
| Coal | 2024 | 100.0% | 1 | 9.06 | 9.05 | 1981 |
| Gold | 2018 | 99.7% | 7 | 3.31 | 3.3 | 1900 |
| Fluorspar | 2024 | 97.1% | 1 | 10.3 | 10 | 1913 |
| Manganese | 2019 | 96.6% | 6 | 20.7 | 20 | 1900 |
| Vanadium | 2024 | 96.0% | 1 | 118 | 113 | 1960 |
| Phosphate rock | 2016 | 94.3% | 9 | 0.27 | 0.25 | 1900 |
| Zinc | 2016 | 94.2% | 9 | 13.8 | 13 | 1900 |
| Silver | 2016 | 90.9% | 9 | 28.6 | 26 | 1900 |
| Lead | 2012 | 88.6% | 13 | 5.08 | 4.5 | 1945 |
| Molybdenum | 2014 | 85.2% | 11 | 0.30 | 0.26 | 1900 |
| Tin | 2017 | 85.0% | 8 | 0.34 | 0.29 | 1905 |
World production from USGS Data Series 140 (back to 1900 where it has data), USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2022–2026 and the Energy Institute Statistical Review 2026; the same series as how much is left, (antimony, barite, chromium, iron ore, bauxite, titanium and platinum-group metals are left out because their history cannot be joined to the latest figures). The final one or two years on file are estimates, so a peak in 2024 or 2025 can move when USGS revises them. Where a record starts after 1900 (cobalt 1901, crude oil 1965, lithium 2000, natural gas 1970, niobium 1964, potash 1919, tungsten 1905, coal 1981, fluorspar 1913, vanadium 1960, lead 1945, tin 1905) the peak is the highest since that year. Quantities sort by their value in tonnes; natural gas, which has no mass figure in the data, sorts last.
More patterns
- Concentration:
- Producer or exporter?:
- Prices in real terms:
- Growth and decline:
- Linked prices and seasons:
- A century of real prices:
- Supplier exposure:
- Trade after export controls:
- Export share history:
- Prices around export controls:
- Export basket prices:
- Substitution coverage:
- Critical risk matrix:
- Country reserve life:
- Prices and cumulative output:
- US import reliance and recycling:
- Data confidence:
- Export controls and bans:
- Chokepoints:
- By-product minerals:
- Reserves and mining:
- Supply concentration:
- Land or yield?:
- Supply shocks and prices:
- Category price indices:
- Drawdowns and volatility:
- Stocks and prices:
- Which prices follow oil?:
- How reliable is the data?:
- Net exporters and importers:
- Country leaders:
- Export dependency:
- Concentration over time:
- Import dependency:
- Supplier shifts:
- Trade price against benchmark:
- Prices in other currencies:
- Do prices lead each other?:
- Volatility over time:
- Seasonality:
- Price ratios:
- El Niño and prices:
- Who consumes it:
- Self-sufficiency:
- Trade flows:
Every figure is computed from the same tables as the commodity pages. The full set is in patterns.json, and single facts from it appear each day on the facts page.