FACTS ‘N’ FIGURES (February 18, 2008)

With prices of metals and minerals on the rise, it’s no surprise that the value of mineral production in the United States increased 2.9% in 2007 from the previous year.

According to a preliminary estimate by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the value of U.S. non-fuel mine production rose to US$68 billion in 2007.

As a result of higher prices, the value of mine production has increased — however, the quantity of mined minerals has decreased. The USGS’s latest report on the mineral industry, entitled Mineral Commodity Summaries 2008, examines trends, events and issues in the domestic and international mineral industries during 2007.

According to the report, major industries consuming processed mineral materials accounted for more than US$2 trillion of the nation’s gross domestic product of US$13.8 trillion last year.

The estimated value of domestically produced non-fuel mineral materials for 2007 rang in at $575 billion, a 1.4% increase from the previous year.

The mineral commodity summary also looks at gypsum, industrial sand and gravel, silver, soda ash, dimension stone and zinc, which all saw increased production in 2007. The amount of copper, gold, iron ore, lead, molybdenum, phosphate rock, potash and talc mined last year dropped, while the prices of those minerals increased. The value of aluminum, lime, nitrogen and sulphur production also increased.

The USGS mineral commodity summary includes separate chapters for 90 mineral commodities, including salient statistics on production, trade and resources.

— USGS’s Mineral Commodity Summaries 2008 is available at http://minerals. usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/mcs, along with an archive of reports published in previous years.