Industrial Minerals

The Basics

Industrial minerals are non-metal and non-fuel mineral resources including, for example, crushed rock, gravel, clays, sand (silica), gypsum, bentonite, and barite. They are the fundamental ingredients of roads and buildings, and they are essential for many industrial, commercial, and personal products and activities.

Why do industrial minerals matter?

For each resident of our country, we use more than 18,000 lbs. of industrial minerals per year in the United States. Sand, stone, and gravel make up roughly 90% of that amount. The rest are clays, salts, and other non-metals.^[1] Industrial minerals are essential to thousands of everyday products including medicines, paint, ceramics, construction materials (from roofing to windows to insulation), ink, and paper coatings.

How does geoscience help inform decisions about industrial minerals?

Geoscientists locate industrial mineral deposits, help determine how to mine them economically, help protect water and minimize environmental impacts around the mine, and help reclaim disturbed land after mining. Geoscientists also investigate the physical or chemical properties of industrial minerals to ensure their appropriate use.

References

¹ “How many pounds of minerals are needed for each person in the United States per year?,” U.S. Geological Survey FAQ

Learn More

Introductory Resources

• Aggregate and the Environment, American Geosciences Institute
  An overview of aggregate minerals, their importance, where they come from, how they are processed for our use, the environmental concerns related to their mining and processing, how those concerns are addressed, and the policies and regulations designed to safeguard workers, neighbors, and the environment from the negative impacts of aggregate mining.

Resources for Educators

• Education GeoSource Network (EGS), AGI
  Search for industrial mineral resources related to professional resources, curricula & instruction, teaching media, outreach programs, and other EGS collections.

• NGSS Performance Expectations, Next Generation Science Standards
  K-ESS3-1, 4-ESS3-1, MS-ESS3-1, HS-ESS3-1, HS-ESS3-2

• NGSS Disciplinary Core Ideas, Next Generation Science Standards
  ESS3.A

Critical Minerals

Critical minerals are those that are essential to the economy and whose supply may be disrupted. Critical minerals also tend to be those on which a country is heavily import-reliant, so the minerals that are deemed critical will vary from country to country. Demand for many of these minerals has skyrocketed in recent years with the spread of high-tech devices that use a wide variety of materials.

Metals

Metals are found in many different places around the world. Many natural Earth processes affect their distribution and abundance. Metals are essential to our economy and lifestyle, and the global demand for metals continues to rise.

Mineral Resources

Global demand is rising for mineral resources of all kinds, including metals, industrial minerals, and solid fuels like coal. Mineral resources are unequally distributed around the globe, reflecting the vast differences in geology of different parts of the Earth. Geoscientists play an essential role in locating mineral resources and designing processes for their safe extraction.

Mining

Mining is essential to meet rising global demand for minerals. Geoscientists locate mineral resources and figure out how to extract them economically while minimizing health and environmental impacts. The method of mining, as well as potential environmental impacts, depends on the type of resource being mined.