Monday, 6 October, 2025/Edition 79

Recently, there has been news about the U.S. Department of Energy’s plans to fund mining projects including $1 billion for critical minerals and $95 million for the “Mine of the Future” research program. So, in this edition, we will cover mineral science.

Rasoul Sorkhabi

Editor, Core Elements

How Many Minerals Are There?

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Core Elements No. 8 referred to a source that cited 5,975 minerals identified by 2023. The number has since grown.

What’s a mineral: A classic definition of a mineral is “an element or a chemical compound that is normally crystalline and that has been formed as a result of geological processes.”

These processes include:

1. Direct crystallization from magma (most-dominant process)

2. Metamorphism (For example, metamorphic index minerals)

3. Hydrothermal fluids

4. Precipitation from warm saturated water such as calcite and chert

5. Evaporation of salty warm water such as halite and gypsum

The International Mineralogical Association (IMA) was founded in 1958 as an international organization consisting of 36 national mineralogical societies or groups.

• The IMA’s Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification was formed in July 2006. It is based in Italy.

Mineral catalog: IMA also keeps track of new minerals. According to the latest data, there are 6,177 minerals identified as of 2025. Their website also offers detailed information about the names and properties of minerals.

New minerals: An article in the September issue of The American Mineralogist reports on 37 minerals newly added to the IMA catalog.

• Some of the new minerals include: Morningstarite, Sugarwhiteite, Lucasite, and Blueridgeite

• If you think you have found a new mineral, you can register it with IMA following their regulations, procedure and protocol.

Go deeper: Read this Popular Science article for more information on the mineral catalog.

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World Mineral Outlook 2029

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The U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Geological Survey has published its “World Minerals Outlook.” The report discusses the status of eight metals through 2029. Let’s take a look.

Cobalt

Main uses: Battery cathode materials and superalloys

Top five producers:

1. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (72.1 percent)

2. Indonesia (7.7 percent)

3. Russia (2.6 precent)

4. Australia (2.4 percent)

5. Canada (1.7 percent)

U.S. mining: Idaho (closed in 2023)

Current production: 290,000 metric tons

2029 projected production: 483,000 metric tons

Gallium

Main uses: Semiconductors

Top five producers:

1. China (87.3 percent)

2. Germany (4.7 percent)

3. Kazakhstan (2.9 percent)

4. South Korea (1.9 percent)

5. Japan and Russia (each 1.2 percent)

U.S. mining: None (entirely imported). U.S. Critical Materials Corp. recently announced potential mining in Montana.  

Current production: 760 metric tons

2029 projected production: 960 metric tons

Helium

Main uses: Magnetic resonance imaging coolants, ballons

Top five producers:

1. United State (54.2 percent)

2. Qatar (19.1 percent)

3. Algeria (13.3 percent)

4. Russia (8.2 percent)

5. Canada (3.0 percent)

U.S. mining: Largely as byproduct of natural gas

Current production: 180 million cubic meters of helium gas

2029 projected production: 462 million cubic meters

Lithium

Main uses: Batteries (87 percent), ceramics, and glasses

Top five producers:

1. Australia (40.1 percent)

2. Chile (19.9 percent)

3. China (18.8 percent)

4. Argentina (6.6 percent)

5. Zimbabwe (4.7 percent)

U.S. mining: Nevada

Current production: 240,000 metric tons (produced from hard rock ores and brines)

2029 projected production: 562,000 metric tons

Magnesium Metal

Main uses: Aluminum alloys, die casting, metal reduction, and desulfurization

Top five producers:

1. China (85.7 percent)

2. Russia (3.9 percent)

3. United States (3.0 percent)

4. Israel (1.6 percent)

5. Kazakhstan (1.4 percent)

U.S. mining: Nevada and Utah

Current production: 1,000 metric tons

2029 projected production: 2.02 million metric tons

Palladium

Main uses: Automobile and truck catalytic converters (especially for gasoline-based engines), dental alloys, jewelry, and petroleum refining

Top five producers:

1. South Africa (40.2 percent)

2. Russia (36.5 percent)

3. Canada (9.1 percent)

4. United States (5.7 percent)

5. Zimbabwe (4.8 percent)

U.S. mining: Colorado

Current production: 190 metric tons

2029 projected production: 276 metric tons

Platinum

Main uses: Automobile and truck catalytic converters (especially for gasoline-based engines), dental alloys, hard disc drives, jewelry, and petroleum refining

Top five producers:

1. South Africa (70.7 percent)

2. Russia (11.6 percent)

3. Zimbabwe (8.3 percent)

4. Canada (4.3 percent)

5. United States (2.1 percent)

U.S. mining: Montana. It is then sent overseas for refining.

Current production: 170 metric tons

2029 projected production: 242 metric tons

Titanium Sponge Metal

Main uses: Aerospace industry, metallurgy

Top five producers:

1. China (65.8 percent)

2. Japan (13.4 percent)

3. Russia (9.6 percent)

4. Kazakhstan (5.3 percent)

5. Saudi Arabia (3.2 percent)

U.S. mining: One active mine in Utah

Current production: 320,000 metric tons

2029 projected production: 553,000 metric tons

Go deeper: Read the full report here.

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Early Mineralogical Journals

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This year marks milestone anniversaries for several journals covering mineral science and mining.

Mining Journal—190 Years

• The oldest of its kind, Mining Journal was founded in 1835 in London by Henry English.

• In 1963, Mining Journal took over rival publication Mining Magazine which had been founded in 1909 by Herbert Hoover.

• In 2008, ownership of Mining Journal and Mining Magazine was transferred to the Australian company Aspermont.

American Mineralogist—109 Years

• American Mineralogist: An International Journal of Earth and Planetary Materials is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering the general fields of mineralogy, crystallography, geochemistry, and petrology.

• The journal was established in 1916.

• It is an official journal of the Mineralogical Society of America.

Rocks and Minerals—101 Years

• Rocks and Minerals was founded in 1926.

• Rocks and Minerals had a special exhibit in the 2025 Tucson Gem & Mineral Show.

• In 2009, Rocks and Minerals was acquired by Taylor & Francis Group.

Mining Engineering—77 Years

• Mining Engineering is published monthly by the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME).

• SME has also published Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration Journal, a peer-reviewed technical journal since 1983.

Go deeper: An article in the September/October issue of Rocks and Minerals chronicles the earliest mineral magazines in the United States in the 19th century.

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✉️ To get in touch with Rasoul, send an email to editorial@aapg.org.