The world’s energy system today is mainly powered by fossil fuels. The transition to a low-carbon one will shift its underpinnings away from coal, oil, and gas to the minerals needed for solar, wind, nuclear, batteries, and other technologies. The dynamics of the energy system will shift dramatically.

Who currently produces critical minerals such as cobalt, lithium, nickel, and copper? Which countries have reserves that can be mined in the future?

These questions are crucial to deploying low-carbon energy at speed and scale and managing geopolitical and energy security risks along the way.

The data is there to answer some of these questions. Institutions such as the US Geological Survey, the British Geological Survey, the International Energy Agency, and the Payne Institute publish it. But it’s still hard to get a quick overview of global production and reserves.

To help bridge this gap, we’ve published a data explorer on Minerals and Metals, where you can dig into the numbers for a wide range of materials.

Here, we wanted to give a more focused overview of some of the most essential minerals to the energy transition. This is not an exhaustive list, but it should cover most of them in one place.

Note that this list is focused on minerals specific to the energy transition. Countries and regions will have their own lists of “critical minerals”. The European Union, for example, has a different list of minerals it considers “Critical Raw Materials”.

A quick note on terminology

The focus of this article will be on mineral production and reserves.

We will explore the data for two forms of production.

The first is mine production. As the name suggests, this is what’s directly mined out of the ground. This is often impure and mixed with other minerals or rocks. It usually needs to be refined to get it into a usable or final form.

That’s the second form of production. Refined production is the conversion and separation of the raw mineral into a pure or final form used in manufacturing. As we’ll see, the countries that do the mining are often different from those doing the refining.

The second key metric to focus on is reserves. Reserves tell us how much known and assessed mineral deposits can be mined economically with current technologies and market conditions. These are not to be confused with “resources”, which describes the total amount of available minerals. Reserves are resources that are economically viable today. We have a short explainer on this.

Both metrics — reserves and resources — can change over time as we find new deposits and known ones become more economical.

Bauxite

Bauxite is the primary source of aluminum. It’s refined into aluminum oxide and then smelted into aluminum.

It’s essential for various technologies, including wind turbines, solar panels, batteries, electrolyzers, and transmission cables.

Production

Three countries — Australia, Guinea, and China — dominate global bauxite production. They each produced around one-quarter of the total in 2023.

Brazil, India, and Indonesia also produce moderate amounts. The breakdown by country is shown in the chart below.

Reserves

Bauxite reserves show a very different geographical pattern. Guinea had the largest reserves in 2023, followed by Vietnam (which is a very small producer of bauxite).

China, the third largest producer of bauxite, has only a small amount of the world’s reserves.

You can see the distribution of reserves in the chart and map below.

Chromium

Chromium is a key component in geothermal and concentrated solar power (CSP). It’s also used in wind turbines, and for radiation shielding in nuclear power plants.

Production

Chromium production is concentrated in a relatively small number of countries. South Africa produced over 40% of the total in 2023.

Kazakhstan, Turkey, India, and Finland were also large producers.

You can see this breakdown in the chart below.

Reserves

The distribution of chromium reserves is a close reflection of global production.

Kazakhstan and South Africa hold most of the world’s reserves. India, Turkey, and Finland also have large quantities, but significantly less than the two leaders.

You can see the distribution of reserves in the chart and map below.

Cobalt

Cobalt is used in a number of industries: consumer electronics (it’s in most mobile phones and laptops), catalysts for the oil industry, resistant metal alloys, and ceramics.

In the clean energy space, it’s mostly used in electric vehicles. Cobalt is a critical element in many lithium-ion battery technologies.

How much cobalt we will need in the future will depend on how other battery chemistries develop. Many car manufacturers are already turning towards lithium iron phosphate (LFP) ones, which do not use cobalt. Others are developing sodium-ion chemistries, which are also cobalt-free. Depending on how these develop, cobalt may not be a critical element of electric vehicles in the future.

Production

Most cobalt is mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It produces almost three-quarters of the global total, as you can see in the chart below. Other leading producers include Indonesia, Russia, and Australia.

Despite mining most of it, the DRC refines very little. China dominates the supply chain for refined cobalt, as you can see in the second chart. It makes up more than three-quarters of global production. Countries such as Finland, Canada and Norway also produce refined cobalt, but in much smaller quantities.

Reserves

The Democratic Republic of Congo has a slightly smaller dominance when it comes to reserves. In 2023, it had just over half of the world’s known reserves. Australia had the second largest reserves, with around 15% of the global total. That’s far larger than its share of global production, which is around 2%.

Cuba and Indonesia each had around 5% of reserves.

The chart and map below show the distribution worldwide.

Copper

Copper is a critical element in solar photovoltaics, wind power, battery storage, and electricity grids. It’s used in cabling, wiring, and electrical transformers.

Although aluminum can be used as a substitute for applications such as electric wires, copper will be a hard element to replace in clean energy technologies.

Mined copper

Copper mining is less geographically concentrated than cobalt. Chile is the world’s largest producer, mining just over one-fifth of the global total in 2023. Peru was the second largest, followed by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and China. You can see this breakdown in the first chart below.

Again, China dominates the refined copper supply chain. It produced just under half of the global total in 2023. Chile and the DRC were also among the top producers, but with a lower share than their mined total.

Reserves

Copper reserves are even less geographically concentrated. Chile is still home to the largest share, but it had just one-fifth of the global total in 2023.

Peru, Australia, the DRC, and Russia all have significant reserves. You can see this distribution in the chart and map below.

Graphite

Graphite is a key component of battery anodes, so is important for the transition to electric vehicles, and stationary batteries for balancing electricity grids.

Some graphite could be substituted with silicon, or completely swapped for lithium battery anodes.¹

Production

China produces most of the world’s natural graphite. In 2023, it mined more than three-quarters of the global total.

Madagascar, Mozambique, and Brazil also produce moderate amounts of graphite. You can see this breakdown in the chart below.

Reserves

Graphite reserves are much less geographically concentrated. China has just over one-quarter of the world’s known reserves despite producing more than three-quarters of the global total.

Brazil has almost the same reserves as China. Mozambique, Madagascar, Tanzania, and Russia all have at least 5%.

You can see this distribution in the chart and map below.

Lithium

Lithium is the core component of the most popular battery technology: lithium-ion batteries. This means electric vehicles and stationary batteries are highly reliant on this material.

The second most popular technology — lithium iron phosphate (LFP) — also uses lithium, so the most likely alternative will still need large amounts of lithium.

Some manufacturers are developing new chemistries, such as sodium-ion, which don’t use lithium. A widespread shift to this technology would significantly reduce expected demand in the future.

Production

Australia produced around one-half of the world’s lithium in 2023. Chile made up another quarter of production, with China following at 18%.

Chile and Argentina both lie in the so-called “lithium triangle”, a region in the Andes that has large lithium reserves and crosses the borders of these two countries and Bolivia. They both mine significant amounts of lithium.

You can see this breakdown by country in the chart below.

Reserves

The USGS estimates that Bolivia has the world’s largest lithium resources. These are the total amount of lithium that could be extracted. Remember, reserves are resources that can be extracted economically from current technologies and markets. Bolivia was not included in the USGS’s estimates of reserves in 2023, since most of these resources have not yet been properly developed for economic extraction.

Chile was home to the largest share of global reserves. Australia, Argentina, and China also have large reserves.

We can get lithium from two sources.

First, it can be extracted from hard rocks in the ground, just like we imagine in traditional mines. This is the main type of deposit found in Australia.

Second, it can be extracted from brine – that is, water rich in lithium salt. To get this lithium, salty groundwater has to be pumped to the surface and left to sit in large ponds for months. When most of the water is evaporated away, lithium can be extracted. These are the typical deposits found in South America, in Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia.²

Manganese

Manganese is widely used in solar and wind power, and in lithium-ion batteries for electric cars and stationary storage. Small amounts are also used in geothermal energy production. It’s used in steel production to increase strength, and reduce wear and tear.

Production

South Africa, Gabon and Australia dominate mined production of manganese. In 2023, South Africa produced just over one-third of the global total.

Ghana, China, India, Brazil and Cote d’Ivoire are also significant producers. You can see the breakdown of mining quantities in the chart below.

Reserves

South Africa is also home to the largest known deposits of manganese reserves. It had around one-third of the total in 2023.

Australia, China, Brazil and Ukraine also had significant reserves. Combined with South Africa, they had more than 90% of the world’s reserves.

In the chart and map below you can see the global distribution.

Molybdenum

Molybdenum has a very high electrical conductivity but expands very little when exposed to heat. This makes it a very useful material for clean energy. It’s mostly used in solar and wind power generation.

Production

China and several American countries — Chile, Peru, the United States, and Mexico — produce most of the world’s molybdenum. China produced more than 40% of the total in 2023.

You can see this breakdown by country in the chart below.

Reserves

Combined, China and the United States had around two-thirds of the world’s known reserves of molybdenum in 2023. Peru, Chile, Russia and Australia also had significant reserves.

You can see this breakdown in the chart and map below.

Nickel

Nickel is one of the most commonly used elements in clean energy.

It’s a key component in the cathodes of lithium-ion batteries in electric cars and stationary storage. How much nickel will be needed for batteries in the future will depend on how other battery chemistries develop. Many car manufacturers are already turning towards lithium iron phosphate (LFP) ones, which do not use nickel. Others are developing sodium-ion chemistries, which are also nickel-free.

It’s also an important alloy in wind and solar power and would be used in electrolyzers for green hydrogen production.

Production

Indonesia and the Philippines in South-East Asia are large producers of mined nickel. Indonesia produced half of the global total in 2023.

New Caledonia, Russia, Canada, and Australia are also large mine producers. You can see this breakdown in the first chart below.

Refined production is slightly less concentrated. Indonesia produces just over one-third. China produces around one-quarter. The rest is distributed across many countries, including Japan, Canada, Russia, Australia, and others.

You can see refined production in the second chart below.

Reserves

Indonesia also has the largest deposits of known reserves of nickel. In 2023, it had over 40% of the world’s reserves.

Australia and Brazil also had large reserves. You can see this breakdown in the chart and map below.

Rare earths

There are 17 rare earth elements (REEs). Rare earths are used in wind power for permanent magnets, which sit at the center of the blades. These magnets increase the amount of power generated and can also reduce the maintenance needed for wind turbines.

Neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium are four of the most common rare earth metals used in clean energy.

Production

China dominates global production of rare earth metals, accounting for around two-thirds of the global total in 2023. The United States, Myanmar, and Australia were also significant producers.

In the chart below, you can see the breakdown of global production.

Reserves

Rare earth reserves are less geographically concentrated than global production.

In 2023, China held just over one-third of known reserves despite producing more than two-thirds of the worldwide total.

Vietnam, Brazil, Russia, India, and Australia all have significant reserves, although most are mining very little.

In the chart and map below, you can see the global distribution of reserves.

Silver

Silver plays a crucial role in industrial applications, being a core component of electronics and batteries.

Its most important role in clean energy is in solar photovoltaics and electric vehicles. Its high conductivity makes it very effective in connecting batteries to other electronic components in electric cars. Silver paste is used as a layer on the front and back of solar panels, where it’s a very efficient conductor of electricity.

Production

Silver production is highly concentrated in China and Latin America, where Mexico, Peru, Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina are all key producers.

You can see the breakdown of global production in the chart below.

Reserves

The world’s silver reserves are mostly distributed across Latin America, Australia, Russia, and China. No single country dominates global reserves. Peru had the largest share of reserves in 2023, but only 18% of them.

You can see the breakdown of reserves in the chart and map below.

Uranium

Uranium is the primary fuel for nuclear energy production. Uranium ore can be mined from typical open pits or excavation sites. However, this method of mining has been overtaken by “in-situ leaching”. In this method, water and other elements are circulated through uranium deposits underground. The uranium is then dissolved out of the deposit and extracted for enrichment into a fuel that can be used in nuclear plants.

Kazakhstan is by far the world’s largest producer of mined uranium. In 2022, it accounted for more than 40% of the global total, as shown in the chart below.

Namibia, Canada, Australia, and Uzbekistan were also large producers.

Russia is the world’s largest producer of enriched uranium, which is then used into fuel rods in other countries. In 2023, it produced around 40% of the global total.

Hannah Ritchie and Pablo Rosado (2024) - “Which countries have the critical minerals needed for the energy transition?” Published online at OurWorldinData.org. Retrieved from: 'https://ourworldindata.org/countries-critical-minerals-needed-energy-transition' [Online Resource]

@article{owid-countries-critical-minerals-needed-energy-transition,
    author = {Hannah Ritchie and Pablo Rosado},
    title = {Which countries have the critical minerals needed for the energy transition?},
    journal = {Our World in Data},
    year = {2024},
    note = {https://ourworldindata.org/countries-critical-minerals-needed-energy-transition}
}

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