America is blessed with bountiful natural resources, from colossal reserves of oil and natural gas to an almost endless supply of timber. Looking at data collated by government agencies and other reputable organizations, we put a price on the key riches to be found across the country – you might be surprised at how much they’re worth. Weights are in metric tons, unless stated otherwise, one of which is equivalent to 2,204lbs.
Bauxite rock is the world's principal source of aluminum, the second most commonly-used metal after iron. It looks like a reddish clay, and it's usually found near the ground's surface, meaning it can be mined easily. Bauxite is used to produce alumina (aluminum oxide), which is then electrolyzed to create aluminum metal. The US has relatively small reserves of bauxite ore, which is mined on a far greater scale in Australia, China, Brazil and Indonesia.
As America is rather lacking in bauxite rock and relies mainly on imports, the country's reserves amounting to 20 million tons aren't worth a tremendous amount of money. The average price of imports to the US for crude dry bauxite during the first nine months of 2021 was $32 per ton, according to the US Geological Survey. At that price, America's reserves are worth at least $640 million.
The fifth most common element on earth, nickel is used in steel manufacturing, electroplating, batteries and more. Around 80% of the nickel consumed in the US is used in alloys, where it's mixed with other metals to make them stronger or more resistant, such as stainless steel. America is pretty far down the list of major producers – the metal is extracted from a single mine in Michigan (pictured), which is expected to close in 2025, in the face of increased demand for electric vehicle batteries. Minnesota politicians are calling on the state to approve mining leases, saying it'd reduce the US' reliance on Russian nickel imports. Globally, the top producers in 2021 were Indonesia, the Philippines and Russia.
While untapped and undiscovered sources of nickel are fairly plentiful, known reserves of nickel in the US amount to 340,000 tons, according to the US Geological Survey 2022. The current price per short ton is $21,350, therefore the value of America's reserves is approximately $7.26 billion.
Most silver is produced as a by-product of mining other metals, such as lead, zinc, copper and gold. Given the metal is rarely mined in its native form, there are just four silver mines in America while there are around 30 mines where silver is produced as a by-product. The top-producing state is Alaska, followed by Nevada.
Looking at data collected by the US Geological Survey, America's reserves of the precious metal, which is used to produce coins, jewelry, silverware, semiconductors and a whole lot more, amount to 26,000 tons. These are worth $17.1 billion based on current prices, though this figure doesn't factor in untapped and undiscovered resources.
An element with many different uses, zinc is the fourth most common metal in use after iron, aluminum and copper. Pure zinc has a blue-white color and is quite brittle, but it can be polished to a shiny finish and is more malleable when heated. China is the world's number one producer, while the US, which mined 740,000 tons of zinc last year, is the fifth biggest producer globally.
Info from the US Geological Survey shows that America has zinc reserves totaling 9 million tons, but the estimate doesn't include untapped or undiscovered resources. Based on the current price per ton of around $3,576, these proven reserves have a value of around $32.2 billion.
There's a good reason why cobalt is known as "blue gold." Once used to color glass and ceramics, today the blue-toned metal is essential to the manufacture of a wide range of advanced technologies, including nuclear power reactors, aircraft engines and rockets. Most significantly, it's used in the lithium batteries that power our smartphones and PCs. Much of the world's supplies are mined in the Congo, but the US has an important, albeit small, cobalt mining industry.
Proven US reserves of cobalt total 69,000 tons, which at current prices are worth $4.8 billion, however estimated identifiable resources of the substance in America amount to 1 million tons, giving a total value of $70 billion.
The most commonly used metal worldwide, iron is used to make steel, which can be used in all sorts of things from manufacturing to making reinforced concrete. In fact, 98% of all iron goes to steel production, according to the United States Geological Survey. The vast majority of iron ore mined in the US comes from two states, Michigan and Minnesota, due to a large ore deposit around Lake Superior.
Proven exploitable iron ore reserves total 1 billion tons. Even though prices have been down over the last year due to reduced demand from China, the value of America's total reserves still comes in at $110 billion. In addition, the US Geological Survey estimates that untapped and undiscovered resources could total as much as 110 billion tons, though much of this ore is likely to be of poor quality.
The US has a whopping 895.3 million acres of arable and pastoral farmland, making up more than one third of the country's total landmass, according to the latest stats from the National Agricultural Statistics Service. Farming is particularly concentrated in the Great Plains, with Texas having by far the most farms of any state.
According to the USDA, agriculture and related industries – which encompass farming, forestry and fishing, as well as food, beverages, textiles and more – contribute more than $1 trillion a year to America's GDP. The output of the farming industry alone, however, makes up $134.7 billion of this figure.
By weight, gold is one of the world's most valuable natural resources. However, it's not as widely mined as other minerals, with only 180 tons produced in the US in 2021. As stated by the US Geological Survey, 3,000 tons of gold have been identified in America that are yet to be mined, while an estimated 18,000 tons of the precious metal remain undiscovered worldwide.
At the time of writing, gold is priced at $1,792 per troy ounce, so a ton of gold, which contains 32,150 troy ounces, is worth about $58 million. Therefore the value of America's gold reserves alone is a massive $174 billion.
Timber is a renewable resource, so it's impossible to put a price on it. However, the US forestry and forest products industry plays a crucial role in the nation's economy, employing an impressive 950,000 people. There are an estimated 823 million acres of forests and woodlands across the US.
Forestry products, which includes manufacturing for everything from lumber to packaging and toilet paper, is worth $200 billion per year in the US. And American paper mill output alone totals $34.3 billion.
You may not have heard of it, but this silvery-white metal is commonly used in alloys with other metals, in order to make things like missiles, engine parts, drills, saw blades, ink for circuit boards and more. The US is the world's third biggest producer of the metal, behind China and Chile.
America has 2.7 million tons of proven molybdenum reserves. Total identified resources, however, amount to 5.4 million tons, as molybdenum is found in other metal deposits such as copper. The price of the metal per ton is $39,860 at present, therefore America's total molybdenum resources are worth $215.2 billion.
An essential component of fertilizer, as well as being used to make chemicals for use in industry, phosphorus is sourced from phosphate rock. The US is the third highest producer of this behind China and Morocco. Last year 22 million tons of phosphate ore were mined in America, with a market value of $1.7 billion.
According to the US Geological Survey, America's proven exploitable reserves amount to 1 billion tons. They are worth $320 billion based on current prices, which are at an all-time high. This is in part because China enacted a ban on phosphate exports last September.
Copper is the third most commonly used metal. Chile is the world's leading producer by a long shot, followed by Peru, and the US, which mined 1.2 million tons of copper last year, ranks fifth. America's proven exploitable reserves amount to 48 million tons, but the US Geological Survey estimates there may be billions of tons of untapped and undiscovered resources.
The value of this prized commodity is currently $7,975 per ton, so America's total proven exploitable copper reserves are worth $382.8 billion. Yet they could be worth considerably more, if you factor in untapped and undiscovered resources.
The US has the second highest reserves of recoverable oil resources, second to Saudi Arabia. In its latest annual review of worldwide accessible oil resources, Rystaad Energy found that America holds an astonishing 193 billion barrels of the black stuff, with much of it contained within the Permian Basin.
With oil prices skyrocketing throughout the first half of 2022, the EIA clocked May's price per barrel at $108. This translates to a gigantic windfall for America of $21 trillion, however there are signs these prices may start to drop.
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Demand for natural gas has been growing rapidly so it's no surprise production reached an all-time high in the US, and is expected to keep going up. According to the US Energy Information Administration's (EIA) most recent estimates, which date to 2020, there are about 2,926 trillion cubic feet of natural gas that are "technically recoverable resources." However, the vast majority of that has not yet been proven reasonably certain under current economic and operational conditions.
That said, the EIA tracked natural gas prices in the US for May 2022 at $8.31 per thousand cubic feet. With that as a guide, the monetary value of America's technically recoverable reserves is just over $24 trillion.
Coal mining is a declining industry in the US, as alternative fuels like natural gas and renewables are lower in cost and less polluting. Yet there are still abundant coal reserves. The US Energy Information Administration estimates that America had a demonstrated reserve base (DRB) containing 472 billion short tons of coal at the beginning of 2021. Although only 252 billion short tons can be mined with today's technology.
Coal prices vary widely depending on where the resource is mined. However, using the early August 2022 price per short ton of $181.55 for Central Appalachia coal as a basis, America's total reserves could be worth as much as a whopping $85 trillion. Coal prices have spiked recently, in part due to increased demand from countries looking to avoid imports from Russia. Though industry experts don't expect these heightened prices to create a resurgence of coal mining any time soon.
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