500,000+
100,000–500,000
10,000–99,999
1,000–9,999
0–999
This is a list of countries by iron ore production based on U.S. Geological Survey data. [a]
This is a list of countries by iron ore production based on U.S. Geological Survey data. [a]
| Rank | Country | Usable iron ore production (× 1000 tonnes) | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| World | 2,500,000 | 2022 | |
| 1 |  Australia | 880,000 | 2023 |
| 2 |  China | 659,000 | 2023 |
| 3 |  Brazil | 422,000 | 2023 |
| 4 |  India | 285,000 | 2023 |
| 5 |  Russia | 99,000 | 2019 |
| 6 |  South Africa | 77,000 | 2019 |
| 7 |  Ukraine | 62,000 | 2019 |
| 8 |  Canada | 54,000 | 2019 |
| 9 |  United States | 48,000 | 2019 |
| 10 |  Kazakhstan | 43,000 | 2019 |
| 11 |  Iran | 38,000 | 2019 |
| 12 |  Sweden | 37,000 | 2019 |
| 13 |  Mexico | 23,000 | 2019 |
| 14 |  Chile | 20,000 | 2022 |
| 15 |  Peru | 15,000 | 2019 |
| 16 |  Mauritania | 13,300 | 2017 |
| 17 |  Venezuela | 12,000 | 2017 |
| 18 |  Vietnam | 9,570 | 2017 |
| 19 |  Mongolia | 7,695 | 2017 |
| 20 |  Turkey | 6,700 | 2017 |
| 21 |  North Korea | 5,250 | 2017 |
| 22 |  Sierra Leone | 4,720 | 2017 |
| 23 |  Malaysia | 3,920 | 2017 |
| 24 |  New Zealand | 3,490 | 2017 |
| 25 |  Austria | 2,800 | 2017 |
| 26 |  Greece | 2,284 | 2017 |
| 27 |  Liberia | 1,930 | 2017 |
| 28 |  Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1,622 | 2017 |
| 29 |  Colombia | 715 | 2017 |
| 30 |  Algeria | 600 | 2017 |
| 31 |  Pakistan | 547 | 2017 |
| 32 |  Egypt | 500 | 2017 |
| 33 |  South Korea | 310 | 2017 |
| 34 |  Tunisia | 200 | 2017 |
| 35 |  Laos | 110 | 2017 |
| 36 |  Togo | 60 | 2017 |
| 37 |  Bhutan | 28 | 2017 |
| 38 |  Morocco | 15 | 2017 |
This is a list of countries by pig iron production.
| Rank | Country | 1980 | 2013 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World | 506 | 1,168 | 1,180 | |
| 1 | China | 38 | 709 | 710 |
| 2 |  Japan | 87 | 84 | 84 |
| 3 | India | 85 | 50 | 54 |
| 4 | Russia | n/a | 50 | 51 |
| 5 | South Korea | 5.6 | 41 | 47 |
| 6 | Brazil | 13 | 26 | 30 |
| 7 |  Germany | 36 | 27 | 28 |
| 8 | United States | 62 | 30 | 26 |
| 9 | Ukraine | n/a | 29 | 25 |
| 10 |  United Kingdom | 6.2 | 9.4 | 9 |
| Other countries | 246 | 91 | 101 |
The economy of Brazil is historically the largest in Latin America and the Southern Hemisphere in nominal terms. The Brazilian economy is the third largest in the Americas. It is an upper-middle income developing mixed economy. In 2024, according to International Monetary Fund (IMF), Brazil has the 8th largest gross domestic product (GDP) in the world and has the 8th largest purchasing power parity in the world. In 2024, according to Forbes, Brazil was the 7th largest country in the world by number of billionaires. Brazil is one of the ten chief industrial states in the world according to International Labour Organization. According to International Monetary Fund (IMF), Brazilian nominal GDP was US$2.331 trillion, the country has a long history of being among the largest economies in the world and the GDP per capita was US$11,178 per inhabitant.
The economy of Canada is a highly developed mixed economy, with the world's ninth-largest economy as of 2024, and a nominal GDP of approximately US$2.117 trillion. Canada is one of the world's largest trading nations, with a highly globalized economy. In 2021, Canadian trade in goods and services reached $2.016 trillion. Canada's exports totalled over $637 billion, while its imported goods were worth over $631 billion, of which approximately $391 billion originated from the United States. In 2018, Canada had a trade deficit in goods of $22 billion and a trade deficit in services of $25 billion. The Toronto Stock Exchange is the tenth-largest stock exchange in the world by market capitalization, listing over 1,500 companies with a combined market capitalization of over US$3 trillion.
The economy of Bolivia is the 95th-largest in the world in nominal terms and the 87th-largest in purchasing power parity. Bolivia is classified by the World Bank to be a lower middle income country. With a Human Development Index of 0.703, it is ranked 114th. Driven largely by its natural resources, Bolivia has become a region leader in measures of economic growth, fiscal stability and foreign reserves, although it remains a historically poor country. The Bolivian economy has had a historic single-commodity focus. From silver to tin to coca, Bolivia has enjoyed only occasional periods of economic diversification. Political instability and difficult topography have constrained efforts to modernize the agricultural sector. Similarly, relatively low population growth coupled with low life expectancy has kept the labor supply in flux and prevented industries from flourishing. Rampant inflation and corruption previously created development challenges, but in the early twenty-first century the fundamentals of its economy showed unexpected improvement, leading Moody's Investors Service to upgrade Bolivia's economic rating in 2010 from B2 to B1. The mining industry, especially the extraction of natural gas and zinc, currently dominates Bolivia's export economy.
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the form of magnetite (Fe
3O
4, 72.4% Fe), hematite (Fe
2O
3, 69.9% Fe), goethite (FeO(OH), 62.9% Fe), limonite (FeO(OH)·n(H2O), 55% Fe), or siderite (FeCO3, 48.2% Fe).
Copper extraction refers to the methods used to obtain copper from its ores. The conversion of copper ores consists of a series of physical, chemical, and electrochemical processes. Methods have evolved and vary with country depending on the ore source, local environmental regulations, and other factors.
The economy of South America comprises approximately 434 million people living in the 12 sovereign states and three dependent territories of South America, which encompasses 6 percent of the world's population. South America ranks fifth in terms of nominal GDP by continent, behind North America and after Oceania.
Ferroalloy refers to various alloys of iron with a high proportion of one or more other elements such as manganese (Mn), aluminium (Al), or silicon (Si). They are used in the production of steels and alloys. The alloys impart distinctive qualities to steel and cast iron or serve important functions during production and are, therefore, closely associated with the iron and steel industry, the leading consumer of ferroalloys. The leading producers of ferroalloys in 2014 were China, South Africa, India, Russia and Kazakhstan, which accounted for 84% of the world production. World production of ferroalloys was estimated as 52.8 million tonnes in 2015.
Mining in Australia has long been a significant primary sector industry and contributor to the Australian economy by providing export income, royalty payments and employment. Historically, mining booms have also encouraged population growth via immigration to Australia, particularly the gold rushes of the 1850s. Many different ores, gems and minerals have been mined in the past and a wide variety are still mined throughout the country.
Mining in Iran is still under development, yet the country is one of the most important mineral producers in the world, ranked among 15 major mineral-rich countries, holding some 68 types of minerals, 37 billion tonnes of proven reserves and more than 57 billion tonnes of potential reserves worth $770 billion in 2014. Mineral production contributes only 0.6 percent to the country's GDP. Add other mining-related industries and this figure increases to just four percent (2005). Many factors have contributed to this, namely lack of suitable infrastructure, legal barriers, exploration difficulties, and government control.
Mining in South Africa was once the main driving force behind the history and development of Africa's most advanced and richest economy. Large-scale and profitable mining started with the discovery of a diamond on the banks of the Orange River in 1867 by Erasmus Jacobs and the subsequent discovery of the Kimberley pipes a few years later. Gold rushes to Pilgrim's Rest and Barberton were precursors to the biggest discovery of all, the Main Reef/Main Reef Leader on Gerhardus Oosthuizen's farm Langlaagte, Portion C, in 1886, which kicked off the Witwatersrand Gold Rush and the subsequent rapid development of the gold field there.
Mining in Afghanistan was controlled by the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, prior to the August 15th takeover by the Taliban. It is headquartered in Kabul with regional offices in other parts of the country. Afghanistan has over 1,400 mineral fields, containing barite, chromite, coal, copper, gold, iron ore, lead, natural gas, petroleum, precious and semi-precious stones, salt, sulfur, lithium, talc, and zinc, among many other minerals. Gemstones include high-quality emeralds, lapis lazuli, red garnet and ruby. According to a joint study by The Pentagon and the United States Geological Survey, Afghanistan has an estimated US$1 trillion of untapped minerals.
The mineral industry of Russia is one of the world's leading mineral industries and accounts for a large percentage of the Commonwealth of Independent States' production of a range of mineral products, including metals, industrial minerals, and mineral fuels. In 2005, Russia ranked among the leading world producers or was a significant producer of a vast range of mineral commodities, including aluminum, arsenic, cement, copper, magnesium compounds and metals, nitrogen, palladium, silicon, nickel and vanadium.
The total cultivable area in India was reported as 155,369,076 hectares as of 2020, and is shrinking due to over-farming, increased livestock grazing, deforestation, urban growth, and severe weather events. India has a total water surface area of 314,070 km2.
Mining in the United Kingdom produces a wide variety of fossil fuels, metals, and industrial minerals due to its complex geology. In 2013, there were over 2,000 active mines, quarries, and offshore drilling sites on the continental land mass of the United Kingdom producing £34bn of minerals and employing 36,000 people.
Mining in the United States has been active since the beginning of colonial times, but became a major industry in the 19th century with a number of new mineral discoveries causing a series of mining rushes. In 2015, the value of coal, metals, and industrial minerals mined in the United States was US$109.6 billion. 158,000 workers were directly employed by the mining industry.
The regional geology of Serbia describes the geologic structure and history inside the borders of Serbia.
The following list creates a summary of the two major producers of different minerals.
In 2022, the U.S. was the third-largest producer of raw steel worldwide, after China and India, and ranked sixth in pig iron production. By November 2024, the industry produced over 74 million net tons annually.