Where the reserves are not where the mines are
For 9 minerals in the USGS 2025 tables, the country with the largest reserves is not the country that mined the most. Morocco holds 68% of the world’s phosphate rock reserves while China mines the most; Chile holds the largest lithium reserves while Australia mines the most. Australia appears as the reserve leader in 5 of the 9 cases.
Reserves, in the USGS definition, are the part of identified deposits that could be extracted economically at the time of the estimate. They are not total resources, and they change when prices move, when companies publish new feasibility studies, or when a government revises its reporting. A reserve figure is therefore a statement about known, currently economic deposits.
| Mineral | Largest producer 2025 | Largest reserves | Producer’s reserve share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | China (12%) | Australia (20%) | 4.8% |
| Lead | China (42%) | Australia (36%) | 23% |
| Lithium | Australia (32%) | Chile (25%) | 23% |
| Magnesium compounds | China (60%) | Russia (30%) | 9% |
| Manganese | South Africa (38%) | Australia (32%) | 31% |
| Phosphate rock | China (44%) | Morocco (68%) | 4.7% |
| Silver | Mexico (24%) | Peru (18%) | 6.1% |
| Vanadium | China (72%) | Australia (47%) | 27% |
| Zinc | China (32%) | Australia (27%) | 25% |
The last column is the key one. In 4 of the 9 cases the top producer holds less than 15% of world reserves, so its lead in output rests on a comparatively small reported reserve base. In the other 5, the producer also holds a large reserve share and simply ranks second or lower on that measure.
Why the two rankings differ
A large reserve figure does not by itself mean large output, and a large producer may report a modest reserve base. The USGS tables show where things stood in 2025 without explaining the difference, and this note keeps to what the numbers show: for each mineral in the table, the top producer’s own share of world reserves is in the last column.
The most lopsided case is phosphate rock. China mined 44% of the world’s phosphate rock in 2025 but holds 4.7% of reserves, while Morocco holds 68% of reserves and mined 14% of output.
Australia’s reserve position
Australia leads the reserve tables for gold, lead, manganese, vanadium, and zinc. In none of these was it the largest producer in 2025. For gold it held 20% of reserves and ranked 3rd in output with 8.5%. For lead it held 36% of reserves and ranked 2nd in output with 11%. For manganese it held 32% of reserves and ranked 4th in output with 7.9%. For vanadium it held 47% of reserves but reported no 2025 output at all. For zinc it held 27% of reserves and ranked 3rd in output with 8.5%. In each case its reported reserves are large relative to its own output, compared with the top producer.
Producer and reserve leader, side by side
The same comparison can be made country by country with reserve years: the country’s own reserves divided by its own 2025 output. In gold, China has about 8 years at its 2025 rate, Australia about 46. In lead, China has about 12 years at its 2025 rate, Australia about 71. In lithium, Australia has about 91 years at its 2025 rate, Chile about 164. In magnesium compounds, China has about 55 years at its 2025 rate, Russia about 1,353. In manganese, South Africa has about 72 years at its 2025 rate, Australia about 362. Large differences of this kind are what put these minerals in the table above.
Lithium
Lithium shows the pattern among battery minerals. Australia mined 32% of the world’s lithium in 2025 and holds 23% of reserves; Chile mined 19% and holds 25%. The United States holds 12% of world lithium reserves, while its production figure is withheld by USGS.
Reserve years
Dividing world reserves by 2025 output gives a rough number of years, comparable across minerals because the units cancel. It is shown only where the reserve and production figures describe the same material, for example contained metal in both. The range is wide: from about 18 years for zinc to about 765 years for peat.
| Mineral | World reserves ÷ 2025 output |
|---|---|
| Peat | 765 years |
| Magnesium compounds | 371 years |
| Phosphate rock | 292 years |
| Vanadium | 191 years |
| Natural graphite | 172 years |
| Asbestos | 156 years |
| Lithium | 128 years |
| Manganese | 90 years |
| Bauxite and alumina | 66 years |
| Molybdenum | 65 years |
| Iron ore | 54 years |
| Industrial diamond | 45 years |
| Copper | 43 years |
| Cobalt | 39 years |
| Fluorspar | 33 years |
| Silver | 23 years |
| Lead | 21 years |
| Gold | 20 years |
| Zinc | 18 years |
These ratios are not forecasts of depletion: reserves are revised in every edition and output changes every year. Read them as relative positions. Zinc, gold and lead sit at the short end, with 18 to 21 years, while peat and magnesium compounds sit at the long end.
Reserves with no world share
Some reserve columns cannot be turned into shares. For nickel, rare earths and niobium the world total is given as a lower bound (“more than”), and for several industrial minerals reserves are described in words such as “large”. Those entries are shown on the mineral pages exactly as published, without a calculated share.
Sources
U.S. Geological Survey, 2026, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: doi.org/10.3133/mcs2026. Shares, ranks and changes are worked out from the USGS tables as described on Reading the figures. Look up any mineral in the producer explorer.