Technical Announcement

U.S. output of mineral-based materials contributed nearly $422 billion to the nation's economy in 1999, according to a new report from the U.S. Geological Survey.

Mineral Commodity Summaries 2000 provides detailed information on 1999 events, trends, and issues in the domestic and international minerals industries. The report summarizes minerals industry trends according to continent and mineral type and also provides an outlook for domestic minerals growth for 2000.

This report also provides statistics on the major world production of nearly 90 mineral commodities supported by cooperative information exchange partnerships with over 60 countries.

According to Mineral Commodity Summaries 2000:

The estimated value of U.S. raw nonfuel minerals production in 1999 was over $39.1 billion, a slight decrease compared with that of 1998, mostly because of reduced metal prices, and the second decline in as many years. This trend is atypical because the value of domestic minerals production has increased in 31 of the past 39 years. The top three states for production were California ($3.2 billion), Nevada ($2.8 billion), and Arizona ($2.5 billion). Consumption of many industrial minerals, especially crushed stone (1.6 billion metric tons) and cement (111 million metric tons), remained firm in 1999, even though the pace of new construction slowed during the latter half of the year.

Imports of processed mineral material were valued at an estimated $62 billion, and exports were valued at an estimated $33 billion. Imports of metal ores, concentrates, and raw industrial minerals increased from $3 billion to almost $4 billion. Exports of raw minerals remained essentially unchanged at about $3 billion.

The outlook for the domestic minerals industry in 2000 will depend on a strong economy. Many economists in government and industry believe that economic growth in 2000 will take place at a slower pace than in 1999, partly because of higher interest rates.

The report "Mineral Commodity Summaries 2000" is available for purchase from the Superintendent of Documents, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954. The stock number is 024-004-02472-1; price is $24.00 for U.S. delivery and $30.00 for delivery outside the U.S. Individual two-page summaries are available through MINES FaxBack (703-648-4999) and are on the World Wide Web at http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/

As the nation's largest water, earth and biological science, and civilian mapping agency, the USGS works in cooperation with more than 2000 organizations across the country to provide reliable, impartial, scientific information to resource managers, planners, and other customers. This information is gathered in every state by USGS scientists to minimize the loss of life and property from natural disasters, to contribute to the conservation and the sound economic and physical development of the nation's natural resources, and to enhance the quality of life by monitoring water, biological, energy, and mineral resources.

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