Global extraction accounts of crude metal ores, 1970-2022

This data file contains an update of the global accounts for crude metal ore extraction as compiled for the ‘Global Material Flows Database’ of the UN International Resource Panel (IRP) (https://www.resourcepanel.org/global-material-flows-database).

The accounts of the 07.2024 update cover the period of 1970 to 2022 and contain data for 47 metal ores extracted in 151 countries.

The 07.2024 update followed the method for compiling economy-wide material flow accounts as described in the Technical Annex of the IRP database (CSIRO, 2024).

Primary data on the extraction of metal ores was obtained from three major international data sources: the World Mining Data (WMD) published by the Federal Ministry of Finance of Austria, the British Geological Survey (BGS) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS). WMD was used as the main data source, which was then complemented with data from BGS and USGS. The primary data source for each data point is indicated in the data file.

In cases primary sources reported the extraction of crude ores, these values were directly used. Material names in the data file indicate those cases as “ores”.

However, data on metal production is often reported in terms of net-metal contents, i.e., metal quantity after the processing and concentration of crude ores. In those cases, factors were applied that represent ore grades and compensate for losses in recovery. These factors were compiled from the SNL Metal and Mining database (SNL, 2024) and own research based on company reports (Jasansky et al., 2023).

Further, in case of polymetallic extractions, a price allocation approach was applied. Average prices for each metal ore in the period of 1990-2020 were combined with metal production data to allocate crude ore extraction to each metal produced, proportional to the total value of each metal. Thereby, double counting is avoided.

After this recalculation, each metal has been allocated a share of the corresponding crude ore. Material names in the data file indicate those cases as “associated ores”.

References:

CSIRO, 2024. Technical Annex for Global Material Flows Database - 2024 edition. Available at: https://www.resourcepanel.org/sites/default/files/technical_annex_for_global_material_flows_database_-_vers_4_june_2024.pdf. Australia National Science Agency, Canberra.

Jasansky, S., Lieber, M., Giljum, S., Maus, V., 2023. An open database on global coal and metal mine production. Scientific Data 10 (1), 1–12. DOI: 10.1038/s41597-023-01965-y.

SNL, 2024. Metals and Mining Database. S&P Global Market Intelligence, New York.