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…
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), although the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has just given the go-ahead for a mining project in the state. Globally, the top producers are Indonesia and the Philippines.
While untapped and undiscovered sources of nickel are fairly plentiful, known reserves of nickel in the US amount to just 121,254 short tons, according to the US Geological Survey 2019. The current price per short ton is $15,140, therefore the value of America's reserves is approximately $1.84 billion.
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 on imports, the country's reserves aren't worth a tremendous amount of money. The US Geological Survey notes that, "as a general rule, 4 tons of dried bauxite is required to produce 2 tons of alumina, which, in turn, produces 1 ton of aluminum." America's known bauxite reserves total 22 million short tons, which we can assume will produce 5.5 million short tons of aluminum metal. With aluminum metal currently priced at $1,580 per short ton, the bauxite reserves work out to roughly $8.7 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 38 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 besides, amount to 27,558 short tons. These reserves are worth $16 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 870,826 short tons of zinc last year, is the fifth biggest producer globally.
Info from the US Geological Survey shows that America has zinc reserves totaling 12.1 million short tons, but the estimate doesn't include untapped or undiscovered resources. Based on the current price per short ton of around $2,345, these proven reserves have a value of some $28.4 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 41,888 short tons, which at current prices are worth $1.3 billion, however estimated identifiable resources of the substance in America amount to 1.1 million short tons, giving a total value of $34.1 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 29.8 million short tons of phosphate ore were mined in America, with a market value of $1.8 billion.
According to the US Geological Survey, America's proven exploitable reserves amount to 1.1 billion short tons. They are worth $94 billion based on current prices.
The US has a whopping 899.5 million acres of arable and pastoral farmland, making up almost two-fifths 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, which provide fertile land for wheat and corn cultivation, as well as grazing for cattle.
According to the USDA, agriculture and related industries – which encompasses farming, forestry, and fishing, as well as food, beverages, textiles, and more – contributes more than $1 trillion a year to America's GDP. The output of the farming industry alone, however, makes up $132.8 billion of this figure.
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 such as 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.
The country has three million short tons of proven molybdenum reserves. Total identified resources, however, amount to six million short tons, as molybdenum is found in other metal deposits such as copper. The price of the metal per short ton is $28,660 at present, therefore America's total molybdenum resources are worth $172 billion.
Copper is the third most commonly-used metal. Chile is the world's leading producer by a long shot, followed by Peru, China, and then the US, which mined 1.3 million short tons of copper last year. America's proven exploitable reserves amount to 52.9 million short tons, but untapped and undiscovered resources may total in the hundreds of millions of short tons.
The value of this prized commodity is currently $5,360 per short ton, so America's total proven exploitable copper reserves are worth $283.5 billion. Yet they could be worth considerably more, if you factor in untapped and undiscovered resources.
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 955,400 people. An estimated 514,425 acres of the US land is covered with timberland.
Based on data published by Statista's research department in September 2019, industrial shipments of the wood and paper manufacturing industry amount to $284 billion per year, with US paper mill output alone totaling $44 billion.
The most commonly-used metal worldwide, iron is used to make steel, which can be used in all sorts of things from manufacturing steel to making reinforced concrete. Indeed, a massive 90% of all metal refined today is iron, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry. The vast majority of iron ore mined in the US comes from two states, Michigan and Minnesota, due to a large iron deposit around Lake Superior.
Proven exploitable iron ore reserves total 3.2 billion short tons. Using the current price of iron ore per short ton as a guide, the value of America's total reserves comes in at $328.3 billion. However, the US Geological Survey estimates that untapped and undiscovered resources could total as much as 121.3 billion short tons, though much of this ore is likely to be of poor quality.
By weight, gold is one of the world's most valuable natural resources. As stated by the US Geological Survey, 16,535 short tons of gold have been identified in the country that are yet to be mined, while an estimated 19,842 short tons of the precious metal remain undiscovered.
At the time of writing, gold is priced at $1,512.68 per ounce, so a short ton of gold, which contains 32,000 ounces, is worth just over $48.4 million. Therefore the value of America's gold resources (bar the quantities that have already been mined) is a massive $1.76 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 474 billion short tons of coal at the beginning of 2019.
Coal prices vary widely depending on where the resource is mined. However, using the early January 2019 price per short ton of $83.90 for Central Appalachia coal as a basis, America's total reserves could have a monetary value of nearly $4 trillion.
Ticking timebomb: when will the world's natural resources run out?
Natural gas production reached an all-time high in August, and it's expected to continue on an upward trajectory. Alongside increased production and demand, the Potential Gas Committee upped its estimate of America's recoverable natural gas reserves by 20% in September. According to the organization's revised projection, the US possesses 3,374 trillion cubic feet of the resource.
Using the current industrial spot price of $2.68 per thousand cubic feet as a guide, the monetary value of these recoverable reserves, which exist in 32 states across the nation, is a whopping $9 trillion.
The US has more reserves of recoverable oil than any other nation. In its latest annual review of worldwide accessible oil resources, Rystaad Energy found that America holds an astonishing 293 billion barrels of the black stuff, with much of it contained within the Permian Basin.
In fact, the US has 20 billion barrels more than Saudi Arabia, the country with the second most abundant reserves, and 100 billion barrels more than Russia. At today's prices, which hover around $60 per barrel, this translates to a gigantic windfall for America of $17.6 trillion.
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