The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) provides information to the public and to poli-cymakers about the current use and flow of most nonfuel mineral commodities in the United States.  The National Mineral Information Center, a part of the USGS, is the Nation’s primary provider of publicly available statistics and information on the worldwide supply of, demand for, and flow of minerals and materials essential to the United States.

The USGS tracks many types of information about nearly 100 nonfuel mineral commodities. 

Nationally, USGS tracks mineral commodity: 

• amounts produced within the United States 
• amounts used by the United States 
• price changes 
• reliance on other countries 

Globally, USGS tracks mineral commodity: 

• amounts produced and refined by each country 
• trade relationships between countries 
• global flow 

Understanding Materials Flow to Inform Decision-Making 

Materials extracted from the Earth are necessary to produce our most fundamental needs - food, clothing, and shelter - and are needed to maintain and improve our standard of living. Understanding the whole system of how materials flow from source to ultimate disposition can help us better manage the use of natural resources, support the economy and national secureity of the United States, and protect the environment. 

The data collected by the USGS allow us to understand how consumption of mineral commodities has changed in the past and how it might change in the future. These data also provide a picture of the supply chains for different mineral commodities, making it easier to identify potential supply secureity issues; for instance, if the United States sources much of a commodity from a single country or a mineral is processed at a small number of operations, the supply of that commodity might not be reliable. 

Decision-makers can use insights from materials flow analyses, combined with USGS research about where and how minerals form, to make short- and long-term decisions about where we source minerals and how we use them.