The following list creates a summary of the two major producers of different minerals (and coal, which is generally not considered a mineral).
This is a list of countries by primary aluminium production. Primary aluminium is produced from aluminium oxide which is obtained from bauxite and excludes recycled aluminium.
This is a list of countries by gold production in 2024. All production figures refer to primary mine production only (i.e., newly mined gold), excluding recycled gold. Until 2006, South Africa was the world's largest gold producer. In 2007, increasing production from other countries and declining production from South Africa meant that China became the largest producer, although no country has approached the scale of South Africa's period of peak production during the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1970, South Africa produced 995 tonnes or 32 million ounces of gold, two-thirds of the world's production of 47.5 million ounces.
This is a list of countries by mined iron ore production in 2024 based on U.S. Geological Survey data. "Usable iron ore" figures refer to the processed ore product suitable for steelmaking, not the raw extracted material. As such, countries with lower-grade ores like China extensively beneficiate magnetite ores (typically <30% Fe) to produce market-grade material (~60% Fe), making their usable ore output appear comparable to high-grade producers like Australia or Brazil. However, the efficiency, cost, and environmental impact of such beneficiation vary significantly.
<big><big>*</big></big> indicates "Natural resources of COUNTRY or TERRITORY" links.