TOP 10 Countries by Critical Minerals Output (2025)
Lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements sit at the core of today’s clean energy technologies. They are essential for batteries, permanent magnets, electric vehicles and wind turbines, and they are also central to geopolitical debates about supply-chain risk. This 2025 snapshot highlights ten countries that dominate mine production of these four critical minerals, based on the latest USGS and IEA data for 2023–2024.
Why critical minerals output matters for the energy transition
Clean energy systems are materially intensive. A typical electric car requires several times more mineral inputs than a conventional vehicle, and an offshore wind turbine contains large volumes of rare earth elements, copper and other metals. As the IEA has repeatedly noted, global demand for critical minerals has surged over the last decade and is expected to multiply again by 2040 under current climate pledges. When a small group of countries dominate mine production, the entire clean energy transition becomes exposed to their domestic policies, infrastructure and political stability.
Four commodities stand out in this context. Lithium is the backbone of rechargeable batteries. Nickel supports high-energy-density cathodes and corrosion-resistant alloys. Cobalt improves battery performance and superalloys, while rare earth elements such as neodymium and dysprosium are vital for permanent magnets in motors and generators. Together, these minerals form a useful lens for understanding where the mining stage of the energy transition is most geographically concentrated.
The ranking below does not attempt to add tonnes of lithium directly to tonnes of nickel or rare earth oxides. Instead, it uses a composite index that combines each country’s share of global mine output for the four minerals, normalised so that the ten highlighted countries account for roughly 100 index points in total. This provides an illustrative map of where critical mineral extraction is currently clustered.
Mining heavyweights for lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earths
The chart shows how dominant a handful of producers have become. China leads thanks to its overwhelming position in rare earths and growing role in lithium and nickel. Indonesia has emerged as the “OPEC of nickel”, supplying well over half of global nickel mine production and now expanding into cobalt by-products. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) remains by far the largest source of cobalt ore, while Australia and Chile anchor global supplies of lithium and also contribute significant nickel and rare earth output.
Behind these leaders stand resource-rich countries such as Russia, South Africa, Canada, Brazil and the United States. Each plays a multi-mineral role across the four commodities, whether through nickel sulphide deposits, emerging lithium brine projects or hard-rock rare earth mines. Taken together, the ten countries below account for a very large share of global mining activity for these four critical minerals.
Composite index of mine output for lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements. The index combines each country’s share of global production for the four minerals into a single indicative value, normalised so that the ten countries sum to 100. Values are rounded and should be read as approximate ranges rather than precise market shares.
Top 10 countries by critical minerals mine output (2025 snapshot)
The table summarises the ten leading producers, focusing on the four highlighted minerals. It indicates where each country is particularly strong, and how that shapes global supply chains for batteries and clean energy technologies. Micro-states and countries with very narrow specialisation are excluded in favour of diversified or high-volume producers.
Because detailed production figures differ slightly across datasets and years, the descriptions below emphasise qualitative roles – “largest producer”, “major supplier”, “emerging source” – alongside indicative shares of world mine output. The underlying numbers are drawn primarily from USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries and IEA critical minerals reports.
| Rank | Country | Role in critical minerals mining |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | China combines dominance in rare earths with rising production of lithium, nickel and some cobalt. It accounts for the vast majority of global rare earth oxide output and processes a large share of the world’s cobalt and nickel ores. Domestic mines, plus overseas investments in Africa and Latin America, make China the single most influential mining country across the four minerals. |
| 2 | Indonesia | Indonesia has rapidly become the top nickel producer worldwide, supplying more than half of global nickel mine production and hosting large reserves. Many of its high-pressure acid leach (HPAL) projects also yield cobalt as a by-product, and the country is exploring rare earth opportunities. Its resource policy and environmental standards now have outsized influence on stainless steel and battery markets. |
| 3 | Democratic Republic of Congo | The DRC provides around two-thirds of global cobalt mine output, far ahead of any other country. Cobalt-rich copper belts in Katanga supply the majority of raw material for the world’s battery industry. Although the DRC is less prominent in lithium, nickel and rare earths, its cobalt dominance alone makes it one of the most critical mining hubs for the energy transition. |
| 4 | Australia | Australia is the largest producer of lithium concentrate and also ranks among the top nickel and rare earth mining countries. Hard-rock lithium mines in Western Australia supply a significant share of global battery-grade material, while nickel laterite and sulphide deposits feed both stainless steel and battery supply chains. New rare earth projects aim to diversify supply away from China. |
| 5 | Chile | Chile sits at the heart of the “lithium triangle” and is one of the top lithium-brine producers worldwide. Its high-grade salars in the Atacama Desert provide low-cost feedstock for lithium carbonate and hydroxide. Chile also holds notable rare earth and copper resources, making it a strategic partner for countries seeking diversified critical mineral supplies. |
| 6 | Russia | Russia is a major producer of nickel and cobalt, particularly from sulphide deposits in the Arctic region, and hosts several rare earth and lithium projects. Its mining companies have long supplied high-grade nickel for alloys and batteries. Geopolitical tensions and sanctions have, however, raised questions about the reliability of Russian supply in the coming decade. |
| 7 | South Africa | South Africa is best known for platinum group metals, but it also contributes to nickel, cobalt and rare earth mining in Africa. Nickel-copper deposits and by-product cobalt support regional battery-metal supply, while exploration for rare earths and manganese positions the country as a broader critical minerals hub together with its neighbours. |
| 8 | Canada | Canada combines sizeable nickel and cobalt production with emerging lithium and rare earth projects. Historic sulphide deposits in Ontario and Manitoba, plus new hard-rock lithium mines in Quebec and Atlantic Canada, are being repositioned as reliable suppliers for North American and European battery supply chains. |
| 9 | Brazil | Brazil is becoming an increasingly important supplier of nickel and lithium, as well as hosting rare earth and graphite resources. Large laterite nickel operations in the north of the country and new spodumene deposits in Minas Gerais reflect growing investment aimed at serving both domestic industry and export markets. |
| 10 | United States | The United States is a significant producer of rare earths and lithium, with additional nickel and cobalt output from a smaller number of mines. Projects in Nevada, North Carolina, California and Alaska are expanding domestic critical minerals capacity, supported by federal incentives that aim to reduce dependence on overseas suppliers. |
Patterns behind critical mineral concentration
Several patterns explain why these ten countries dominate mine output for lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements. First, geology matters. Many of the leaders sit on unique ore bodies: high-grade rare earth deposits in China, laterite nickel belts in Indonesia, brine-rich salars in South America and cobalt-rich copper belts in the DRC. The result is a natural clustering of resources that cannot be replicated elsewhere in the short term.
Second, industrial policy has amplified this geological advantage. Indonesia’s ban on raw nickel ore exports, for example, pushed investment into local processing and dramatically raised its share of global nickel production. China’s long-term support for rare earth mining and processing has produced an integrated supply chain that other countries are only now beginning to challenge. Australia, Canada and the United States, meanwhile, have used permitting reforms, strategic reserves and public-finance tools to accelerate new projects.
Third, the concentration of mining is closely linked to concentration in processing. Many ores leave the mine in one country but are refined into battery-grade chemicals or magnet alloys in another. China, in particular, dominates the refining of cobalt, lithium, nickel and rare earths, giving it leverage that goes well beyond the mine-site statistics alone. For importing countries, this reinforces the need to think about the entire value chain, from exploration and mining through refining, recycling and substitution.
Country snapshots: different critical-minerals strategies
China and the integrated rare earth–battery powerhouse
China’s strength lies not only in its rare earth mines but also in its ability to refine and transform ores into high-value products. State-backed companies operate along the entire chain, from mining and separation to magnet manufacturing and battery materials. This integrated model gives China significant pricing power and makes it difficult for competitors to build parallel supply chains without long-term policy support.
Indonesia and the nickel-cobalt industrial parks
Indonesia has turned its laterite nickel resources into a lever for industrial policy. Export bans and incentives for local smelting have created large industrial parks where foreign investors, especially from East Asia, build HPAL plants and stainless-steel facilities. These hubs now produce both intermediate products for stainless steel and mixed hydroxide precipitate for batteries, with cobalt emerging as a valuable by-product.
Australia, Chile and the lithium triangle
Australia’s hard-rock spodumene mines and Chile’s brine operations in the Atacama complement each other in global lithium supply. Australia has focused on rapid project development and exports of concentrate, while Chile has long-lived brine operations with low operating costs. Both countries are now seeking to move further down the value chain into refining and even cathode materials, often in partnership with Asian and North American buyers.
DRC, South Africa and African critical-mineral hubs
The DRC’s cobalt and South Africa’s nickel and rare earth potential illustrate Africa’s strategic role in the energy transition. These resources offer a pathway to industrial development, but they also raise questions about governance, environmental safeguards and local value creation. International initiatives increasingly link access to finance with stronger ESG standards and transparent revenue management.
What the 2025 ranking shows – and what it misses
This ranking focuses on the mining stage and only on four critical minerals. It does not cover other important materials such as copper, graphite, manganese or platinum group metals, nor does it examine refining capacity, recycling or substitution technologies. A country absent from this top 10 list may still be pivotal for other parts of the critical minerals system.
The numbers are also moving targets. New lithium projects in Argentina and Canada, rare earth mines in Australia and the United States, and nickel-cobalt expansions in Indonesia and the Philippines are all reshaping supply. At the same time, community opposition, environmental concerns or price collapses can delay or cancel projects. Investors and policy makers therefore need to track not just current production but also project pipelines, permitting timelines and ESG performance.
Even with these caveats, the message is clear: a small group of countries currently underpins global supplies of lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earths. Diversifying sources, improving recycling and investing in demand-reduction technologies will be crucial to managing the geopolitical and price risks that come with this concentration.
Primary data sources
- International Energy Agency (IEA), Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2024 and Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2025, providing global statistics on mining and processing of lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earths, and highlighting the high market share of a small group of producing countries. See: https://www.iea.org/topics/critical-minerals.
- U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025 for lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earths, and Global maps of critical mineral production in 2023, used to identify leading mine producers and approximate their shares of global output. See: https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center.
- Our World in Data, Which countries have the critical minerals needed for the energy transition?, summarising USGS and IEA data on which countries dominate production and refining of key minerals for clean energy technologies.
- National geological surveys and industry reports from Australia, Canada, Chile, Indonesia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Brazil, Russia, China and the United States, providing additional context on project pipelines, reserves and policy frameworks.
