I. Overview

The products of mining take center stage in helping fulfill our advanced society’s most basic needs. An abundant food supply, clothing, shelter, electricity, transportation and communication would not be possible without mining. The typical house contains concrete and masonry block in the foundation, gypsum wallboard and copper pipes and wiring — to name just a few mined products. Coal provides a third of the electricity we rely on — and it takes at least 29 different minerals needed to get that electricity to our homes and businesses. Nuclear energy, which is generated from uranium, provides 19 percent of our electricity.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), $109 billion of coal and minerals were mined in 2018, with $82 billion of non-fuel minerals processed into $766 billion worth of products.

USGS and the U.S. Department of Commerce estimate that industries, such as construction and durable goods manufacturing, that use processed mineral material added $3.0 trillion to the U.S. economy in 2018 — or about 15 percent of GDP.

Aside from their dollar impact, these minerals have other tangible benefits. The National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences concluded that one of the primary advantages the U.S. has over its strongest industrial competitors is its domestic resource base. For example, with affordable and abundant domestic coal, U.S. electricity costs are highly competitive, an asset in the global marketplace.

Mining companies also pay taxes to the communities in which they operate. Companies pay more than $40 billion in federal, state and local taxes on company profits and employee wages, property taxes on equipment and structures, and excise taxes on output.

A wind turbine may contain 335 tons of steel, 4.7 tons of copper, 13 tons of fiberglass, 3 tons of aluminum and 1,200 tons of reinforced concrete.

According to the National Park Service, the Statue of Liberty contains 31 tons of copper 3/32 inches thick.