As the leading international resource for fact-based, technical information about America’s mining and related industries, the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (SME) has released a technical briefing paper addressing the economic impact the industrial minerals sector has on society. In the paper, Industrial Minerals’ Impact on the U.S. Economy, SME states industrial minerals are fundamental to the US economy, contributing $33.5 billion to the real gross domestic product (GDP) and directly employing 68,000 workers. The physical properties of industrial minerals, such as absorption, material texture and high specific gravity, allow for their use in a variety of consumer products and applications.

“Although industrial minerals are prevalent in nearly all aspects of our daily lives, the general public knows very little about them,” said SME Executive Director David L. Kanagy. “They are the critical raw materials that support myriad market sectors from abrasives, drilling mud and pharmaceuticals, to synthetic fibres, plastics and paper.”

• American manufacturers currently rely on foreign suppliers for more than half of the minerals they use in finished products
• America is 100% dependent on imports for 19 minerals and more than 50% import-dependent for an additional 24 minerals – many of which are industrial minerals
• As the US economy continues to recover, manufacturing, construction and agriculture will drive demand for increased use of industrial minerals that will fuel the domestic engine of growth
• Industrial minerals are responsible for $33.5 billion of the $232 billion value that mining adds to the US economy on an annual basis
• Approximately 68,000 workers are directly employed by the industrial minerals mining sector. To obtain a copy of this paper, go to: http://ow.ly/qtxrd