Mineral Resources, Economics and the Environment

Like it or not, the dreary term non-ferrous metals is widely used for the many metals that are not closely related to steel making. They are divided further into the light metals, aluminum, magnesium, and titanium and the base metals, copper, lead, zinc, and tin, which are discussed in this chapter. Other non-ferrous metals, including antimony, arsenic, bismuth, cadmium, germanium, hafnium, indium, mercury, rare earths, rhenium, selenium, tantalum, thallium, and zirconium are referred to here as the technology metals, which are discussed in Chapter 10. A final group of non-ferrous metals, the precious metals, gold, silver, and platinum-group elements, is discussed in Chapter 11. The total value of world light and base metal production, about $300 billion annually, is almost three times that of the ferroalloy metals, but well behind the $660 billion plus of iron ore and steel. The dominant non-ferrous metals are aluminum and copper, with global production worth $100–150 billion each, followed by zinc at about $30 billion, lead and bauxite (aluminum ore) at $10 billion, and then tin and magnesium in the $3–9 billion range (Figure 9.1a).

Production of most non-ferrous metals has increased following two different trends. Figure 9.1b shows that prices of all metals lagged the consumer price index (CPI) until about 1980. After about 2000 prices of copper, lead, zinc, and magnesium rose spectacularly, reflecting demand from China. Prices of most other metals, especially aluminum and titanium, have not participated significantly in the China-driven price increase. Production of the light metals, especially aluminum and magnesium, has increased at a rate almost double that of steel (Figure 9.1d). Production of the base metals, has not matched this pace; copper and zinc production have essentially followed steel, and lead and tin have lagged considerably. Table 9.1 summarizes major producers and reserves and Table 9.2 provides information on sizes of important deposits.