Economic Growth

The U.S. minerals mining industry supports nearly 1.0 million jobs. A U.S. metal mining job is one of the highest paying in the private sector, with an average annual salary of $96,000. Prospects are bright for those entering the field today, as it is estimated that every metal mining job generates 2.8 additional jobs elsewhere in the economy, and every non-metal mining job generates 2.5 additional jobs.

With over 370,000 Americans directly employed through minerals mining today, and more than 590,000 indirectly employed, the industry is putting hundreds of thousands of people with diverse backgrounds and interests to work. Furthermore, technological and advanced practices helped to make mining jobs continually safer for workers.

In addition to jobs, raw materials provided by U.S. mines also boost the economy. In 2020, U.S. mines produced mineral raw materials worth $82.3 billion. These domestic raw materials—along with recycled materials—were used to process mineral materials such as aluminum, copper, and steel worth $710 billion. Industries including technology, manufacturing, construction, and automotive transform these minerals into the infrastructure and products we use every day, and they have added more than $3.0 trillion to the U.S. economy, which is more than 14 percent of the GDP.

By supporting thousands of jobs and providing essential raw materials, minerals and metals mining is critical to our economy.