Our products: what we mine and how it’s used
We mine products – gold, silver, lead, and zinc – that are in high demand and essential for modern living. They each have various cultural, economic, and industrial uses, and some are essential for building a sustainable and equitable future.
- Electronic touch screens
- (Nanoparticles)
- Drug delivery
- Antimicrobial agents
- Detection and diagnosis
- Device coatings
- Therapy agents
- Aircraft circuitry
- Computer
- Switches
- Circuits
- Investments
- Cutlery
- Fuel cells
- Battery packs
- Electric engines
- Battery management
- Systems
- Aircraft circuitry
- Photography
- Wind turbines
Gold (element Au) is a precious metal that society values as a financial safe haven, as well as being used for jewelry and decorative purposes for thousands of years. It is resistant to corrosion and does not tarnish. Today, gold is also a vital material in computers, smartphones, and other electronics and has medical and aerospace applications.
- Jewelry: Around half of the gold mined around the world is made into jewelry. In several countries – including China and India – the gifting of gold jewelry is an important part of the culture, playing a role in rituals and special occasions and seen as an investment.
- Bullion: Most of the other half is used to make gold bullion, a universal store of value and globally recognized currency.
- Medicine: The remaining gold produced annually is used in technology, from thin gold coatings making solar panels more efficient to gold nanoparticles for critical medical applications such as cancer, arthritis treatment, and HIV/AIDS diagnosis.
Visit the World Gold Council for more information about gold.
There is no substitute for silver (element Ag). The shiny light grey metal is malleable and ductile, meaning we can stretch it into a thin wire or press it into almost any shape without breaking. It is also an excellent conductor of electricity. For these reasons, we use it to make jewelry, silverware, and electronic components such as wires, switches, and printed circuit boards.
- Wiring: Silver is perfect for wiring inside smartphones, where it can be bent and squeezed into tiny spaces without breaking.
- Solar panels: One of the most significant industrial applications for silver today is its use in photovoltaic cells, the building blocks of solar panels.
- Medicine: People have also used silver for centuries to fight infection because of its antimicrobial properties. Trace amounts of silver will attack bacterial cells, partly dissolving their outer coating, and disrupting the cell’s function.
Looking further ahead, the demand for silver in hybrid and electric vehicles – which need more silver than traditional combustion engine vehicles – is also expected to rise. With solar power generation expected to almost double by 2025, this sector will be an important source of demand for silver over the next ten years.
Visit the Silver Institute for more information about silver.
Zinc (element Zn) is a blueish-white metal with a dull finish. One of its most valuable qualities is its ability to protect steel from corrosion, and we use more than 60 percent of the zinc produced each year for this purpose.
- Construction: Steel is used worldwide for buildings, infrastructure, bridges, ships, vehicles, electrical appliances, and more, and zinc sheets are used in roofing.
- Zinc oxide: At the other end of the scale, we use small amounts of zinc oxide in everything from fertilizers to sunscreens to solar cells.
Visit the International Zinc Association for more information about zinc.
Lead (element Pb) is a soft, dense dark grey metal that can be stretched into a thin wire or pressed into almost any shape without breaking. We use more than 85 percent of the lead mined around the world each year to make safe, reliable and affordable lead-acid batteries.
Lead-acid batteries are used to power cars, trucks, buses, motorbikes, electric vehicles, and hybrid vehicles. They are used to store energy produced by renewable sources, such as solar and wind, and as backup power supplies for hospitals, cell phone networks, and emergency services.
Demand for personal electric vehicles, together with industrial vehicles and standby storage for renewable power sources, drives the global market for lead-acid batteries.
Visit the International Lead Association for more information about lead.