• Molybdenum: resource distribution and production

• Resource distribution

• In nature, molybdenum does not occur as a free metal, but rather in various oxidation states in minerals, such as wulfenite, powellite and molybdenite, and the amount of molybdenum in these minerals is 0.01%-0.25%. Among these minerals, molybdenite is the only one that is suitable for industrial production.
• Area distribution
• Molybdenum ore resources are mainly distributed in North America (33%), South America (29%), Europe (4%) and East Asia (31%).
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• Country distribution
• Across the world, molybdenum resources are mainly concentrated in China, United States and Chile. The molybdenum resources in these countries account for 84.5% of global molybdenum resources.
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• Production

• According to USGS, world molybdenum mine production was 270,000 metric tonnes in 2013, an increase of 4.2% compared with 259,000 metric tonnes in 2012. China was the largest producer in 2013, followed by United States and Chile. The top three countries accounted for 76.9% of the total production in 2013.
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• The production statistics in the graph above are based on reported figures and IMOA's estimates. They are the sum of new molybdenum from mine production and material recovered from spent catalysts.
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• Figures for use of molybdenum are based on industry estimates from 2009 and are derived by IMOA's consultants, Steel & Metals Market Research (SMR), Austria.