From sphalerite
Zinc is mined on every inhabited continent. Here is who produces it, how ore becomes metal, and why recycling matters.
Major producers
World zinc mine production is roughly 12½ million tonnes of contained zinc a year. China is by far the largest producer, mining about a third of the world total — and refining an even larger share, about half of the world’s refined zinc, much of it from imported concentrate. Peru, Australia and India follow, with Mexico and the United States close behind. Other notable producers include Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Sweden, Ireland and Canada.
| # | Country | Mine output, 2025 | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | about 4.1 Mt | |
| 2 | Peru | about 1.5 Mt | |
| 3 | Australia | about 1.1 Mt | |
| 4 | India | about 0.9 Mt | |
| 5 | Mexico | about 0.8 Mt | |
| 6 | United States | about 0.7 Mt |
How zinc is mined
Most zinc comes from the mineral sphalerite, zinc sulfide (ZnS). Sphalerite very often occurs together with galena, the main lead ore, and frequently with silver — which is why so many mines are described as “lead-zinc” or “zinc-lead-silver” operations.
Ore is extracted from underground or open-pit mines, crushed and finely ground, then separated by froth flotation: chemicals make the zinc mineral particles cling to air bubbles and float off as a concentrate that is typically around half zinc. That concentrate is shipped to smelters, often in other countries.
How zinc is refined
The large majority of the world’s zinc is refined by the roast–leach–electrowin (hydrometallurgical) process:
- Roast. Concentrate is heated in air, converting zinc sulfide into zinc oxide (“calcine”). The sulfur is captured, usually as sulfuric acid, a saleable by-product.
- Leach. The calcine is dissolved in sulfuric acid to make a zinc sulfate solution.
- Purify. Impurities such as iron, copper and cadmium are removed; metals like cadmium, germanium and indium can be recovered along the way.
- Electrowin. Electric current passed through the solution plates high-purity zinc onto cathode sheets, which are stripped, melted and cast into ingots (“slab zinc”).
A smaller share is still produced by older pyrometallurgical (furnace) methods.
Recycling
Zinc can be recycled repeatedly without losing its properties. A substantial share of zinc supply comes from recycled material: brass and die-cast scrap, galvanizing residues, and especially zinc-rich dust captured from electric-arc steel furnaces when galvanized scrap steel is remelted. Because galvanized steel can last decades, much of the zinc in use today is effectively “stored” in buildings and infrastructure, waiting to be recovered.
The supply picture
Zinc is relatively abundant and widely distributed, and known reserves amount to a couple of decades of current mine output, with new deposits found and developed over time. Supply is still sensitive to mine closures, smelter economics and energy prices — electrowinning is electricity-intensive. Concentration in refining is the main strategic concern: China produces about half the world’s refined zinc. The United States mines significant zinc (largely in Alaska) but has limited smelting capacity and imports most of its refined metal. Zinc was added to the U.S. list of critical minerals in 2022.
Sources
- U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, Zinc (pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2026/mcs2026-zinc.pdf).
- International Lead and Zinc Study Group, press release, February 2026 (preliminary 2025 data, ilzsg.org).
Figures are rounded and approximate; preliminary data are often revised.