Zinc: global reserves by country 2022

As of 2022, Australia had estimated zinc reserves of 66 million metric tons, making it the country with the largest zinc reserves worldwide. China had the second-largest zinc reserves at that time, yet at 31 million metric tons, it was less than half of Australia's reserves.

Global zinc key facts

Total global reserves of zinc were estimated to be some 210 million metric tons as of 2022. Because of the heavy consumption of zinc, it is one of the most widely produced metals. Australia has the largest zinc reserves worldwide - an estimated 66 million metric tons. Other countries with significant reserves include China, Russia, and Peru. The United States has zinc reserves that are estimated at about 7.3 million metric tons. China is the global top producer of zinc from mines. In 2022, Chinese zinc mine production came to some 4.2 million metric tons. That was about one-third of the total global mine production, which was approximately 13 million metric tons. Among the largest zinc mining companies is Glencore, while one of the top zinc smelting companies is Nyrstar.

What is zinc used for?

Zinc, which is also known as spelter in a commercial context, is a chemical element and part of the transition metals group. Zinc has been used by humans since ancient times. Still, it has a wide range of applications in modern times. First of all, it is used as an anti-corrosion agent to protect most of all iron and steel from rust. More than half of all zinc consumption is for this purpose. Zinc is also important for the manufacturing of batteries, such as alkaline batteries, zinc-carbon batteries and zinc-air batteries. Zinc is a crucial component for alloys, especially for brass and bronze. From a health-related point of view, zinc is of great importance for the human organism and zinc deficiency can cause many health problems.