Lead Mining: Top 5 Countries, Price per Kg, Ore Value

The world’s mines produced about 4.5 million tonnes of lead in 2025 (USGS estimate, lead content), and China alone supplied roughly 1.9 million of them. On the London Metal Exchange (LME) the metal settled at US$1,866 a tonne on 14 October 2026, which is about US$1.87 per kilogram. This page ranks the top five lead-mining countries, shows the price in kilograms with a dated chart, explains where the ore comes from, and ends with a calculator that turns ore grade into the value of the metal you could sell.

Terms used below. Grade is the share of metal in the rock, such as 4.6% lead. Galena is lead sulfide, the main lead ore mineral. A concentrate is the product left after the ore is crushed and the metal-rich minerals are separated, and “payable” is the part of the metal in that concentrate that a smelter pays for. Figures are in metric tonnes (1 tonne = 1,000 kg) unless stated. The page gives facts from named sources and is not advice.

Why lead is still mined

Lead has one dominant job. The USGS says the lead-acid battery industry took an estimated 67% of US apparent consumption in 2025, mostly for car starting batteries, standby power for telecom and computer networks, and motive power. The World Health Organization describes most global lead use as car batteries, with the rest going into pigments, solder, ammunition, glass and similar products.

Other uses have shrunk. The USGS notes that plastics replaced lead in cable covering and cans, tin replaced it in solder for drinking-water systems, and electronics moved to solder without lead. What remains is a metal with a steady market and a long recycling loop, which is why mine supply and scrap supply have to be read together.

In the United States the policy status has also changed. The USGS reports that the final 2025 list of critical minerals, published on 7 November 2025, added copper, lead, potash, rhenium, silicon and silver to the earlier list. Lead is often mined together with zinc and silver, so the same deposit can matter for three commodities.

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Where lead ore comes from and how it is mined

Most lead ore is a sulfide mineral (galena) that sits next to zinc minerals, and often silver. Geologists group the big deposits into a few types. In Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) deposits, ore forms in limestone and dolomite across districts that can hold hundreds of deposits. The USGS reports that the median MVT deposit holds 7.0 million tonnes at about 7.9% lead plus zinc, and that these deposits hold nearly a quarter of the world’s sedimentary and volcanic rock-hosted lead and zinc resources.

The second main group is sedimentary exhalative (sedex) deposits, which formed on ancient sea floors. The USGS model says most economic sedex deposits are between 1.4 and 120 million tonnes, with a median of 15 million, and that ore grades typically reach several percent at most. Both open-pit mines (Red Dog in Alaska is one example) and underground mines (Sullivan in British Columbia is one) have worked sedex deposits, according to the same report.

A working example of grade

South32’s Cannington mine in Australia is a silver-lead-zinc operation, and its June 2026 quarterly report gives real numbers. In the year to 30 June 2026 it processed about 2.16 million dry tonnes of ore at an average 4.6% lead, 2.6% zinc and 150 g/t silver and produced 82,900 tonnes of payable lead, 10% less than the 92,400 tonnes of the year before. Ore processed rose 11% as lower-grade stockpiled ore was milled, but lead output still fell. The figures are for 100% of the mine.

Our arithmetic from the same table: 2.16 million tonnes at 4.6% holds about 99,500 tonnes of lead, so payable lead was roughly 83% of the lead in the ore processed. The gap is lost in the mill and in the smelter terms. The calculator further down uses these ratios as its starting values.

Top 5 lead-mining countries ranked by mine output

The ranking below uses one metric from one source: estimated 2025 mine production, in thousand tonnes of lead content, from the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries (February 2026 edition). 2025 figures are estimates, and the USGS rounds the world total.

Chart

World lead mine output by country, 2025 estimate

Thousand tonnes of lead content; top five countries and all others

How we chose

We ranked countries by mine production because it is the figure every producer reports in the same units, and we kept every country that produced more than 250,000 tonnes. The next largest producers in the USGS table each made under 250,000 tonnes in 2025, so five countries qualify. Reserves are shown beside output, but they do not set the order. Share of world output is our own division of each country’s figure by the USGS world total of 4,500.

Together the five made about 3.2 million tonnes, or roughly 71% of the world total. Every other producer mined under 250 kt in 2025, among them Mexico (200 kt, against a revised 240 kt in 2024) and Bolivia (100 kt). Identified world lead resources, which are larger than reserves, total more than 2 billion tons, with notable lead found alongside zinc, silver or copper in Australia, China, Ireland, Mexico, Peru, Portugal, Russia and Alaska.

The United States illustrates how mine output and value differ. The USGS estimates the recoverable lead in US ore mined in 2025 was worth US$650 million, 8% less than in 2024, and that nearly all US lead concentrate has been exported since the last primary lead refinery closed in 2013. For a regional look at the Missouri lead belt, see our page on gold records in the Missouri lead belt.

Lead price per kg: LME level, trend and how to convert

The benchmark is the LME lead cash settlement, quoted in US dollars per tonne. On 14 October 2026 it was US$1,866 per tonne, and the three-month contract was US$1,906, according to Westmetall’s table of LME settlements. To get the price per kilogram, divide by 1,000: US$1,866 per tonne is about US$1.87 per kg. To get US cents per pound, divide the tonne price by 22.046: that gives about 84.6 cents per pound. These are exchange prices for refined metal in bulk. A scrap buyer or a retail seller will quote something different.

Chart

LME lead cash price, yearly mean of monthly averages

US$ per kilogram (US$ per tonne divided by 1,000); 2026 covers January to 14 October

The trend is down. Westmetall’s monthly averages give a mean of about US$2,205 per tonne for 2021, falling to about US$1,963 for 2025 and about US$1,907 for January to October 2026 (our average of the monthly averages). Within 2026 the monthly average ran from US$1,998 in January to US$1,842 in October so far.

One driver visible in the same data is stock. LME warehouse stocks of lead averaged 218,811 tonnes in January 2026 and 418,498 tonnes in August, and stood at 340,075 tonnes on 14 October. The USGS reported 217,000 tons in LME-approved warehouses at the end of October 2025. Stocks and prices moved in opposite directions through much of 2026, though this page does not claim that one caused the other.

A second price you will see is the North American producer price. The USGS gives an average of 106 cents per pound for the first 10 months of 2025, from S&P Global Platts Metals Week, which is about US$2.34 per kg. It uses a different benchmark from the LME cash price, so the two numbers should not be compared as if they measured the same thing. The price of lead is one input; the others are grade, recovery and smelter terms, which the calculator below combines.

What a tonne of lead ore is worth: grade, recovery and payable metal

A tonne of ore does not sell for the price of the lead in it. The mill recovers only part of the lead, the concentrate is sold to a smelter on payable terms, and zinc and silver in the same ore add credits that this calculator leaves out. A quick screen for a lead project is therefore: tonnes of ore, times grade, times recovery, times payable share, times price.

The default numbers come from the Cannington example above (4.6% lead, and recovery times payable terms of about 83%). Change them to your own project values, and enter today’s price rather than the example. Treatment charges, mining cost, royalties and tax come off the result before any profit is left.

How much lead comes from recycling instead of mines

Recycling supplies most US lead. The USGS estimates that about 1 million tons of secondary lead were produced in 2025, equal to about 70% of apparent domestic consumption, and that nearly all of it came from old scrap, mostly lead-acid batteries. By comparison, recoverable lead from US mines was 270,000 tons. Imports of refined metal were 520,000 tons.

Chart

Where US lead supply came from, 2025 estimate

Thousand tons of lead

The same effect shows up worldwide. The International Lead and Zinc Study Group forecast, as reported by the USGS, that global refined lead production in 2025 would reach 13.3 million tons. World mine output is 4.5 million, so refined output is about three times mine output (our division). Refined output includes metal made from scrap, and the gap points to recycling, although the USGS gives a secondary share only for the United States.

Trade in spent batteries also matters. In the first eight months of 2025, 23 million spent starting batteries were exported from the US, up 23% on the same months of 2024, according to the USGS. So a large share of the market is served by metal that is already above ground.

How long the reserves last

The USGS puts world lead reserves at 95,000 thousand tonnes (95 million). Divided by 2025 world mine output of 4,500 thousand tonnes, that is about 21 years at the current rate (our arithmetic, not a forecast). Reserves are the part of a resource that is economic to mine at today’s prices and technology. They grow when companies drill, when prices rise, or when processing improves, which is why they have never been a fixed countdown.

Chart

Lead output against reserves, selected countries

Seven selected countries named in the text

The chart compares each country’s output with its reserves. Australia stands out on reserves, but the headline figure is not on the same basis as the others. Only 10 million tonnes of its reserves meet the JORC code, which is the Australasian reporting standard, according to the USGS. When you compare reserves between countries, check the definition each one uses.

Pros and cons of lead mining

On the plus side, lead supports a large battery market and, in many districts, comes with zinc and silver that improve the economics. It is also now on the US critical minerals list. The USGS says US lead mines were worth US$650 million in 2025, and the secondary (recycled) industry another US$2.4 billion.

On the other side, lead is a toxic metal. The WHO states that there is no level of exposure known to be without harmful effects, and that mining, smelting, manufacturing and recycling are important sources of environmental contamination. Another cost is volume: the USGS notes that sedex ores of several percent lead and zinc generate tailings in about the same tonnage as the ore.

The deposit type changes the environmental picture. The USGS says MVT deposits are a smaller concern than many other deposit types because their carbonate host rocks reduce many environmental problems. Plan any project against its own geology and its own baseline data, not against a general rule.

Health and environment of lead mining

Exposure is mainly by breathing dust or swallowing contaminated soil, water or food. The WHO says people breathe lead particles from smelting, recycling and burning materials that contain lead, and that young children can absorb up to 4 to 5 times as much lead as adults from the same ingested dose. Lead exposure was attributed to more than 3.5 million deaths worldwide in 2023, mostly through cardiovascular disease, in estimates the WHO cites from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. Those deaths come from all sources, not from mining alone.

The US Environmental Protection Agency adds that lead does not break down or disappear from the environment, which is why stockpile dust, tailings and old mine sites are managed for decades. Common controls on lead sites, as described in mine environmental plans, include wetting roads and covering stockpiles, lined tailings storage, water treatment, regular soil and water sampling, and washing and changing facilities for workers.

If you explore or sample for lead yourself, get the licence and the landowner’s permission first, stay off other people’s claims and protected land, wear a dust mask, and wash before eating. Never handle ore or concentrate at home or near food.

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What satellite screening can and cannot show for lead

Satellites do not see lead directly. They map the rock around a deposit: iron-stained and clay-altered zones, rock units and faults. For lead-zinc ground that can narrow a large licence to a few target areas before field crews go in, and it has no ground disturbance at the early stage. Farmonaut’s satellite-based mineral detection lists zinc among its detectable base metals, but lead is not on that list, so a lead project would use the alteration and structure maps as a guide to where to sample, not as a grade estimate. Results are exploration targets, ahead of any resource estimate.

Read more on how this works in satellite-based mineral detection and in our note on 3D mineral prospectivity mapping. To scope a licence area, ask for a quote or contact the team. If you are weighing other base metals first, see copper deposits: types, top countries and where to explore, and for the by-product metal that often travels with lead, world top silver producers. See also our page on lead and diamond mining companies.

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If this topic matters to you, read Difference Between a Lead and a Prospect: WA Rules next.

Related reading on this site: US Mining Industry by State: Value, Jobs, Top Minerals.

Frequently asked questions

What is lead mining?

It is the extraction of lead-bearing rock, mostly galena (lead sulfide), from underground or open-pit mines, followed by milling to make a lead concentrate. The concentrate goes to a smelter. The USGS counts world mine output at about 4.5 million tonnes of lead content in 2025.

Which country mines the most lead?

China, with about 1.9 million tonnes in 2025 according to the USGS, roughly 42% of the world total. Australia is second at 480,000 tonnes, followed by Peru, the United States and Russia.

How much does lead cost per kg?

The LME cash settlement was US$1,866 per tonne on 14 October 2026, about US$1.87 per kilogram. Scrap and retail prices differ from the exchange price, so check the buyer’s quote.

How do I convert the lead price from tonnes to kilograms or pounds?

Divide the price per tonne by 1,000 for dollars per kilogram, or by 2,204.6 for dollars per pound. At US$1,866 per tonne that is US$1.87 per kilogram and US$0.85 per pound.

What is lead ore called?

The main ore mineral is galena, lead sulfide. Other lead minerals include cerussite (lead carbonate) and anglesite (lead sulfate), which form where galena weathers near the surface.

What is a normal grade for lead ore?

There is no single figure. The USGS reports a median of about 7.9% lead plus zinc for Mississippi Valley-type deposits, and Cannington processed ore at 4.6% lead in its last financial year. Grade has to be read with zinc and silver credits.

Is lead a critical mineral in the United States?

Yes. The USGS reports that lead was added in the final 2025 list of critical minerals, published on 7 November 2025.

How much lead is recycled?

For the United States, the USGS estimates that about 1 million tons of secondary lead were produced in 2025, equal to about 70% of apparent consumption, almost all from old scrap such as batteries. The USGS gives no matching world share.

How long will the world’s lead reserves last?

The USGS reserve figure of 95 million tonnes divided by 2025 mine output of 4.5 million tonnes gives about 21 years. That is a ratio, not a forecast, because reserves change as prices and knowledge change.

Is lead mining dangerous?

It can be. Dust from mining, smelting and recycling is a main route of exposure, and the WHO says no level of lead exposure is known to be harmless. Sites use dust control, water management and worker hygiene rules to reduce the risk.

Can satellites find lead deposits?

Not lead itself. Satellites map alteration, rock types and faults that can point to ore-bearing ground, and the result is an exploration target that drilling has to test.

Is lead mining profitable?

That depends on grade, recovery, zinc and silver credits, costs and the metal price. Use the calculator on this page with your own inputs; the result is before treatment charges, costs, royalties and tax.