Zinc Mining: Top Producing Countries and Biggest Mines

Zinc mining: who mines the most zinc, and where

The world mined about 13.0 million tonnes of zinc in 2025 (estimate), and China produced 4.1 million tonnes of that, or roughly 31%, according to the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries. Peru (1.5 million tonnes) and Australia (1.1 million tonnes) come next. The biggest single zinc sources on company reports are Red Dog in Alaska (462.7 thousand tonnes in 2025) and Antamina in Peru (about 455 thousand tonnes at 100%). The London Metal Exchange (LME) cash price for zinc settled at US$3,790 per tonne on 23 October 2026 (Westmetall).

This page is written for mining consultants and licence owners who need numbers they can check. It ranks the producing countries, lists the largest zinc mines whose operators publish mine-level figures, explains how zinc ore is mined and processed, and shows what a tonne of ore is worth at your own grade, recovery and price. All tonnages are metric tonnes of contained zinc unless stated. “Zinc in concentrate” means the zinc inside the product that leaves the mill, before smelting. One kt is 1,000 tonnes.

Top zinc-producing countries ranked by mine output

The table follows the USGS ranking of mine output (zinc in ore and concentrate, not refined metal). Reserves are the part of the resource that is economic to mine under current conditions. We list the top three in full and then the next group, because the gaps below third place are small.

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Zinc mine output by country, 2025 estimate

Thousand tonnes of zinc in ore and concentrate; eight of the ten countries USGS lists

Source: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, zinc. Rank is by 2025 estimate. Several figures are USGS estimates and are rounded by USGS.

Three points stand out. First, China’s share of about 31% is our arithmetic (4,100 divided by 13,000). Second, reserves are not spread like output: Australia holds the largest reserve figure at 64,000 kt, ahead of China at 60,000 kt, and Russia’s 29,000 kt is the third largest. Third, the world’s identified zinc resources are about 1.9 billion tonnes, so the 240,000 kt of reserves is the economic slice. At the 2025 output rate that reserve figure equals about 18 years of mining, which is a static ratio and not a forecast, because reserves are replaced as companies drill (USGS, 2026).

For comparison with other metals, our pages on where copper is found and the top gold-producing countries use the same USGS tables.

The biggest zinc mines and who runs them

No agency publishes a clean list of the world’s largest zinc mines, and most Chinese operators do not publish mine-level figures in English. So we ranked the mines whose operators report zinc in concentrate for a full year in their own filings. That covers Teck, Glencore, MMG and Boliden. The list is not a world league table, and it excludes mines that report only company totals.

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Zinc in concentrate, selected mines, 2025

Thousand tonnes; operators that report mine-level figures; Antamina scaled to 100%

How we ranked the mines

• Metric: zinc in concentrate for calendar 2025, in thousand tonnes.
• Basis: 100% of the mine where the operator reports it that way. Antamina is a joint venture, so we scaled the partner’s share back to 100% (our arithmetic, shown below).
• Source: each operator’s own fourth-quarter or full-year report. Where the operator gives only a company total (Boliden), we show it as a company.

1. Red Dog, Alaska, United States

Best for: the highest reported zinc output from a single operating mine, and a clear example of a sediment-hosted deposit.

Teck Alaska owns and operates Red Dog, which began production in 1989 on land leased from NANA, a regional Alaska Native corporation. Teck reported 462.7 kt of zinc in concentrate for 2025 (Teck Q4 2025 report). Pros: high output, long record, and a mine-life extension programme in the same district. Cons: Teck guides to 375-415 kt for 2026 and 230-270 kt for 2028 as the mine approaches the end of its current life, and ships concentrate only in a roughly 100-day window when sea ice allows (Teck Annual Information Form).

2. Antamina, Ancash, Peru

Best for: understanding zinc as a co-product of copper.

Antamina is a copper-zinc-molybdenum mine. Teck owns 22.5% and its share of zinc was 102.3 kt in 2025, which scales to about 455 kt at 100% (102.3 divided by 0.225). Glencore owns 33.75% and reported 152.6 kt as its share (Glencore 2025 production report), which scales to about 452 kt. Pros: very large and diversified. Cons: zinc output depends on mine-plan phasing. Teck guides its share to 35-45 kt in 2026 because the plan moves to higher copper and lower zinc grades.

3. Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia (Glencore)

Best for: an underground zinc-lead-silver district.

Glencore reports Mount Isa zinc in concentrate of 288.2 kt for 2025, about the same as 2024. Pros: steady output across a large district. Cons: the Lady Loretta mine, which supplied about 110 kt of zinc in 2025, reached the end of its life in December 2025, and Glencore’s own-sourced zinc fell 21% in the first half of 2026 against the first half of 2025 (Glencore H1 2026 report).

4. McArthur River, Northern Territory, Australia (Glencore)

Best for: a recovering mine after weather disruption.

McArthur River produced 274.6 kt of zinc in concentrate in 2025, up 6%. Glencore says a tropical cyclone hit the 2024 base period. Pro: output recovered. Con: the mine is remote, and weather is a recurring operating risk in northern Australia.

5. Boliden mines, Sweden, Ireland and Portugal (company total)

Best for: a European operator with several mines.

Boliden produced 350,764 tonnes of zinc in concentrate in 2025 across all its mines (Boliden Q4 2025 report). Garpenberg in Sweden received an expanded environmental permit on 18 November 2025, and Boliden expects Tara in Ireland to process 1.8 million tonnes of ore at 5.6% zinc in 2026. Boliden does not split its zinc by mine in that report, so it appears here as one line.

6. Dugald River, Queensland, Australia (MMG)

Best for: a mid-sized mine with stable recovery.

MMG reported a record 183,463 tonnes of zinc in concentrate for 2025 and more than 2 million tonnes of ore milled for the first time (MMG fourth-quarter 2025 report). MMG guides to 170,000-180,000 tonnes for 2026, and produced 46,082 tonnes in the second quarter of 2026 with zinc recovery above 90% (MMG second-quarter 2026 report). Con: output is modest next to the top five.

Also worth knowing

• Kazzinc, Kazakhstan (Glencore): 87.5 kt of zinc in concentrate and 125.0 kt of zinc metal in 2025.
• Kidd, Ontario, Canada: 41.5 kt of zinc in 2025. Glencore completed the sale of Kidd on 1 June 2026.
• Rosebery, Tasmania, Australia (MMG): 48,597 tonnes of zinc in 2025, plus by-product silver and gold. MMG reports Rosebery on a zinc-equivalent basis, which converts the other metals to zinc at 2025 average prices. In the second quarter of 2026 its zinc fell 25% year on year to 9,456 tonnes.

How zinc is mined and processed

Zinc comes mostly from the sulfide mineral sphalerite, which usually sits beside galena (lead sulfide) and pyrite. The USGS describes sphalerite, galena and pyrite as the main minerals in Mississippi Valley-type deposits (USGS Open-File Report 2009-1213). Mines work either open pits or underground stopes, depending on how deep and how steep the ore body is. The route from rock to metal has five steps.

1. Mining. Drilling and blasting break the ore. Underground operations such as Dugald River and Mount Isa use stopes; Red Dog uses open pits.
2. Crushing and grinding. Rock is crushed and ground to a fine powder so the zinc minerals are separated from the waste rock.
3. Flotation. Chemicals make the sulfide grains stick to air bubbles, which carry them off as a concentrate. Zinc and lead usually float in separate steps, and silver and copper may be recovered with them.
4. Shipping or trucking concentrate. Red Dog ships most of its zinc concentrate to customers in Asia, Australia and Europe in a short summer season; Trail in British Columbia refines zinc from several sources (Teck Annual Information Form).
5. Smelting and refining. The concentrate is roasted and the zinc is recovered as refined metal. Trail produced 229.9 kt of refined zinc in 2025 (Teck Q4 2025 report).

Three deposit types are the main hosts of zinc. Sedimentary exhalative (sedex) deposits, such as Red Dog, formed on the sea floor; a USGS model report says they hold more than 50% of the world’s zinc and lead reserves and supply over 25% of current production of the two metals (USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5070-N, which cites older figures). Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) deposits formed from warm brines in carbonate rock and hold about 24% of lead-zinc resources in the sediment- and volcanic-hosted types (USGS Open-File Report 2009-1213). Volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits formed around ancient sea-floor volcanoes. The type decides the grade, the shape of the ore body and which by-products the mine earns.

Zinc price chart and what a tonne of ore is worth

The LME cash price averaged US$3,220 per tonne in January 2026, reached US$4,020 in September, and was US$3,784 for October up to 23 October (Westmetall monthly averages). On 23 October the cash settlement was US$3,790 and LME zinc stocks were 167,025 tonnes. For context, the 2025 average was US$2,870 per tonne (Boliden Q4 2025 report), and MMG said the second-quarter 2026 average of US$3,466 was 6.9% above the first quarter (MMG second-quarter 2026 report).

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LME zinc cash price, monthly average, 2026

US$ per tonne; October is to 23 October

A mine does not sell at the LME price. It sells concentrate, and the smelter pays for a share of the zinc (the payable percentage) after deducting treatment charges. The calculator below shows the steps: ore tonnes times grade gives contained zinc, the mill recovery gives zinc in concentrate, and the payable share times your price gives revenue. The grade, recovery and payable figures are examples. As a guide to scale, Boliden expects Tara ore at 5.6% zinc in 2026 and MMG reports Dugald River recovery above 90%.

Where zinc supply is changing

Several of the largest sources are producing less. Red Dog is guided down through 2028 as it nears the end of its current mine life, while Teck says its mine-life extension work could extend operations beyond 2032 and plans US$200-250 million of spending on it in 2026 (Teck Q4 2025 report). Lady Loretta closed in late 2025, Kidd left Glencore in June 2026, and Antamina’s zinc is lower in the current mine plan. Glencore guides its own-sourced zinc to 700-740 kt for 2026 against 969.4 kt in 2025.

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Teck zinc: 2025 output against 2026 guidance

Thousand tonnes; Antamina at Teck’s 22.5% share; Trail is refined zinc

In the United States, the USGS estimates mine output fell 12% in 2025 to 670 kt, mostly because Red Dog’s ore grades fell. The Middle Tennessee mines have been suspended since November 2023, and development advanced at the Bunker Hill mine restart in Idaho and the Hermosa project in Arizona. The USGS values 2025 US zinc mine output at US$2.2 billion, from six operations in five states. The United States still relied on imports for 73% of its refined zinc in 2025 (USGS, 2026).

On balance, the International Lead and Zinc Study Group (ILZSG), which publishes monthly lead and zinc mine, metal, stock and price statistics, forecast, as reported by the USGS, was a small refined surplus in 2025: production of 13.8 million tonnes against consumption of 13.7 million tonnes, a gap of 85,000 tonnes. Check the live price before you use any figure on this page.

What zinc is used for, and recycling

Galvanizing took about 60% of global zinc use in 2024, followed by zinc alloys (15%), zinc compounds (11%) and brass and bronze (9%), according to Natural Resources Canada. Galvanized steel is also the leading use of refined zinc in the United States, followed by brass and bronze, zinc-base alloys and other uses (USGS, 2026). In galvanizing, steel is coated in zinc so that the zinc corrodes first. Aluminum and plastics can replace galvanized sheet in cars, and aluminum and magnesium alloys compete in die casting, so zinc demand follows construction and vehicle output. The USGS notes that US refined zinc is also recovered from galvanizing residues and zinc oxide from electric arc furnace dust, so some supply never passes through a mine.

Environmental and community issues at zinc mines

Zinc mines handle large volumes of water and tailings, and the main risks are acid drainage and metal-bearing water leaving the site. Teck notes that timely water discharge is a critical activity at Red Dog (Teck Annual Information Form). The same filing shows the local share of the economics: Red Dog paid NANA a royalty of US$372 million in 2025, set at 40% of net proceeds since October 2022 and due to rise to 45% in October 2027, and it pays about 7% Alaska mining licence tax on taxable income. A payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement with the Northwest Arctic Borough runs from January 2026. Licence owners can compare these terms with the royalty and tax rules in their own jurisdiction.

For a plain-language overview of mine impacts, the video below walks through seven common ones.

▶ The seven environmental impacts of mining, explained in clay. · 2:31

Screening ground for zinc-lead targets from space

Exploration for zinc-lead deposits starts with geology: favourable rock types, structure and known mineral occurrences. Satellite data adds a regional screen of alteration, surface minerals and terrain over a licence area before field crews are sent. Farmonaut’s satellite mineral detection service covers zinc among its detectable minerals. A satellite result is an exploration target that sits ahead of a resource estimate, and it needs sampling and drilling to test. If you hold a licence and want a quote, use the mining query form.

The video below explains the instruments behind remote sensing in plain words.

▶ Remote sensing for mining explained in three minutes. · 2:01

Frequently asked questions

Which country mines the most zinc?

China, with an estimated 4,100 kt of zinc in ore and concentrate in 2025, about 31% of the 13,000 kt world total (USGS, 2026). Peru is second at 1,500 kt and Australia third at 1,100 kt.

What is the biggest zinc mine in the world?

Among operators that publish mine-level figures, Red Dog in Alaska reported the most, at 462.7 kt of zinc in concentrate in 2025, with Antamina in Peru at about 455 kt on a 100% basis (our calculation from Teck’s 22.5% share). Mine-level figures for many Chinese operations are not published in English, so this is not a world ranking.

How is zinc mined?

Ore is drilled and blasted, from open pits or underground stopes, then crushed, ground and put through flotation to make a zinc concentrate. The concentrate goes to a smelter, which roasts it and recovers refined zinc.

What ore does zinc come from?

Mostly sphalerite, a zinc sulfide, found with galena and pyrite in sedex, MVT and VMS deposits (USGS).

How much zinc is left in the world?

The USGS puts reserves at 240,000 kt and identified resources at about 1.9 billion tonnes. Reserves equal about 18 years of 2025 mine output, but the figure changes as drilling adds ore.

What is the zinc price per tonne?

The LME cash settlement was US$3,790 per tonne on 23 October 2026, and the October average to that date was US$3,784 (Westmetall). Prices change daily, so check the LME or your broker before you use a figure.

Is zinc mined in the United States?

Yes. The USGS counts six zinc mining operations in five states in 2025, led by Red Dog in Alaska, with output of about 670 kt. The Middle Tennessee mines have been suspended since November 2023.

What is zinc used for?

Mainly galvanizing steel, then brass and bronze and zinc alloys such as die-casting metals (USGS).

Why do zinc mines also produce lead, silver and copper?

Zinc sulfide forms with other metals in the same deposits. Mount Isa and McArthur River report lead and silver beside zinc, Antamina is also a copper mine, and MMG reports Rosebery on a zinc-equivalent basis that adds silver, gold, lead and copper.

What is zinc equivalent?

A way to combine several metals into one number by converting them to zinc at fixed prices. MMG used 2025 average prices of US$2,870 per tonne for zinc and US$1,963 per tonne for lead for Rosebery.

Not investment advice. Mining figures change; confirm against the operator’s latest report.