Non-Metal Mining & Quarrying
Industry Profile Report
Dive Deep into the industry with a 25+ page industry report (pdf format) including the following chapters
Industry Overview Current Conditions, Industry Structure, How Firms Operate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Call Prep Questions, Industry Terms, and Weblinks.
Financial Insights Working Capital, Capital Financing, Business Valuation, and Financial Benchmarks.
Industry Profile Excerpts
Industry Overview
The 2,700 non-metal mining companies in the US develop mine sites, extract non-metallic minerals from mines, and process the minerals mechanically through beneficiation (crushing, grinding, washing, separating, and concentrating) or by using chemical or electrochemical techniques. Products include dimensional stone blocks or slabs, crushed or broken stone, sand and gravel, clay, and minerals such as potash, soda, borate, sodium, potassium, and phosphate.
Environmental Impacts Of Extraction
During operation, mining companies must control soil erosion and prevent runoff that could contaminate nearby bodies of water.
Injuries and Fatalities Drive Regulation
The mining industry has a high injury and fatality rate.
Industry size & Structure
The average non-metal mining company operates out of one to two locations, has about $58 million in annual revenue, and employs about 37 workers.
- The non-metal mining industry consists of about 2,700 firms that employ 100,800 workers and generate about $156 billion annually.
- Major industry segments include dimensional and crushed stone mining and quarrying; sand and gravel quarrying and dredging; and clay, ceramic, refractory, and other nonmetallic mineral mining and quarrying.
- About 71% of establishments have fewer than 20 employees.
- Most companies operate only one or two mine sites at a time, due to the large capital investment in equipment needed for extraction and processing.
- Large US companies include Martin Marietta Materials, The Mosaic Company, Compass Minerals International, Intrepid Potash, and United States Lime & Minerals.
Industry Forecast
Non-Metal Mining & Quarrying Industry Growth
Recent Developments
May 27, 2024 - Record High Producer Prices
- The producer price index for non-metal mining and quarrying firms rose to an all-time high in March, following a steep rise in the first quarter. Producer prices for non-metal mining and quarrying firms rose 6.5% in March compared to a year ago after climbing 13% in the previous annual comparison, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Employment by non-metal mining and quarrying firms grew 1.6% year over year in April. Average industry wages were $30.42 per hour in March, up 5.4% versus a year ago, but almost $1 below their peak in January, BLS data show.
- In 2023, 40 miners died in work-related accidents across the US, the highest number in a single year since 2014, according to the latest data from the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). The number of fatalities in 2023 was nearly half the 72 fatalities recorded in 2010 and 10 more than in 2022. Thirty-one of the 40 fatalities occurred at sites fitting MSHA’s description of a metal/nonmetal mining operation. The other nine fatal accidents happened at coal mines. The MSHA characterized 16 of last year’s fatalities as involving machinery, with 10 classified as powered haulage accidents. Combined, machinery and powered haulage accounted for nearly two-thirds (65%) of mine fatalities last year.
- As of January 19, 2024, the US Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) required mine operators to have written safety programs for surface mobile equipment, excluding belt conveyors, at surface mines and the surface areas of underground mines, Coal Age reports. MSHA’s final rule requires that mine operators develop programs, implement them, and update them when necessary. Moreover, the written safety program must be developed and updated with input from miners and their representatives and include actions mine operators will take to identify hazards and risks to reduce accidents, injuries, and fatalities related to surface mobile equipment. In recent years, powered haulage equipment and machinery have been the leading causes of serious and fatal mine accidents. The mining industry had its deadliest year in a decade in 2023, as 40 miners died in accidents across the US. Compliance with MSHA’s final rule is not required until July 17, 2024.
- In a win for the mining industry, a federal appellate court in February vacated a lower court ruling that froze new coal leases on public lands, Politico reports. In an unsigned decision, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals vacated a lower court judge’s decision in 2022 that reinstated an Obama-era moratorium on reviewing most new coal leasing applications, according to Politico. The National Mining Association (NMA) applauded the ruling stating the court agreed with the NMA, as well as the states of Wyoming and Montana, that the case should have ended once the challenged Department of Interior Secretarial Order was rescinded in 2021. Rich Nolan, NMA president and CEO, said the lower court’s earlier decision “manufactured a nationwide injunction against federal coal leasing unless and until the Bureau of Land Management completed an unnecessary programmatic environmental impact statement.”
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