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 Industry Structure, How Firms Opertate, Industry Trends, Credit Underwriting & Risks, and Industry Forecast.
Call Preparation Quarterly Insight, 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 notoriously high injury and fatality rate.
Industry size & Structure
The average non-metal mining company operates out of one to two locations, has about $11 million in annual revenue, and employs about 35 workers.
- The non-metal mining industry consists of about 2,700 firms that employ 95,300 workers and generate about $30 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
Coronavirus Update
May 20, 2022 - Freight Rail Crisis Impacts Industry
- Producers of aggregates and industrial sand that rely on freight rail shippers for transport from quarries in April appealed to the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to improve freight rail service. In a letter to the STB the National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association (NSSGA) characterized that state of freight rail service as “the worst that it has ever been,” citing a litany of complaints including deteriorating and slow service, service cuts, inconsistent scheduling, underpowered railcars, and increasing prices. The NSSGA says most of its members are “captive” to the railroad that services their facility and have little recourse. The industry warned of delays to critical infrastructure projects if no action is taken to resolve the freight rail crisis.
- Aggregate producers are poised to benefit from congressional reauthorization of the 2022 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA). The legislation typically supports navigation, restoration, water supply and treatment, flood control and similar programs implemented in partnerships between local/state entities and the Army Corps of Engineers, all of which require plenty of sand, gravel and crushed rock (collectively known as aggregates). WRDA reauthorization provides two-years of certainty for funding that allows producers to supply the critical building materials that go into such projects.
- President Biden in March 2022 invoked the Defense Production Act (DPA) in support of the processing of minerals and materials needed to build batteries for electric vehicles, defense systems, and other technologies. The action was taken to secure US supply chains and bring new mines and mineral processing online. The DPA gives the government more avenues to provide support for the mining, processing, and recycling of critical materials, including non-metals such as graphite. The secretary of defense will conduct a survey of the domestic industrial base for critical minerals for submission to the President and Congress.
- Open-pit and underground mine operators are turning to geolocation devices in smartphones and wearables to track staff and keep them safe, according to a Mining Magazine report on Trends in Mining for 2022. More and more workers are connecting in real-time to a central operations hub using short interval geolocation tools managed by an algorithm or from an integrated remote Collaborative Operations Center. With knowledge of a miner’s proximity to hazardous locations or processes, warnings can be sent remotely to protect workers from harm and improve the workplace environment.
- Industrial production of nonmetallic minerals rose 7.45% year over year in March 2022. Nonmetallic mineral mines were operating at about 90% of production capacity in March 2022, down from 96% in March 2021.
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