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Mineral profiles

Download Mineral profile - Lithium

The mineral profile series presents essential background information on individual mineral commodities for the non-specialist user. They are not intended to be highly technical but contain sufficient detail to enable the reader to gain a broad understanding of the particular mineral described.

Each profile summarises:

  • the nature and geological occurrence of deposits
  • extraction and processing methods
  • specifications and uses
  • world production, trade and prices
  • the situation relating to the United Kingdom

If any of the terms contained in the profiles are unfamiliar, please refer to our glossary [Glossary].


Please click on the links below or the images for free downloads of the mineral profiles.

Download Mineral profile - Coal
Download BGS Commodity Review - Cobalt
Download Mineral profile - Copper
Download Mineral profile - Fluorspar
Download Mineral profile - Lithium
Download Mineral profile - Nickel

Download Mineral profile - Niobium-Tantalum
Download Mineral profile - Platinum Group Elements
Download Mineral profile - Rare Earth Elements Profile
Download Mineral profile - Tungsten Profile
Download Mineral profile - Uranium Profile

The following older versions are also available as free downloads:

Barytes (1.2 Mb) (September 2005)
Cement Raw Materials (292 kb) (November 2005)
Building and Roofing Stone (664 kb) (November 2005)
Magnesium (119 kb) (March 2004)
Zinc (190 kb) (March 2004)