The U.S. is often described as highly dependent on foreign sources for critical minerals. Yet every year, vast quantities of these same materials are sent to mine tailings as waste. This visualization ranks critical minerals by the amount discarded into U.S. mining waste in 2023, highlighting where the largest volumes of potential supply remain unrecovered. The data for this visualization comes from analysis by Professor Elizabeth Holley of the Colorado School of Mines and includes main-product output from U.S. hard-rock metals mines operating on federal land. Aluminum stands out by a wide margin, with an estimated ... (full story)