Boron
Borate salts from a few desert deposits make heat-resistant glass, fibreglass, fertiliser and magnets, and Turkey holds most reserves.
Industrial minerals · No. 56
- EU strategic
- EU critical 2023
- US critical 2025
- HHI 2,804 · highly concentrated
Heat-resistant borosilicate glass owes its toughness to boron, and Turkey holds about 87% of the reserves countries report.
Chart: Illustration: Boron
Where it comes from
Chart: Map of where it comes from
Boron never occurs as an element. It is mined as borates, which form where volcanoes meet dry climates: California's Mojave, Turkey's Alpide belt and the Andes.
Three things to know
- Ceramics, detergents, fertilisers and glass take more than three-quarters of world boron, which is priced on its boric oxide content.
- Serbia's Jadar lithium-boron project, an EU strategic project, was planned to make 286,000 t of boric acid a year.
- The US added boron to its 2025 critical list after public comment, even though it is a net exporter that mined about 25% of 2024 output.
The journey
- 1 Borate depositArid volcanic basins or brines
- 2 Open pitTincal, kernite, colemanite, ulexite dug out
- 3 RefiningBorax and boric acid, priced on B2O3
- 4 BlendsGlass, ceramic frits, fertiliser, detergents
- 5 End usesInsulation, cookware, vials, crops