Lead
A toxic heavy metal with a second life: most lead now goes into car batteries and comes back as scrap.
Base metals · No. 9
- US critical 2025
- HHI 1,952 · moderately concentrated
The world refines nearly three times more lead than it mines, because old car batteries keep coming back.
Chart: Illustration: Lead
Where it comes from
Chart: Map of where it comes from
Lead is mined as galena, almost always alongside zinc and often silver. But most refined lead now comes from scrap batteries melted down again.
Three things to know
- India is both the top exporter and top importer of refined lead, thanks to its big battery and recycling industry.
- In 1978 the US banned household paint with more than 0.06% lead, and titanium dioxide took its place.
- US secondary lead in 2025 equalled 70% of the country's apparent consumption, nearly all from old batteries.
The journey
- 1 Galena oreLead sulfide, usually with zinc, silver
- 2 ConcentrateCrushed and floated
- 3 SmeltingBullion, then refined lead
- 4 Battery platesAlloyed with antimony or calcium
- 5 RecyclingSpent batteries resmelted as secondary lead