Lead: Extraction
Galena, the lead ore that travels with zinc
What this tab covers How it is mined, drilled or grown, and processed into a tradeable form: the main methods compared, their unit economics, by-products, and the companies that do this work globally and in India.Lead is mined as galena, a lead sulfide, almost always alongside zinc and often silver. Lead and zinc are typical co-products from the same mine (Tilton & Guzmán). Ore is crushed and floated into a concentrate, then smelted and refined. In the United States, lead comes from five mines in Missouri and as a by-product of zinc mines in Alaska and silver mines in Idaho. Lead is itself a host: antimony and bismuth are recovered mainly from lead ores, so less lead mining could squeeze their supply (Nassar et al.). The US has had no primary lead refinery since 2013.
Primary lead comes from sulphide ore, mainly galena, that is almost always mined with zinc and often with silver. Ore is floated into a lead concentrate, which is smelted and refined. But most refined lead today is secondary: spent lead-acid batteries are broken, the lead paste and grids are resmelted, and the metal goes back into new batteries. Because a battery is replaced every few years and recycling rates are very high in regulated markets, the secondary route sets much of the market. A third, informal route, small backyard smelters in poorer countries, recycles batteries cheaply but with severe lead poisoning.
Methods compared
| Method | Share of supply | Typical scale | Recovery / efficiency | By-products | Unit cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Underground or open-pit zinc-lead mining + flotation + primary smelting | about one-third of refined lead (4.5 Mt mine output vs 13.3 Mt refined output, 2025, derived) | Glencore produced 178.9 kt own-sourced lead in 2025; US mines about 280 kt in total | n/a | zinc (co-product), silver, bismuth, antimony, sulphuric acid | n/a |
| Secondary smelting of spent lead-acid batteries | about two-thirds of world refined lead (derived); 70% of US consumption in 2025 | US secondary output about 1.0 Mt from old scrap in 2025 | n/a | polypropylene from casings, sodium sulphate or gypsum from acid | n/a |
| Informal and small-scale battery recycling | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
How each method works
Underground or open-pit zinc-lead mining + flotation + primary smeltingLead-zinc ore from mines such as those in China, Australia, Peru, Mexico and India is floated into lead and zinc concentrates. Lead concentrate is sold to smelters, which pay for the metal less a treatment charge, and credit silver. Smelters produce bullion and refine it to market lead.
Supply is tied to zinc and silver economics, not lead price; refining capacity is concentrated in China.
USGS MCS 2026, Lead; Glencore FY2025 production report; Tilton & Guzman (2016) Secondary smelting of spent lead-acid batteriesBatteries are crushed and separated into lead grids, lead paste, plastic and acid. Paste is desulphurised, then smelted with the grids in rotary or blast furnaces and refined back to battery-grade lead and alloys. Plastic casings are recycled too.
Uses far less energy than mining and keeps lead out of the environment; supply depends on battery scrap flows, and informal smelting causes poisoning.
USGS MCS 2026, Lead; EU CRM study 2023 (EOL-RIR 83%) Informal and small-scale battery recyclingIn parts of South and Southeast Asia and Africa, batteries are broken by hand and lead is melted in open pits or small furnaces. It is cheap because it skips emission controls and waste treatment.
Undercuts formal recyclers but exposes workers and nearby children to lead; there is no safe exposure level (Conway, 2023).
Conway (2023), Material World; Tilton (2003), On Borrowed Time Unit economics are indicative ranges from the sources named; costs vary widely by deposit, region and year.By-product supply
Lead is a co-product of zinc and often silver: few mines are worth operating for lead alone (Tilton & Guzman, 2016). Primary lead supply therefore follows zinc mine openings and closures more than the lead price, so it responds weakly when lead prices change. Lead is itself the host for antimony and bismuth, which are recovered mainly from lead ores and lead refining (Nassar et al., 2015), so less primary lead smelting can tighten those markets.
Share produced as a by-product
About 5% of primary supply comes as a by-product (Nassar, Graedel & Harper 2015, approximate).Who does it: global
| Company | Country | Activity | Volume | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glencore | Switzerland (mines in Australia, Kazakhstan, Latin America) | zinc-lead mining and smelting | 179 kt Pb (own sourced) | 2025 | Glencore Full Year 2025 Production Report |
| Teck Resources (Red Dog, Trail) | Canada/US | zinc-lead mining (Alaska) and smelting (Trail) | not published | n/a | Not found in sources consulted; USGS notes two Alaskan zinc mines produce by-product lead |
| Korea Zinc | South Korea | zinc-lead smelting and refining | not published | n/a | Not found in sources consulted; South Korea was 10.3% of world refined lead exports in 2024 (Comtrade) |
| Boliden | Sweden | zinc-lead mining and Ronnskar smelting | not published | n/a | Not found in sources consulted; Sweden mined about 70 kt Pb in 2025 (USGS) |
| Chinese primary and secondary smelters (e.g. Yuguang Gold & Lead, Henan Jinli) | China | primary smelting and battery recycling | not published | n/a | Not found in sources consulted; China held 43% of world refined lead output in EU CRM 2023 data |
Who does it: India
| Company | Country | Activity | Volume | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hindustan Zinc (Vedanta) | India | zinc-lead-silver mining (Rajasthan) and smelting; India's only primary lead producer | 197 kt refined lead (225 kt in FY2025); mined metal 1,114 kt Zn+Pb; silver 627 t | FY2026 | Hindustan Zinc production release to NSE, 2 Apr 2026 |
| Gravita India | India | secondary lead recycling (India and overseas) | not published | n/a | Not found in sources consulted |
| Exide Industries | India | lead-acid battery maker and recycler | not published | n/a | Not found in sources consulted |
| Amara Raja Energy & Mobility | India | lead-acid battery maker with recycling plant | not published | n/a | Not found in sources consulted |
India mined about 220 kt of lead in 2025 and holds 1.9 Mt of reserves (USGS), almost entirely through Hindustan Zinc in Rajasthan, which refined 197 kt of lead in FY2026. Its large battery and recycling industry made it both the top importer (13.2%) and top exporter (12.7%) of refined lead by value in 2024 (Comtrade), and about 5% of world refined output (EU CRM 2023 data). Volumes for recyclers and battery makers were not found.