Strontium
Mined as celestite, mostly for oil-well drilling mud, ceramic ferrite magnets and red fireworks; Iran and Spain dominate supply.
Tech & minor metals · No. 50
- EU critical 2023
- India critical 2023
The red in fireworks is strontium, but most of the mineral is simply ground up and pumped down oil wells.
Chart: Illustration: Strontium
Where it comes from
Chart: Map of where it comes from
Strontium comes almost entirely from celestite, strontium sulphate, dug from open pits in sedimentary deposits. World output was about 450,000 t in 2025.
Three things to know
- Strontium nitrate gives fireworks and flares their red, and pyrotechnics and signals took 14% of US use in 2025.
- Ceramic ferrite magnets, made from strontium carbonate, took another 14%; barium can stand in, but the magnets then work at lower temperatures.
- World strontium sales were only about $16 million in 2014, yet a strontium optical lattice clock went on sale in Japan in 2025 for $3.3 million.
The journey
- 1 CelestiteSedimentary strontium sulphate deposits
- 2 Open pitMined and ground
- 3 Drilling mudGround celestite used as it is
- 4 CarbonateConverted to strontium carbonate
- 5 CompoundsNitrate and other salts
- 6 End usesFerrite magnets, fireworks, zinc refining, glass