Thorium: Characteristics
A fertile atom that could become nuclear fuel
What this tab covers The supply and physical characteristics of the commodity. Supply: current production, inventories and stocks, capacity utilisation, geographic and producer concentration, how fast supply responds to price, the project pipeline and capital spending, and logistics and export flows. Material: the physical and chemical properties that set its grade, price and end uses (for example purity and conductivity for metals, API gravity, sulfur and energy content for fuels, moisture, protein and fibre quality for crops).Supply volume characteristics
| Characteristic | Figure | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current production volume | not published; thorium is contained in monazite mined for rare earths | USGS gives no world thorium output. Monazite is recovered from heavy-mineral sands mainly for rare earths, and only a small fraction of its thorium is refined. India's IREL produces about 4,100 t of monazite a year. US imports of thorium compounds were about 5,000 kg in 2025. | USGS MCS 2026, Thorium; IBM 2022 via content_v2 |
| Inventory and stock levels | large above-ground stocks of thorium residues; tonnage not published | Because little thorium is used, residues from monazite cracking are stored under radiation rules in India (IREL thorium hydroxide stockpile), France (Solvay La Rochelle) and elsewhere. These stocks exceed many years of current use, but no figure is published. | USGS MCS 2026; content_v2 (Pitron; IREL) |
| Capacity utilisation | not published | Indian monazite separation capacity: Manavalakurichi 6,000 t/yr and Chavara 240 t/yr; OSCOM cracking 10,000 t/yr (IBM 2022). Utilisation is not disclosed. Thorium refining runs far below the thorium contained in mined monazite. | IBM 2022 via content_v2; USGS MCS 2026 |
| Geographic and producer concentration | resources: India 850,000 t, Brazil 630,000 t, Australia and US 600,000 t each, of 6.4 Mt world; production HHI not computable | India holds about 13% of identified thorium resources. China is the leading monazite importer (from Nigeria, Madagascar, Thailand and Indonesia). US thorium compound imports 2021-24: France 51%, India 47%. | USGS MCS 2026 citing World Nuclear Association 2017 |
| Supply elasticity | supply tied to rare-earth demand; thorium itself is in surplus | Without rare-earth demand, monazite would likely not be recovered for thorium (USGS). Stored residues mean thorium supply could rise quickly if reactors needed it, subject to licensing. | USGS MCS 2026 |
| Project pipeline and CapEx | demand-side pipeline: thorium reactor programmes, no commercial fuel cycle yet | India's 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor reached first criticality on 6 April 2026, moving the three-stage programme towards thorium use. China's molten-salt research reactor and programmes in about 20 countries are under way. | PIB 2026 via content_v2; USGS MCS 2026 |
| Logistics and export flows | monazite moves as heavy-mineral concentrate, mainly to China; thorium compounds in kilogram lots | Monazite is radioactive and ships under IAEA transport regulations. India restricts monazite to state entities. US exports of thorium compounds were 879 kg through July 2025 at $291/kg. | USGS MCS 2026 |
Material characteristics Metal / hard commodity
Thorium is a weakly radioactive actinide. Its oxide has one of the highest melting points of any oxide, which once made it useful in lamp mantles, welding electrodes and refractory ceramics. Today the main interest is nuclear: thorium-232 is fertile and converts to fissile uranium-233 in a reactor. Purity, radioactivity and the host mineral's grade matter most.
| Property | Value / specification | Why it matters | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Host mineral grade | Monazite, a rare-earth and thorium phosphate; Indian beach-sand monazite about 8-10% ThO2 (indicative) | Sets thorium contained per tonne of rare-earth feed | USGS MCS 2026 (host); IREL/DAE publications (grade, indicative) |
| Radioactivity | Th-232 half-life about 14 billion years (indicative) | Low specific activity, but daughters require radiation controls in handling and storage | Nuclear data tables (indicative) |
| Nuclear property | Fertile: Th-232 absorbs a neutron and becomes fissile U-233 | Basis of India's stage-3 programme and molten-salt reactor designs | World Nuclear Association (indicative) |
| Oxide melting point | ThO2 about 3,300-3,400 °C (indicative) | Refractory uses and stable ceramic fuel | CRC Handbook (indicative) |
| Purity / grade | Nuclear-grade oxide by solvent extraction; commercial compound unit values $26-29/kg (France) and $74/kg (India, 2023) | Purity and form drive very wide price spreads | USGS MCS 2026 |