Mineral resources

In resources of coal and natural gas, tungsten and molybdenum, lead and phosphorus the United States holds the first place in the world. In resources of copper, zinc and sulphur - the second. In resources of gold, silver, uranium, mercury and asbestos - the third. The United States is rich in oil, iron ore, various metallic ores. At the same time the country lacks a sufficient supply of some of the minerals required for modern industries. These must be imported into the United States. They include tin, nickel, manganese, chrome, cobalt, industrial diamonds.

The principal deposits of high-grade coals are concentrated in the eastern part of the country. the Appalachian region. Some other less important coal basins are to be found in the middle reaches of the Mississippi, in the north of the Great Plains and in the Rocky Mountains.

The chief oil-bearing area is in the southern part of the Interior Plains and the Gulf Coastal Plain. Extensive oil-bearing areas have been discovered in the northern part of the Great Plains. Alaska is rich in oil and its resources are also tapped. Closely connected with oilfields are the vast deposits of natural gas (8 trillion cubic metres). However, the home resources of oil are insufficient, therefore the country is a major importer of oil from different countries of the world.

The chief deposits of iron ore are concentrated in the the region of Lake Superior. Pittsburg, in the heart of coal-fields, was the first of the great steel cities, because it was cheaper to bring the ore to the coal than the coal to the ore. Today, the Pittsburgh area still produces about one-fifth of the nation's steel, and also supplies coal to the other great steelmaking centres - Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo.

Large deposits of non-ferrous metals are to be found mostly on the territory to the west of the Mississippi River - zinc, copper, lead and others. Principal resources of such metals as gold, silver and rare elements are in the Cordilleras. The main deposits of uranium are in New Mexico. As a whole, the United States has considerable resources of mineral raw materials for the development of industry.