Random Mode Keyboard shortcut: Command/Ctrl + Shift + R
thumbnail

Metals by Total Mined Value

Name the metals with the greatest value of mined production every year.
We are looking for elements, even though most of these are mined as ore
If you don't think these are metals, look it up!
Quiz by Quizmaster
Rate:
Last updated: December 19, 2019
You have not attempted this quiz yet.
First submittedFebruary 1, 2018
Times taken34,961
Average score56.3%
Rating4.52
4:00
Enter answer here
0
 / 16 guessed
The quiz is paused. You have remaining.
Scoring
You scored / = %
This beats or equals % of test takers also scored 100%
The average score is
Your high score is
Your fastest time is
Keep scrolling down for answers and more stats ...
Value
Metal
$170 bil
Gold
$115 bil
Iron
$91 bil
Copper
$90 bil
Aluminum
$34 bil
Zinc
$30 bil
Manganese
$22 bil
Lead
$21 bil
Nickel
Value
Metal
$20 bil
Silver
$14 bil
Titanium
$8 bil
Platinum
$7 bil
Tin
$6 bil
Palladium
$5 bil
Molybdenum
$4 bil
Uranium
$3 bil
Lithium
+29
Level 66
Jan 31, 2018
I got Manganese, but not Silver...
+11
Level 95
Jan 31, 2018
More curious facts. Quizz was done by the Quizmaster by February 01st, 2018. And both your and my comment, are written on Jan 31st.
+16
Level 83
Feb 1, 2018
Probably it was updated after you commented.
+4
Level 59
Feb 1, 2018
I don't know, though I have subscribed, several hundred people have always taken the quiz before it reaches me in India.
+28
Level 71
Feb 1, 2018
Get a new postman.
+7
Level 70
Sep 23, 2018
@brandybuck, think about it. If that were the case how would Tomasmental know?
+1
Level 71
Apr 28, 2021
it was released on Jan 31, 2018
+1
Level 71
Apr 28, 2021
huh that is weird
+23
Level 75
Mar 3, 2019
Is manganese what Japanese comic books are made out of?
+2
Level 84
Feb 1, 2018
Looks like I'm the first to get 100%!
+5
Level 69
Feb 1, 2018
Greetings from the happy country of Lithium!
+3
Level 69
Feb 1, 2018
How can I be the only one that's noticed?
+3
Level 67
Feb 1, 2018
You,re not, I noticed while taking the quiz too. Quite puzzling.
+3
Level 77
Feb 1, 2018
One more here.
+6
Level 62
Feb 1, 2018
Lithium |Subtract the second I and the M

Lithu |Add ania

Lithuania |Country in Europe

=> Lithium is a country in Europe if the earth was made of metals and every country was named after an element (even though there are 196 countries versus 118 elements)

+2
Level 69
Feb 1, 2018
Heh, he fixed it. But I kinda liked the whole air of mystery it lent to the quiz, ya know? // "Lithium. It's a magical place…"
+25
Level 76
Feb 1, 2018
alumin i um please!
+17
Level 76
Feb 1, 2018
IUPAC adopted aluminium as the standard international name for the element in 1990. It later accepted aluminum as a variant, but aluminium remains the primary spelling.
+4
Level 75
Apr 24, 2018
I wish the US would change - aluminium is so much easier to say than aluminum (even if my spell-checker does flag it as incorrect.) I usually end up saying it something like "alunimuminum".
+4
Level 82
Apr 24, 2018
how is it easier to say? didn't know you had a speech impediment ander
+13
Level 69
Apr 24, 2018
I find "aluminum" easier to say that the hoity-toity "aluminium". I'm conflicted over which to prefer since aluminum is shorter (prefer) but other elements (e.g. lithium, beryllium) have "ium" endings. The tie-breaker is the Brits have been butchering the language worse than the Americans (cockney accent is worse than any accent in the USA) and there aren't enough Canadians PRO-cessing us so I favor "aluminum".
+3
Level 68
Apr 28, 2021
For whatever reason I've always used "aluminum" when talking about buildings or structures made out of the metal, but "aluminium" when talking about it in a chemistry sense.
+2
Level 59
Feb 1, 2018
+100
+2
Level 61
Feb 13, 2018
still "aluminum" in the US.
+4
Level 66
Apr 24, 2018
Only that US English is used on this US-based website. You are welcome to start a competing British-English (or "international"-English), if that's your cup of tea.
+2
Level 82
Apr 24, 2018
It says you are an ignorant bigot, Q5. There's nothing wrong with the spelling or pronunciation favored in the US. Look up the history behind it instead of chauvinistically assuming you must be correct.
+3
Level 82
Apr 24, 2018
+24
Level 56
Apr 24, 2018
Yes, because of the Aluminati.
+1
Level 88
Feb 11, 2020
Everyone here needs to suck on some alum.

Probably too nerdy and obscure for anyone to know what that is these days though.

+1
Level 67
Feb 8, 2024
Is it edible?
+17
Level 70
Sep 23, 2018
"Aluminium" is the international standard English spelling. That spelling is used on the periodic table quizzes (I think). I am British and I use the spelling "sulfur" because it is the internationally accepted one (as opposed to "sulphur", originally the British English spelling). @kalbahamut, the spellings "emty", "magick" and "stile" predate "empty", "magic" and "style" respectively. That doesn't make them correct spellings. There is nothing wrong with the American spelling as such, but the international standard is "aluminium" now. Calling people ignorant bigots because they make a comment such as "that says a lot" in response to the USA not using internationally accepted scientific spellings and saying someone must "have a speech impediment disorder" if they find certain pronunciations easier in a way you don't seems about as bigoted as the comments you are responding to, if you don't mind my saying so.
+6
Level 82
Apr 28, 2021
I call ignorant bigots ignorant bigots because they are ignorant bigots. I don't care if you mind my saying so. And there is no "international standard English"... No person, body or text exists that has the authority to designate such a thing. Not the Oxford English Dictionary. Not Noah Webster. Certainly not The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (which, some may be surprised to find out, is not an authority on the English language in any country let alone the world). Asserting that there is such a thing, or liking a comment that makes that assertion, is... well, you know.

Q5's comment has gone missing now. I hope for his sake it was deleted out of personal embarrassment. But it absolutely was what I said it was.

+2
Level 82
Apr 28, 2021
and my comment to ander was because "aluminum" is just objectively easier to say than "alyoominium." Not because the latter sounds ridiculous or because all people who prefer that pronunciation often speak normally in a way that sounds as if they have a speech impediment. If someone has a hard time saying the former, for reasons of physical difficulty and not cultural bias, especially if they grew up on a farm in the middle of the United States... then... that's extremely odd. From a phonetics and speech pathology perspective.
+7
Level 68
Apr 28, 2021
Apparently, there is only one body in the world who has the power and authority to decree for everyone everywhere what the standard accepted and officially recognised English language is, and we're very lucky to have this body right here in our midst. Kalbahamut - you either agree with him, or you're an ignorant bigot!
+6
Level 68
Apr 28, 2021
For the record: both spellings seem fine to me. I find aluminium both easier to pronounce and more pleasant to hear - but it's been well established for a very long time that I'm an ignorant bigot, according to all-round pleasant human being kalbahamut.
+1
Level 64
Apr 30, 2021
Haha kalkbahamut, totally loved it :)
+8
Level 90
Feb 1, 2018
Why do I keep missing Zinc? I wouldn't want to live in a world without Zinc!
+1
Level 76
Oct 7, 2018
Come back Zinc! Come back!!!
+2
Level 75
Feb 1, 2018
this must seriously affect the value of gold, surely?

Iron is useful in large quantities but as far as I know gold has very few practical uses and shouldn't hold its value if we're extracting this much annually? I know there are a few uses like coating electrical connections for improved conductivity but that must use a tiny fraction of the supply

+6
Level 82
Feb 1, 2018
gold has very few practical uses

This page disagrees, though 75% is used for jewelry. But practical or not, the demand is still huge.

+1
Level 75
Dec 17, 2021
Thank you - interesting
+3
Level 88
Feb 11, 2020
It's pretty good on a burger.
+3
Level 71
Feb 1, 2018
Wikipedia also prefer aluminium but (of course) accept aluminum also.

As everybody suggest, aluminium (the official, woldwide more frequently used version) must be accepted.

For non expert non native english speakers it can be a problem. However the British English also prefer aluminium.

hunjtg

+1
Level 82
Apr 24, 2018
This is not true. Wikipedia officially takes the position that whatever dialect an article is written in, British English or American English, use of that dialect should be consistent throughout the article. But that doesn't mean it prefers one to the other. The overwhelming majority of articles on Wikipedia are written in American English.
+6
Level 70
Nov 16, 2018
So why does the Wikipedia article for aluminium have the title spelled that way, when it is in American English?
+3
Level 82
Apr 28, 2021
If true, then it's presumably because whoever last edited the page wasn't following the style guidelines of Wikipedia. You sound like a conspiracy theorist now looking for secret messages to validate your suspicions.
+1
Level 67
Feb 8, 2024
We could just check the Talk page...
+3
Level 60
Apr 28, 2021
Or maybe simply because all scientists use aluminium all around the world...

e.g. in Pubmed (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) very little with aluminum and a lot with aluminium.

I guess they know better than the average people how it shall be called.

The humility should make non-expert people follow the experts and consistency approves that ; consistency for both how the name is worldwide spelled, and how the rest of the elements of the periodic table are spelled: cadmium, sodium, iridium, palladium, titanium, magnesium, sodium, rubidium, strontium, francium, uranium, barium, radium, nihonium, hassium, bohrium, osmium, rhenium, etc. cause there are a lot more of them.

+5
Level 94
Feb 1, 2018
Cool quiz, but column heading lists "country" rather than "metal"
+4
Level ∞
Feb 1, 2018
Fixed. :)
+9
Level 69
Feb 1, 2018
Oh FINE, reply to HIM! ;-)
+10
Level 92
Jun 22, 2018
To be fair, his comment was easier to understand.
+3
Level 51
Feb 1, 2018
Out of curiosity, is diamond counted as carbon?
+17
Level 67
Feb 1, 2018
Neither diamond nor carbon is a metal
+2
Level 17
Feb 1, 2018
I got a hundred first try!
+5
Level 82
Mar 26, 2018
Quite surprised iron isn't number one. But then again, I come from Australia and our economy is mostly based on digging up iron ore and sending it to China.
+1
Level 65
Apr 24, 2018
20 seconds left, I go through the alphabet to try and think of metals, 7-8 seconds left, get to M, think Manganese, 5 seconds left, half way through typing Manganese, I think of Magnesium, abandon Manganese, and type Magnesium with a second remaining. Sigh...
+1
Level 72
Apr 24, 2018
I was so proud when I came up with molybdenium... Damn you, extra "i"!
+2
Level 82
Oct 23, 2023
Actually, the OFFICIAL spelling used by ALL SCIENTISTS EVERYWHERE is "Molybdenium". Americans are so stupid...
+3
Level 49
Apr 24, 2018
Why was Molybdenum the first one I typed in?
+6
Level 59
Apr 25, 2018
Would you accept Tool? Hard to say if it's truly metal, but many consider it to be.
+1
Level 66
Jan 4, 2019
hahah
+1
Level 32
May 1, 2018
I got molybdenum, but not lead...
+1
Level 88
Feb 11, 2020
I will never miss molybdenum after the lady got a standing ovation for pronouncing it right in The Brothers O'Toole after all the townsfolk pronounced the name of their town 🎼Molly Be Damned, Molly Be Damned🎶.
+4
Level 55
Dec 14, 2018
Someone told me that Metallica wasn't metal and I nearly flipped out.
+1
Level 88
Feb 11, 2020
By gum these new kids say that a lot about AC/DC now too, even though they were playing it long before those modern 1980s devil worshipping hair farmers I tell ya.
+1
Level 39
Apr 20, 2020
I got Lithium and not Tin. Oof
+3
Level 65
Aug 3, 2020
"Do you taste metal?"
+1
Level 79
Jan 31, 2021
I missed lead, palladium and molybdenum.
+1
Level 37
Feb 27, 2021
Didn't realise uranium was metal lol
+1
Level 93
Apr 28, 2021
surprised not to see potassium on here. Per this link https://pubs.usgs.gov/periodicals/mcs2020/mcs2020-potash.pdf seems 41,000,000 tons per year mined (of ore) and prices are around $800 per ton. That puts the total around $33Bn.
+2
Level 71
Apr 28, 2021
+1
Level 70
Apr 28, 2021
Vibranium doesn't work.....?!! ;-)
+5
Level 72
Apr 28, 2021
The Wakandans refuse to sell it so the dollar value is 0
+1
Level 46
Apr 28, 2021
I got everything but Nickel. I forgot NICKEL.
+1
Level 74
Apr 29, 2021
Hello, I think that chromium should be added. The source for this quiz is pretty limited and doesn’t say where the data is from, but I did a little searching and found some information about chromium. This source says that 44,000,000 tons of marketable chromite ore was produced worldwide in 2019. It also gives the unit value of the average US import of chromite ore as being $270 per ton. This gives a total value of $11.8 billion for chromite ore mined in 2018 if this price is applied to all the chromium produced. Even if the average value of chromium is lower in other countries, it seems very likely that it should still be included on this quiz.
+1
Level 74
Apr 29, 2021
Also, cobalt. According to this source, there were 140,000 metric tons of cobalt produced worldwide in 2019, and with cobalt being worth $15 per pound according to the source, this would give a total value of $4.6 billion for all the cobalt mined. Also, the source used for this quiz is 5 years old and demand for cobalt and cobalt production has increased recently due to its need in lithium ion batteries (compared with the 2016 data when 123,000 metric tons were produced and the price was $11.50 per pound).
+1
Level 25
Apr 30, 2021
who didn't get gold
+1
Level 64
Apr 30, 2021
Dammit couldn't spell "platinum" properly.. so discarded it

Quite surprised with Molybdenium.

Thanks!

+1
Level 78
Dec 30, 2021
Platinium predates platinum.
+1
Level 42
May 19, 2021
diamond, ruby, saffire. why not on
+3
Level 57
Oct 26, 2021
That, my friend, is what I call spelling.
+1
Level 67
Nov 30, 2022
None of these are elements. The quiz is looking for elemental metals.

Additionally, diamond is made from Carbon which is not a metal and ruby/ sapphire are made from Aluminum and Oxygen. (ruby has a bit of Chromium as well that makes it red).

+1
Level 76
Feb 16, 2022
I hope no one guessed astatine.
+1
Level 78
Jan 7, 2023
My English spelling is bad but I got most of them except: molybdenum!
+1
Level 63
Jun 8, 2023
Calcium. No.

Potassium. No.

Rubidium. No.

Sodium. No.

Gah, what could the last one be? *ends quiz*

Lithium

+1
Level 31
Jun 22, 2023
Neither aluminium nor aluminum should be on here. Neither is mined. The mined mineral is bauxite
+1
Level 71
Jul 20, 2023
The caveat clarifies that most are mined as ore and refined to the metal.
+1
Level 72
Feb 26, 2024
I got an add for stainless steel while taking this quiz.