Global iron ore mine production 2024, by country

The mine production of usable iron ore in Australia reached approximately 930 million metric tons in 2024. Australia is by far the world's largest iron ore mining country. 

Iron ore mine production

Iron ore are rocks and minerals that can be heated in the presence of a reductant to extract metallic iron. Iron and steel industries worldwide are reliant on these sources for primary iron material. A large majority of mined iron ore is then used in steelmaking. Iron ore minerals are mostly found as hematite and magnetite.

The world's leading iron ore miners

Australia and Brazil are among the world’s largest iron ore mine producers, producing 930 million metric tons and 440 million metric tons, respectively, in 2024. Accordingly, iron ore reserves are the highest in Australia, with 58 billion metric tons of crude ore in 2024. Over 90 percent of Australia’s identified resources are situated in Western Australia. Hamersley Province contains a large portion of these resources and is considered one of the world’s largest iron ore reserves. The Pilbara region in Western Australia has two major producers, including BHP and Rio Tinto Ltd. Pilbara Iron is a subsidiary of the Rio Tinto group and has about 15 sites in the region.