Sunshine Seeds/Adobe Stock This morning in metals news: US mines produced approximately $82.3 billion in minerals in 2020; meanwhile, the United States International Trade Commission launched a Section 337 investigation related to batteries; and, lastly, aluminum prices have been dropping. US mines produced $82.3 billion in minerals in 2020 US mines produced approximately $82.3 billion in minerals last year, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported Tuesday. The totaled marked a decline of $1.5 billion from 2019. “Decision-makers and leaders in both the private and public sectors rely on the crucial, unbiased statistics and data provided in the Mineral Commodity Summaries to make business decisions and determine national policy,” said Steven M. Fortier, director of the National Minerals Information Center. “Industries—such as steel, aerospace and electronics—that use nonfuel mineral materials created an estimated $3.03 trillion in value-added products in 2020, which represents a 3% decrease from that in 2019.”