Lead Price

Lead (Pb) is a metal element that is rarely found in pure form in nature, accounting for approximately 0.0013 percent of the crust of the earth. According to weight, lead has almost the same abundance in nature as tin.

 

Quick Overview of Lead

✔️Information about the metal element, lead (Pb)
✔️The production of lead
✔️Factors that influence the price of lead
Investing in lead as a commodity
Uses of lead

 

Information about the metal element, lead (Pb)

Although not commonly found in pure form in the earth’s crust, lead is not considered a rare metal because it is easily extracted and refined.

Lead is generally found in ores with other well-known metals such as zinc, silver, and copper, and obtained from minerals such as:

• Galena, also known as lead glance, is a grey mineral with a metallic appearance, containing lead sulfide (also spelled sulphide). It is the main source of lead.
• Anglesite is a white or grey secondary mineral consisting of lead sulfate (also spelled sulphate), formed by the oxidation of galena. It is a minor source of lead.
• Cerussite is a mineral, usually appearing white, and consisting of lead carbonate. It is an important ore of lead.

 

Lead is assigned the atomic number 82 and is identified by the chemical symbol Pb in group 14 in the periodic table of elements. The metal’s chemical symbol originates from the Latin word plumbum, meaning ‘waterworks.’

The name ‘lead’ originates from the Anglo-Saxon (Old English) language. Although the original meaning of the name is unknown.

Lead is classified as one of the post-transitional metals, also called poor metals, located between the transition metals to their left and the metalloids to their right in the periodic table.

Lead is one of the earliest metals discovered by humans. However, we do not know who specifically discovered it. The metal has been known and mined since ancient times, at least as far back as 6500 BCE. (Refer to ‘Uses of lead’ below for more information about lead’s applications throughout history.)

Ancient alchemists regarded lead as the oldest of metals and considered the prima matera (principal matter). They compared the metal with Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture and harvest.

 

Attributes of lead

• Melting point: 327.46 degrees Celsius (641.43 degrees Fahrenheit).
• Boiling point: 1 749 degrees Celsius (3 180.2 degrees Fahrenheit).
• Density: 11.342 grams per cubic centimetre.
• Lead’s appearance is described in different ways, such as a bluish-white metal of bright lustre, silvery white or greyish, dullish grey in solid form, and a shiny chrome-silver colour in liquid form.
• High resistance to corrosion.
• A poor conductor of electricity.
• Soft, highly malleable, and ductile.
• Phase at room temperature: Solid.

 

The production of lead

Major global producers of lead

According to an article – based on data provided by US Geological Survey (USGS) – of Investing News in April 2025, the 7 top global producers of lead in 2025 were:

• China: 2 million metric tonnes (MT). (1.9 million MT)
• Australia: 500 000 metric tonnes. (494 000 MT)
• USA: 300 000 metric tonnes. (306 000 MT)
• Peru: 280 000 metric tonnes. (242 000 MT)
• Mexico: 270 000 metric tonnes. (260 000 MT)
• Russia: 210 000 metric tonnes. (210 000 MT)
• India: 210 000 metric tonnes. (204 000 MT)

Production figures for 2025 are indicated in brackets.

 

Lead reserves

Statista provided the following data about the worldwide lead reserves in 2025:

Total global lead reserves: 90 million metric tonnes (MT).

As of 2025, the top ten countries in terms of lead reserves – indicated in million metric tonnes – were as follows:

• Australia – 37
• China – 18
• Peru – 6.4
• Mexico – 5.6
• USA – 5
• Russia – 4
• India – 2.5
• Kazakhstan – 2
• Bolivia – 1.6
• Sweden – 1.1

 

Largest lead mines in the world

According to Mining Technology, the world’s ten largest lead mines in terms of production in 2025 were:

Mine	Location	Type of mine	Estimated production in 2025 (Thousand tonnes)	Expected mine closure date
Yinshan Mine	Jiangxi, China	Surface	322.62	2069
Mount Iza Inc Mine	Queensland, Australia	Surface and underground	161.90	2029
Catellanos Project	Pinar del Rio, Cuba	Surface	120.09	2039
Cannington Mine	Queensland, Australia	Underground	110.40	2031
Red Dog Mine	Alaska, USA	Surface	97.50	2032
Plovdiv Mine	Plovdiv, Bulgaria	Surface	93.95	Not available
Fankou Mine	Guangdong, China	Underground	92.44	2033
Kardzhali Lead and Zinc Mine	Kardzhali, Bulgaria	Surface	92.24	Not available
Penasquito Mine	Zacatecas, Mexico	Surface	81.19	2032
Sweetwater Mine	Missouri, USA	Underground	77.18	Not available

 

The production of the commodity lead

Approximately 50 percent of the global production of lead is derived from lead ore through mining and refining activities. The other half is obtained from recycling, primarily of vehicle batteries.

Mining and refining activities

Producing lead is a complicated process, involving several steps.

The summary below of the steps required to make refined lead is based on information obtained from Agiboo.

• Mining

As already mentioned, lead is usually found in ores with other metals like copper, silver, and zinc, and obtained from the minerals galena, anglesite, and cerussite. These three minerals provide about 95 percent of the total lead mining production.

Lead is mainly a by-product of silver, zinc, and copper mining.

In lead mines (underground and surface), the ore is extracted from the rocks with heavy machinery or dynamite blasting.

 

• Concentration

The extracted lead ore is separated from the waste rock in a concentration mill and ground into small particles.

 

• Flotation

In the flotation process, the small particles of lead are separated from multiple types of chemicals such as sulfur (also spelled sulphur), minerals, and waste rock.

The water with the lead components in the flotation tank or flotation cell is forced through a filter which removes up to 90 percent of water, leaving a concentrate consisting of approximately 40 to 80 percent lead.

 

• Roasting

Roasting, also called smelting, is a process in which the concentrate from the filtering process is poured into a moving grate while limestone and sand are added to the concentrate.

Air, heated to 1 400 degrees Celsius, is blown through the moving grate, causing the sulfur in the ore to combust to sulfur oxide, removing it from the concentrate. The sulfur oxide can be used to produce the by-product sulfuric (also spelled sulphuric) acid.

The remaining concentrate transforms into a bristle material referred to as sinter which is broken into lumps.

 

• Blasting

The sinter lumps are put into a blast furnace and coke fuel is added, which is heated up to 1 200° Celsius, producing carbon monoxide.

The carbon monoxide causes a reaction with the lead, producing molten lead which has a purity of 95 percent. The molten lead is poured into a drossing kettle.

 

• Refining

The molten lead is kept in the drossing kettle at a temperature of 330 degrees Celsius, slightly higher than the metal’s melting point of 327.46° Celsius.

The drossing kettle and temperature cause the remaining copper, other elements, and lead oxides to float to the top of the molten lead in the kettle. Subsequently, the waste material, commonly called lead dross, is removed and what remains is commercially accepted pure lead. The refined lead is cast into blocks and cooled, ready to be traded as a commodity.

Lead dross still contains a high percentage of lead, causing it to be categorised as hazardous waste.

 

Recycling of lead

Lead recycling has one of the highest recycling rates in the world, even higher than well-known recycled products such as glass and paper. It is also the most recycled metal of all the commonly used metals like aluminium, copper, and zinc.

The recycling of lead contributes significantly to sustainable development, reducing carbon emissions and decreasing the pressure on non-renewable resources.

The main sources of recycled lead are used lead-acid batteries and lead scrap. It is estimated that approximately 90 percent of scrap batteries are recycled.

Pilot Industries Limited identifies the following steps in the lead recycling process:

• Lead battery breaking and separation.
• Lead smelting.
• Lead refining and alloying.
• Lead casting.

 

 

Factors that influence the price of lead

Similar to other metals, the price of lead as a commodity is affected by the dynamics of supply and demand.

The price of lead is influenced by a variety of factors, such as:

• Chinese demand

China is the major consumer of lead in the world, using over 40 percent of the world’s annual production of lead.

The strength of the Chinese economy has an effect on lead prices. Strong growth in the GDP of the country increases the demand for lead-acid batteries for vehicles and power storage devices, supporting the price of lead. Contrarily, events like strict lockdowns because of the Covid-19 pandemic reduce the demand for these types of products, affecting the price of lead negatively.

 

• Russian war in Ukraine

Increasing global inflation due to the Russian war in Ukraine may suppress economic growth worldwide, reducing the demand for vehicles and subsequently the demand for lead-acid batteries that power these vehicles.

Also, it is still unclear what impact the war between Russia and Ukraine and the sanctions imposed by numerous countries on Russia will have on the lead production of Russia. The country is the sixth major global producer of lead.

A reduction in Russia’s supply of lead may lead to higher lead prices.

 

• Energy prices

The processes applied in the mining, production, and recycling of lead require large quantities of energy, such as electricity, coal, and crude oil.

The consumption of more energy will cause rising energy prices, making the production of lead more expensive, which could have a negative effect on the demand for lead products as well as the price of lead.

The Russian war in Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions and restrictions imposed on Russian gas and oil have led to a dramatic rise in the price of crude oil since 24 February 2025.

 

• Health concerns

Over the years, health studies have indicated the negative effects of cumulative lead poisoning on humans and animals. These studies and recommendations have caused the removal of lead in products such as paints, petrol (gasoline), and drinking water pipes.

More information about the health effects of lead exposure may convince consumers to switch to alternatives, while scientists are looking for replacement materials in several applications.

 

• Competing technologies

Both lead-acid batteries and lithium-ion batteries are power storage sources. Many experts in the automotive industry are convinced that lithium-ion batteries could eventually replace lead-acid batteries to power vehicles, which could lead to declining lead prices.

Although, lead-acid batteries perform better in high-power vehicles. In addition, lithium-ion batteries have historically been pricier.

 

Investing in lead as a commodity

Although lead may be considered a higher investment risk than other commodities, the metal still provides profit-generating opportunities, providing that an investor applies his/her mind to a sound investment strategy and takes the factors that influence the price of lead into consideration.

It is also important to make use of a regulated and recommended commodity broker who will be able to provide an investment platform and guidance about the variety of options available to invest in lead as a commodity.

 

Ways to invest in lead as a commodity

• Lead futures

Lead futures also called futures contracts, are available for trading on the London Metal Exchange (LME). The price is quoted in US dollars and the contract has a size of 25 tonnes.

The LME follows global lead stocks, and traders and investors follow these figures closely.

Put simply, a futures contract is an agreement to trade a specific quantity of lead in the future at a pre-defined price.

Keep in mind, that trading with futures can be complicated, costly, and not practical because a certain margin in a trading account has to be maintained and the contracts are physically settled by the delivery of the commodity bought.

 

• Lead exchange-traded funds (ETFs)

ETFs, also referred to as exchange-traded products (ETPs), are investment funds that hold a collection of underlying assets, such as shares and commodities. These financial instruments trade as shares on stock exchanges in the same way as ordinary shares do.

The following two ETFs currently trade in lead futures:

• iPath Pure Beta Lead ETN.
• iPath Dow Jones-AIG Lead ATN.

 

• Shares of lead-mining companies

There are no public mining companies that exclusively trade in lead because lead is generally mined as a by-product of other metals such as silver, zinc, or copper.

Major mining companies that are also involved in the production of lead are BHP, Teck Resources, Vedanta Resources, Southern Copper Corporation, and Glencore plc, to name a few.

 

Uses of lead

Uses of lead throughout history

As mentioned, lead was one of the first metals discovered and used by human beings. Evidence of the use of the metal by humans goes as far back as 6500 BCE when a small lead-covered statue was found in Turkey. Signs of the mining of lead date as far back as 6400 BCE in Anatolia, the Asian region of modern Turkey.

Since lead’s melting point is significantly lower than that of iron, 327.46° Celsius (641.43° Fahrenheit), compared to 1 538° Celsius (2 800° Fahrenheit), it was easier to be moulded using ancient technology.

Here are more examples, indicating how lead was mined and used by people in ancient times:

• The Babylonians recorded inscriptions on plates made of lead.

 

• The Holy Land,

The Holy Land refers to a region roughly corresponding to the modern State of Israel and the Palestinian territories where the events described in biblical accounts occurred.

Examples of the application of lead in biblical times are found in biblical accounts such as:

• In Ezekiel 27, the prophet Ezekiel lamented over Tyres, the most important city of the Phoenicians, as instructed by the ‘Sovereign Lord,’ mentioning, inter alia, in Ezekiel 27:12: ‘Tarshish [a place far across the Mediterranean Sea] did business with you because of your great wealth of goods; they exchanged silver, iron, tin and lead for your merchandise.’ (Insertion and accentuation by the article writer.)
• In Zechariah 7:5, the prophet Zechariah referred to a cover of lead that covered a woman in a basket.
• There are numerous biblical references to a plumb line, also called a plummet, consisting of a cord weighted with lead at the one end to check that vertical structures are true. The plumb line is also used symbolically in passages such as Amos 7:7 – 8, showing that God’s nation has become corrupt, and Isaiah 33:11, indicating that God’s testing brings judgement.

Furthermore, lead was used as rebar (reinforcement) ‘in the construction of stone buildings. Holes drilled through adjoining stone blocks were filled with molten lead which then solidified to secure the blocks in place,’ according to Rock&Gem.

 

• The Romans

The ancient Romans utilised lead on a large scale, differentiating between ‘plumbum nigrum’ (black lead) and ‘plumbum album’ (white lead), which is now called tin.

They used the metal for coffins, and to manufacture pewter tableware, made of an alloy of tin and lead, and cooking utensils. They also utilised lead to debase their silver coins.

The Romans extensively utilised metal to manufacture their water pipes and famous baths. Noteworthy, the word ‘plumbing’ is derived from the Latin word for lead ‘plumbum,’ because lead was so widely used in water pipes.

The Romans also used lead comprehensively in some of their foods, while some unscrupulous wine producers used lead pots to crush grapes, justifying the overtones of lead would contribute to the sweetness of the wine. This process continued long after it was strictly forbidden by the Roman Catholic Church in 1498.

Unfortunately, the extensive use of lead in their water pipes, food, and in the production of their wine, caused lead poisoning because it is a slow-acting poison. Some historians argue that the decline of the Roman empire is partly to be blamed on the lead in the Romans’ water supply, food, and wine.

 

• The Greeks mined lead on a large scale from 650 BCE and beyond.

 

• In the Middle Ages, the period in Europe between the fall of Rome in 476 CE and the beginning of the Renaissance in the fourteenth century, lead was, inter alia, used for bullets, the coating of rooftops, various forms of decorations such as statutes, and the manufacturing of gutters and water tanks.

Around 1450 CE, Johannes Gutenberg invented the metal moveable type printing press, making the type pieces from an alloy of lead, tin, and antimony. These materials remained standard for approximately 550 years.

 

• In Europe, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, aristocratic women used a mixture of lead and vinegar, called ‘Venetian ceruse,’ to obtain a white face, commonly referred to as the fresh ‘white-faced’ look which symbolised youth and fertility.

One famous user of the Venetian ceruse was Queen Elizabeth I of England who started using the mixture to cover the pockmarks on her face which were caused by the viral disease smallpox.

 

Uses of lead in the twenty-first century

Lead is the fourth most used metal globally. Although, the effects of cumulative lead poisoning on the health of humans and on the environment, have led to worldwide regulations, limiting the use of lead in several applications.

It is estimated that over 80 percent of the lead used is to manufacture lead acid batteries. In fact, according to a report of the US Geological Survey (USGS), ‘the lead-acid battery market accounted for over 92 percent of American lead consumption in 2025.’

In lead acid batteries, lead metal acts as the cathode (negatively charged electrode), and lead oxide as the anode (positively charged electrode).

Lead-acid batteries are mainly used to start and power road vehicles, including their electronics. Furthermore, they are used in backup power supplies for alarms, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), and computers. They are also used for hybrid and zero-emission vehicles, electric wheelchairs, and electric scooters, among other applications.

 

Other uses of lead are:

• The metal is an effective shield against X-ray and gamma-ray radiation, such as those occurring in X-ray machines and nuclear reactors.
• Due to its high density and ability to absorb vibration, lead is used for the sound insulation of constructions. Due to its high corrosion resistance, it is used in the coating of rooftops and the construction of gutters.
• It is still used in the manufacturing of certain bullets and ammunition.
• Lead is used in pipes and lining of tanks, holding corrosive liquids such as sulfuric acids, in chemical plants. Due to health reasons, lead is no longer used for domestic water pipes.
• Lead is utilised to protect underground and underwater cables.
• The metal’s high density and superior weight-to-volume ratio make lead to a useful component in the production of ballast keels for sailboats.
• Lead-based fishing sinkers is used in fishing, although they are banned in the national parks of the USA and Canada.
• Other uses include lead crystal glassware, weights for lifting, weight belts for diving, the base material for organ pipes, and in computer and television screens, shielding viewers from radiation.

 

Lead alloys are widely used. For example, type metal, Babbitt metal, and solder, to name a few.

• Type metal, an alloy comprising lead, tin, and antimony, is used to manufacture the type utilised in printing presses and plates.
• In terms of lead, Babbitt metal is a lead-base alloy containing tin and antimony with or without arsenic. The alloy is used to reduce friction in bearings.
• Solder, the best-known alloy, consists of 40 percent lead and 60 percent tin. Solder is an alloy with a relatively low melting point that is commonly used in plumbing to join pipes, and in electronica to join electrical components.

 

The reduction of the use of lead

Until recently, white lead and other lead compounds were extensively used in paints. This has changed due to regulations in recent years to drastically reduce the use of lead in paints in order to lessen the health hazards posed by lead.

Likewise, the use of lead in fuel. Tetraethyl lead (TEL), also spelled tetraethyllead, is a fuel additive that was used as an anti-knock agent in petrol since the early 1920s. Mainly due to its contribution to lead poisoning, countries started to phase TEL out in the early 1970s. First in the USA, then in Europe, and eventually around the globe. Algeria was the last country to produce leaded fuel, as recently as July 2025.

A global landmark was reached on 30 August 2025 when the United Nations Programme on Environment (UNEP) announced at a press conference that ‘globally, automotive fuel is completely lead-free now.’ Although, it has taken 100 years to stop the use of leaded fuel eventually.

 

Note: This article does not constitute investment, financial, or trading advice. Please obtain the advice of a professional and regulated commodity broker before making trading and investment decisions.