Molybdenum Reserves by Country

Chile nearly doubled its reported figure in 2025 while Peru nearly halved its own — opposite moves in the same year. The figures come from the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2019-2026 and represent estimated quantities that can be economically extracted. They describe reserves rather than the amount mined in a given year. The table covers 17 countries, with 15 reported 2025 values, and listed reserves totaled 17,271 thousand metric tons in 2025. The listed total excludes 150 thousand metric tons reported under Other countries.

China (7,800 thousand metric tons) leads the United States (3,500) by more than two to one. Chile (2,600), Russia (1,100) and Peru (1,000) follow, with the top three holding about four-fifths of the listed total between them. The rounded world total stands at 17,000 thousand metric tons in the source.

Molybdenum Reserves by Country

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#	Country	Latest Data (thousand metric tons)	Year
1	China CN	7,800	2025
2	United States US	3,500	2025
3	Chile CL	2,600	2025
4	Russia RU	1100	2025
5	Peru PE	1000	2025
6	Australia AU	760	2025
7	Armenia AM	150	2025
8	Mexico MX	130	2025
9	Argentina AR	100	2024
10	North Korea KP	78	2025
11	Canada CA	64	2025
12	Türkiye TR	52	2023
13	Iran IR	43	2025
14	Uzbekistan UZ	21	2025
15	Mongolia MN	10	2025
16	South Korea KR	8	2025
17	Kazakhstan KZ	7	2025

Four of the fifteen reporters changed their figures in 2025; the other ten repeated their 2024 values.

Near-doubling and halving at once

Chile reported 1,400 thousand metric tons in every year from 2018 through 2024, then 2,600 for 2025 (+85.7%). Peru moved the other way, from 1,900 to 1,000 (-47.4%) — its lowest figure in the span. The two South American holders moved in opposite directions in the same year.

China added 1,900 (+32.2%) and Australia 70 (+10.1%) in the same year, while ten of the fifteen reported values were unchanged.

China's reserve rebound

China held 8,300 thousand metric tons from 2018 through 2021, dropped to 3,700 in 2022, then climbed through 5,800 and 5,900 to 7,800 in 2025. The rebound stopped just short of the old level — 500 below the 8,300 it reported for four straight years at the start.

Departures, new entries and long-term stability

Argentina (100 through 2024) and Türkiye — 700 in 2018, 52 in 2023 — both lack 2025 values. North Korea (78) entered in 2025, while Kazakhstan had first reported 7 in 2024 and repeated it in 2025. Mongolia's 370 in 2020 shrank to 10 and stayed there. Against the churn, Armenia (150), Mexico (130) and Iran (43) have reported identical figures in all eight years shown.

Molybdenum Reserves by Country

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#	Country	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025
1	China	8,300	8,300	8,300	8,300	3,700	5,800	5,900	7,800
2	United States	2,700	2,700	2,700	2,700	2,700	3,500	3,500	3,500
3	Peru	2,400	2,900	2,800	2,300	2,400	1500	1900	1000
4	Chile	1400	1400	1400	1400	1400	1400	1400	2,600
5	Russia	1000	1000	1000	430	430	1100	1100	1100
6	Türkiye	700	700	800	360	360	52	-	-
7	Australia	-	-	-	-	-	690	690	760
8	Armenia	150	150	150	150	150	150	150	150
9	Mexico	130	130	130	130	130	130	130	130
10	Canada	100	100	96	96	72	72	64	64
11	Argentina	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	-
12	North Korea	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	78
13	Uzbekistan	60	60	60	60	21	21	21	21
14	Iran	43	43	43	43	43	43	43	43
15	Mongolia	10	10	370	-	-	-	10	10
16	South Korea	-	-	-	-	8	8	8	8
17	Kazakhstan	-	-	-	-	-	-	7	7

Methodology

Figures come from the USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2019-2026. The 2025 reserve figures are those reported in the 2026 edition. Units are thousand metric tons, exactly as reported. Blank entries indicate that the source reported no value; they are not zeroes. The published world total is 17,000 thousand metric tons and is rounded, so shares are computed against the sum of the listed countries. Reserves and production are different measures and should not be combined without equalizing units.