Iron (Fe) and Ferroboron (FeB)

Turkish state-owned enterprise (est. 1935) — the world's largest boron producer and exporter. Controls approximately 70% of global boron mineral reserves. Supplies boron compounds (including B₂O₃ feedstock) to pharmaceutical glass manufacturers globally. EU quality standards certified.

American borate mining operation (Boron, Kern County, California; Rio Tinto subsidiary since 1968 acquisition of US Borax, itself founded 1872); the world's largest open-pit borax mine, located in the Mojave Desert of California. The Boron mine — locally known as the '20 Mule Team Borax' mine after the historical method of transporting borax from the Mojave — has been continuously operating since 1872, making it one of the oldest mining operations in California. Rio Tinto Boron is the second-largest global boron producer after Turkey's Eti Maden, producing refined boric acid, anhydrous borax, and B2O3 from deposits that underlie the California desert. The town of Boron, California (population ~2,500) exists primarily as the community built to house the mine's workforce. US Borax was the company behind the Borax household cleaning brand ('20 Mule Team Borax' cleaner) — the same California desert mining company whose product whitened Victorian-era laundry also supplies the boron that makes pharmaceutical vials thermally stable.

Turkish ferroboron production plant — iron-boron master alloy for steel hardening and NdFeB magnet feedstock.

BHP Group (ASX/LSE/NYSE: BHP; HQ Melbourne; ~$55B revenue) is the world's largest mining company by market capitalization and a critical node in global process water infrastructure. BHP's Escondida copper mine (Atacama Desert, Chile) — the world's single largest copper mine, producing ~5% of global copper supply — required a $3.4 billion seawater desalination plant (Escondida Water Supply desalination facility, Punta Patache, Antofagasta coast) to pump desalinated seawater ~170 km and 3,500 meters in elevation to the mine. Escondida now recycles ~75% of process water and is transitioning to seawater-only operations. BHP's Olympic Dam mine (South Australia) is the world's largest known uranium deposit and requires water from the Great Artesian Basin (world's largest confined groundwater aquifer) — a different but equally critical water dependency. BHP operates across two of the world's most consequential water-constrained mining regions.

Vale S.A. (B3: VALE3; NYSE: VALE; HQ Rio de Janeiro; ~$42B revenue 2023) is Brazil's largest mining company and a major global nickel producer (~7% global nickel supply). Vale operates the Clydach Nickel Refinery in Wales, UK — one of the few Western Class 1 nickel refineries capable of producing battery-grade nickel sulfate — and holds a majority stake in Vale Base Metals Ltd (formerly PT Vale Indonesia / PTVI), which operates nickel operations in Sorowako, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, including a growing HPAL project (Pomalaa, Southeast Sulawesi, with Huayou and Ford Motor as JV partners). Vale's nickel business spans Canadian sulfide mining (Sudbury, Ontario; Thompson, Manitoba; Voisey's Bay, Labrador) and Indonesian laterite operations. Vale's Clydach refinery is one of the last large-scale European Class 1 nickel refining assets; its continued operation is strategically important for Western EV battery supply chain ambitions.