The best-supported named boron producers outside Turkey are Rio Tinto’s U.S. Borax operation in California, Quiborax in Chile, and Borax Argentina and Minera Santa Rita in Argentina. They produce borate minerals or refined boron compounds—not elemental boron metal. These are confirmed examples, not a complete global roster: production figures for some other countries do not by themselves identify the companies operating there.
What “boron production” means
Commercial production described as “boron” usually refers to borate minerals and boron-bearing compounds, such as boric acid and borax. The companies below mine borate minerals, process them, or do both. That is different from producing elemental boron metal.
Named producers outside Turkey
| Company | Country and operation | What it produces or does |
|---|---|---|
| Rio Tinto, through U.S. Borax | Boron, California, United States | Rio Tinto says U.S. Borax operates the Boron mine and supplies refined borates. The company reports about one million tonnes of refined borates per year; this is a company-reported figure, not an independently established output measure. Rio Tinto’s California operations |
| Quiborax S.A. | Surire and Ascotán, northern Chile | USGS reported that Quiborax operated Surire and mined ulexite at Salar Ascotán in its 2024 review. Quiborax says it extracts ulexite at both salt flats and processes it at El Águila into boric acid. The company lists plant capacity of 110,000 metric tonnes per year; capacity is not the same as actual output. USGS Chile profile; Quiborax |
| Borax Argentina S.A. | Salta Province, Argentina | The company describes extracting and concentrating tincal, then processing it at Campo Quijano into borax decahydrate and an intermediate used to make borax pentahydrate. Borax Argentina |
| Minera Santa Rita S.R.L. | Argentina | The company describes itself as a family-owned borate extractor and producer. It lists refined-borate, drying, and granular-boron production lines. Minera Santa Rita |
For the United States, USGS says domestic boron production occurs only in California. Its 2026 summary withholds the U.S. production figure to protect proprietary company data. USGS Boron Statistics and Information; USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026
What country production figures can—and cannot—tell you
The 2026 USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries table reports 2025 production entries for Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, China, Germany, Peru, Russia, and Turkey. For countries outside Turkey, the reported entries are:
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| Country | USGS 2025 entry | Category reported by USGS |
|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 170 thousand metric tons | Crude ore |
| Bolivia | 380 thousand metric tons | Ulexite |
| Chile | 300 thousand metric tons | Ulexite |
| China | 230 thousand metric tons | Boric oxide equivalent |
| Germany | 40 thousand metric tons | Compounds |
| Peru | 220 thousand metric tons | Crude borates |
| Russia | 80 thousand metric tons | Datolite ore |
These are country-level entries in different material categories, not a like-for-like company ranking or market-share table. In particular, the figures alone do not establish the current operator in every country. The reviewed sources confirm named companies in the United States, Chile, and Argentina, but do not establish a current named operator for Bolivia, China, Germany, Peru, or Russia. USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026
Country context for Argentina and Chile
Argentina
USGS estimated Argentina was the world’s sixth-ranked boron producer in 2024, excluding U.S. production. That is a country-level estimate; it does not rank Borax Argentina and Minera Santa Rita against one another. USGS Argentina profile
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Chile
USGS reports Chile produced 252,317 metric tons of ulexite in 2024, down from 450,239 metric tons in 2023, attributing the decline to lower regional output. The Arica y Parinacota Region accounted for about 85% of Chile’s ulexite and all of its boric acid that year. These are national and regional figures, not Quiborax-specific output. USGS Chile profile
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to compare producers responsibly
A useful comparison separates what a company mines from what it processes and sells. Check these details before treating two firms as comparable:
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware match- Location and deposit: identify the country, mine, and deposit or salt flat.
- Role: distinguish mine ownership or operation from processing, refining, and marketing.
- Product: note whether the figure concerns ore, concentrate, ulexite, boric acid, borax, or another refined compound.
- Measure: keep actual production separate from stated plant capacity.
- Reporting period and source: attach the year and whether the figure is company-reported or independently reported.
The available figures do not support ranking the four named producers by output: they describe different products and measures, and some are company claims or capacity figures rather than comparable audited production totals.
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