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USGS Mineral Resources Program 186.2

Rhenium—A Rare Metal Critical to Modern Transportation

Rhenium is a silvery-white, metallic element with an extremely high melting point (3,180 degrees 

Celsius) and a heat-stable crystalline structure, making it exceptionally resistant to heat and wear. Since the 

late 1980s, rhenium has been critical for superalloys used in turbine blades and in catalysts used to produce 

lead-free gasoline. 

One of the rarest elements, rhenium has an average abundance of less than one part per billion in the 

continental crust. Rhenium was the last stable, naturally occurring element discovered. Although its existence 

was predicted in 1871—Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev noted two vacant slots below manganese on the 

periodic table of elements—rhenium was not isolated until 1925, when German chemists Walker Noddack, 

Ida Tacke, and Otto Berg detected it in platinum ore.

Rhenium rarely occurs as a native element or as its own sulfide mineral—rheniite (ReS2)—and often 

occurs as a substitute for molybdenum in molybdenite (MoS2 ). Most extracted rhenium is a byproduct 

of copper mining, with about 80 percent recovered from flue dust during the processing of molybdenite 

concentrates from porphyry copper deposits. 

How Do We Use Rhenium?

Over 80 percent of the rhenium consumed 

worldwide is used in superalloy production. These 

nickel-base alloys contain either 3 or 6 percent 

rhenium, which is critical to the manufacture of 

turbine blades for jet aircraft engines and industrial 

gas turbine engines. The high-temperature properties 

of rhenium allow turbine engines to be designed 

with finer tolerances and operate at temperatures 

higher than those of engines constructed with other 

materials. These properties allow prolonged engine 

life, increased engine performance, and enhanced 

operating efficiency. 

The other major use of rhenium, which 

accounts for about 10 percent of worldwide rhenium consumption, is in platinum-rhenium catalysts. The 

petroleum industry uses platinum-rhenium catalysts to produce high-octane, lead-free gasoline. These 

catalysts boost the octane level of refined gasoline and improve refinery efficiency. Secondary applications 

of rhenium include the manufacture of electrical contact points, flashbulbs, heating elements, vacuum tubes, 

X-ray tubes and targets, and uses in various medical procedures.

Where Does Rhenium Come From?

Nearly all primary (not recycled) rhenium is a byproduct of copper mining. Rhenium resources, 

largely contained in porphyry copper deposits, supply about 80 percent of the rhenium produced by mining. 

Molybdenite, which commonly contains between 100 and 3,000 parts per million rhenium, is the principal 

source of rhenium in porphyry copper deposits. Porphyry copper ores typically contain less than 0.5 grams 

per metric ton rhenium, but rhenium production is feasible because of the large ore tonnage processed 

(hundreds of millions to billions of metric tons [1,000 kilograms per metric ton]), the presence of sufficient 

molybdenite to make its recovery economically practical, and the presence of specialized facilities that allow 

rhenium recovery from molybdenite.

Sediment-hosted stratabound copper deposits in Kazakhstan (sandstone-type) and Poland 

(Kupferschiefer [“copper schist”] or reduced facies-type) supply most of the remaining rhenium produced 

by mining. Small amounts of rhenium are recovered by processing roll-front-type sandstone uranium ores in 

Kazakhstan and elsewhere. The residence site of rhenium in these copper deposits is poorly understood. Much 

of the rhenium in Kazakhstan’s sandstone-hosted deposits may be in dzhezkazganite, a complex mineral 

containing rhenium, molybdenum, copper, and lead, whereas rhenium in Poland’s Kupferschiefer deposits 

may be contained in castaingite, a copper-rich molybdenite.

Rhenium is recovered from gases released during the roasting of molybdenite concentrates from 

porphyry copper deposits and of copper sulfide ores from sediment-hosted stratabound copper deposits. 

During the roasting process, rhenium is oxidized and passed up a flue stack with sulfur gases. Scrubbing of 

the flue dusts and gases produces sulfuric acid and other fluids that contain dissolved rhenium. The rhenium 

is ultimately precipitated from these fluids as ammonium perrhenate (NH4

ReO4), a white powder that is the 

principal form in which rhenium is marketed.

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2014–3101

April 2015

As part of a broad mission to 

conduct research and provide 

information on nonfuel mineral 

resources, the U.S. Geological 

Survey (USGS) supports science 

to understand

• How and where rhenium 

resources form and concentrate in the Earth’s crust

• How rhenium resources 

interact with the environment 

to affect human and 

ecosystem health

• What the trends are in 

rhenium supply and 

demand in domestic and 

international markets

• Where undiscovered rhenium 

resources might be found

Why is this information 

important? Read on to learn 

about rhenium and the important 

role it plays in the national 

economy, in national security, 

and in the lives of Americans 

every day. 

A single crystal bar of high purity (99.999%) rhenium, a 

remelted rhenium bar, and a 1-cm3 rhenium cube. Photograph by Alchemist-hp (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/

File:Rhenium_single_crystal_bar_and_1cm3_cube.jpg)

Nickel-base superalloys used in the

turbine blades of jet engines are the most 

common use of rhenium. Photograph by 

Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, United 

Kingdom. (Available at http://commons.

wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Inlet_of_jet_

engine.jpg)
Rhenium Supply and Demand Worldwide 

Worldwide mine production of rhenium in 2012 was 52,600 kilograms (kg); about 27,000 kg were 

produced from porphyry copper mines in Chile (Polyak, 2013). Rhenium is also produced from porphyry 

copper deposits in Peru, the United States, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Russia, and Armenia. The United States’ 

rhenium production in 2012 was 7,900 kg (Polyak, 2013). 

Rhenium resources in the United States are located in Arizona and Utah, with smaller resources found 

in Montana, New Mexico, and Nevada. An unmined deposit in Alaska contains a large inferred rhenium 

resource. Identified U.S. rhenium resources are estimated to be about 5 million kg, and the identified rhenium 

resources for the rest of the world are approximately 6 million kg (Polyak, 2013). The largest identified 

rhenium resources outside the United States are in Chile, Peru, Canada, Poland, and Kazakhstan. 

Rhenium recycling processes continue to develop. Because the turbine blade life cycle in jet engines is 

approximately 10 years, significant quantities of second-generation blades, which contain 3 percent rhenium, 

are accumulating. Technological advances will eventually allow second-generation blades to be recycled so 

that recovered rhenium can be used to manufacture third-generation blades, potentially reducing primary 

rhenium requirements by about 50 percent. The number of companies that process molybdenum-rhenium scrap 

and tungsten-rhenium scrap continues to grow, especially in the United States and Germany. In addition, spent 

platinum-rhenium catalysts are recycled, and the rhenium is recovered.

World consumption of rhenium was estimated at 50,000  to 55,000 kg per year in 2012, and it is estimated that worldwide rhenium consumption 

will increase to about 71,500 kg by 2015. The United States is the largest consumer of rhenium with an apparent consumption of 48,000 kg in 2012. 

In the United States, nearly 80 percent of consumed rhenium is imported, mostly from Chile and Kazakhstan.

Molybdenite is a gray, metallic mineral 

found in veins and disseminated in most 

porphyry copper deposits. It commonly 

contains hundreds to thousands of parts 

per million of rhenium as a substitute for 

molybdenum in its crystalline structure 

and is the main source of rhenium. 

Photograph by David John.

Did you know... Rhenium is named for the Rhine River, which comes from the Latin word, Rhenus

How Do We Ensure Adequate Supplies of Rhenium for the Future?

The United States is unlikely to meet its rhenium requirements with domestic 

resources. Although there are substantial, proven rhenium reserves in porphyry 

copper deposits in the United States, special facilities are required to extract 

rhenium from the molybdenite concentrates recovered from these deposits. In the 

United States, only one molybdenum concentrate roasting facility is equipped 

to recover rhenium and although a second plant is under construction and could 

increase U.S. production by about 50 percent, the potential rhenium production 

from these plants is far less than current U.S. consumption. Therefore, it is 

likely that imports will continue to supply most of the rhenium consumed in the 

United States.

To determine where future rhenium supplies might be located, USGS 

scientists study how and where rhenium resources are concentrated in Earth’s 

crust and use that knowledge to assess the likelihood that undiscovered rhenium 

resources exist. Techniques used to assess mineral resources were developed by 

the USGS to support the stewardship of Federal lands and better evaluate mineral 

resource availability in a global context. The USGS also compiles statistics and 

information on the worldwide supply of, demand for, and flow of rhenium. These 

data inform U.S. national policymakers.

The Butte porphyry copper-molybdenum deposit is mined in the 

Continental Pit. Rhenium is recovered from molybdenite concentrates 

produced from the Butte deposit. Porphyry copper deposits are the 

world’s largest source of rhenium. Photograph by David John. 

Did you know... Rhenium has 28 isotopes. 188Re and 186Re are short-lived (90 and 17 hours, respectively)

 radioactive isotopes used to treat liver and bone cancer and arthritis

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186.2

For More Information

• On production and consumption of rhenium: 

http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/rhenium/

• On porphyry copper deposit models:

http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2010/5070/b/

Reference Cited

Polyak, D.E., 2013, Rhenium [advance release], in Metals and 

minerals: U.S. Geological Survey, Minerals Yearbook 2012, 

v. I, 5 p., accessed August 12, 2014, at http://minerals.usgs.

gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/rhenium/myb1-2012-rheni.pdf.

The USGS Mineral Resources Program is the principal Federal provider of 

research and information on rhenium and other nonfuel mineral resources.

For more information, please contact:

Mineral Resources Program Coordinator

U.S. Geological Survey

913 National Center

Reston, VA 20192

Telephone: 703–648–6100

Fax: 703–648–6057

Email: minerals@usgs.gov

Home page: http://minerals.usgs.gov

Text prepared by David John. ISSN 2327– 6932 (online)

http://dx.doi.org/10.3133/fs20143101