View of the back of one of the 18 beryllium mirror 

segments for the James Webb Space Telescope. The 

ribs at the back of the mirror help to maintain the mirror’s 

strength and ability to hold its shape under extreme 

conditions. The front of the mirror is completely smooth 

and coated in a thin film of gold. Photograph courtesy of 

the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Printed on recycled paper

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 beryllium 

resources form and 

concentrate in Earth’s crust

•	 How beryllium resources 

interact with the environment 

to affect human and 

ecosystem health

•	 Trends in the supply of 

and demand for beryllium 

in the domestic and 

international markets

•	 Where undiscovered beryllium 

resources might be found

Why is this information 

important? Read on to learn 

about beryllium and the 

important role it plays in the 

national economy, in national 

security, and in the lives of 

Americans every day. 

Beryllium is one of the lightest and stiffest metals, but there was little industrial demand for it until 

the 1930s and 1940s when the aerospace, defense, and nuclear sectors began using beryllium and its 

compounds. Beryllium is now classified by the U.S. Department of Defense as a strategic and critical 

material because it is used in products that are vital to national security. The oxide form of beryllium 

was identified in 1797, and scientists first isolated metallic beryllium in 1828.

Beryllium and some beryllium compounds are toxic and must be handled carefully. Workplacerelated exposures to dusts or fumes of beryllium and beryllium compounds are known to cause serious 

health problems, such as cancer or chronic beryllium disease, which is an immune system response that 

can damage the lungs. Proper workplace practices prevent these exposures.

How Do We Use Beryllium?

Beryllium-copper alloys account for approximately

80 percent of the beryllium used in the United States. 

These alloys are strong, hard, and nonmagnetic; they 

are good conductors of electricity and heat, and they 

resist corrosion and fatigue. Beryllium alloys are used 

in making connectors, springs, switches, and other 

components of electronic and electrical devices for 

aerospace, automobile, computer, defense, medical, 

telecommunications, and other products.

Beryllium metal is very light and very stiff—

on a weight-to-weight basis, beryllium is six times 

stiffer than steel, and it maintains its shape at high 

and low temperatures. Beryllium metal is used in the 

aerospace and defense industries to make lightweight 

precision instruments. The mirrors of the Spitzer 

Space Telescope and the James Webb Space Telescope 

(JWST), which is scheduled for launch in 2018, are 

made of beryllium. The primary mirror of the JWST 

contains 18 hexagonal segments (each segment is 

4.3 feet in diameter) that must maintain their exact 

shape even at temperatures of –400 degrees Fahrenheit 

and must be light enough to be carried into orbit; the telescope will operate approximately 1 million miles 

above Earth. Beryllium is almost transparent to x-rays, and beryllium foil is used as window material in 

x-ray and other radiation machines. In nuclear reactors, beryllium metal and beryllium oxide are used to 

control fission reactions. Beryllium has also been used in the trigger mechanisms for nuclear weapons.

Where Does Beryllium Come From?

Two minerals, bertrandite and beryl, are mined for beryllium, and both are found in association 

with igneous rocks. All the beryllium currently being mined in the United States comes from the 

mineral bertrandite. A complex series of events must take place to concentrate beryllium into 

bertrandite. First, a magma that is rich in fluorine, beryllium, and silica must erupt in an area where 

there are carbonate rocks (limestone or dolomite). If heat from the magma warms the groundwater 

in the area and causes the water to move through the surrounding rocks, the water picks up elements, 

including beryllium, from those rocks; the water may then react with suitable igneous or sedimentary 

rocks to crystallize minerals, including bertrandite.

The mineral beryl is the main source of beryllium mined outside the United States. Beryl is most 

often found in veins or pegmatites, which are rocks that contain the last minerals to crystallize from a 

large igneous intrusion. Pegmatites are distinguished by large interlocking crystals that often include 

unusual elements and minerals. Pure beryl crystals are colorless, but the inclusion of other elements 

in beryl creates colorful, valuable gemstones. The green color in emerald is due to traces of chromium 

and sometimes vanadium in the beryl crystal lattice. The pale blue to blue-green color of aquamarine 

is caused by iron atoms with an oxidation state of +2 (Fe2+); other elements in beryl crystals produce 

colors that range from gold to red. America’s largest faceted emerald, a 64-carat gemstone, was cut 

from a 310-carat dark green crystal found at the Adams Emerald Mine in North Carolina in 2009.

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

Fact Sheet 2012–3056

May 2012

USGS Mineral Resources Program

Beryllium—Important for National Defense

Photograph courtesy of the U.S. Air Force.

The U.S. Air Force 

F-35 Lightning II Joint 

Strike Fighter and many 

other aerospace vehicles 

rely on electrical and 

mechanical components 

made of beryllium alloys. 
Did you know... Beryllia (beryllium oxide) ceramics are often used to contain and control lasers used in surgery.

Did you know... The Romans developed emerald mines in the Eastern Desert of Egypt approximately 2,000 years ago.

Spor Mountain Mine, 

western Utah. This 

mine is the world’s 

predominant source of 

beryllium ore, and the 

Spor Mountain district 

contains the world’s 

largest economic 

deposits of beryllium. 

Bertrandite from Spor 

Mountain is processed 

in Delta, Utah, and then 

shipped to Ohio for 

further refining. Photograph courtesy of 

Materion Corporation, 

used with permission.

Crystals of beryl (clear, glassy) and 

muscovite (flat, thin sheets) from a 

pegmatite deposit in northeastern 

Afghanistan. Beryl crystals that contain 

small amounts of such elements as 

chromium or vanadium can form emerald, 

aquamarine, or other colorful gemstones. 

Photograph by Jeff L. Doebrich, USGS.

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

Text prepared by M.A. Boland.

Hooker emerald brooch photograph courtesy of the 

Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History.

The USGS Mineral Resources Program is the principal Federal 

provider of research and information on beryllium 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

For More Information

• On production and consumption of beryllium:

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

commodity/beryllium/#pubs/

• On recycling of beryllium: 

http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/c1196p/

• On volcanogenic beryllium deposit models: 

http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2010/1195/ and 

http://minerals.usgs.gov/products/depmod.html

Worldwide Supply of and Demand for Beryllium

The United States is the world’s leading source of beryllium. A single mine at Spor Mountain, 

Utah, produced more than 85 percent of the beryllium mined worldwide in 2010. China produced 

most of the remainder, and less than 2 percent came from Mozambique and other countries. 

National stockpiles also provide significant amounts of beryllium for processing. Three countries—

China, Kazakhstan, and the United States—process beryllium ore. In 2005, the U.S. Department 

of Defense began a partnership with a private-sector company to build a new processing facility 

in Ohio to produce high-purity beryllium metal. The processing facility was completed in 2011, 

and up to two-thirds of its output was to be allocated for defense and other Government-related 

end uses. The United States imported approximately 34 percent of the beryllium raw materials 

it used in 2011, including beryllium metal and other processed beryllium materials used in 

manufacturing; two-thirds of this material came from Russia and Kazakhstan.

Beryllium that is recycled from scrap left over from the manufacture of beryllium-bearing 

products may provide approximately 10 percent of U.S. apparent consumption. Apparent 

consumption is a measure of the amount of a material that is actually used, calculated as 

production + imports – exports ± changes in Government or industry stocks.

The United States is likely to be able to meet most of its beryllium requirements from domestic sources. There are substantial proven reserves of bertrandite 

at Spor Mountain, Utah, and there are beryllium resources in other areas of 

Utah and Alaska. Approximately 65 percent of the estimated global resources of 

nonpegmatitic beryllium is located in the United States. The U.S. Department of 

Defense aims to hold approximately 45 metric tons of hot-pressed beryllium metal 

powder in the National Defense Stockpile.

To help predict where future beryllium supplies might be located, USGS 

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

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

resources may exist. Techniques to assess mineral resources have been developed 

by the USGS to support the stewardship of Federal lands and to 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 

beryllium. These data are used to inform U.S. national policymaking.

Did you know... Beryllium pipes house the beams of subatomic particles in the Large Hadron Collider 

 particle accelerator near Geneva, Switzerland.