Metal starts as rock that no one has found yet. Exploration and drilling turn it into a known deposit. The deposit is then financed, built, equipped and mined, and its concentrate is smelted and refined into metal. Each stage is its own industry, with its own listed companies, and their revenue depends on different things. The section below explains how each step works and makes its money, with a recent example from each.

Pakistan’s mineral export earnings could reach US$10.46 billion a year by 2039, up from US$932 million in 2025, according to a tentative outlook from the Petroleum Division. Other estimates start from a higher base: a projection by the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan, reported by APP, puts current mineral exports at about US$3 billion.

Lithium has been reported in four geological settings in Pakistan: brine lakes in Balochistan, geothermal well brine in Sindh, pegmatites in the northern mountains and clays in the Salt Range. A 2025 concept note by Geological Survey of Pakistan scientists describes these occurrences as potential and gives no resource estimates.

On November 6, 2025, the U.S. Interior Department added copper, silver and lead to its final critical minerals list, among 10 new entries. All three are main metals of a polymetallic deposit, where the USGS vein model places them in zones around a single intrusion. Silver shows how closely these metals are linked. The USGS says U.S. silver is "primarily obtained as a byproduct from lead-zinc, copper, and gold mines", and six smaller metals on the infographic reach the market the same way.