Cadmium
A zinc-refining by-product used in nickel-cadmium batteries and cadmium-telluride thin-film solar panels.
CdTe thin-film solar supplies renewable power for data-center PPAs.
Where it's produced
Share of 2025 world refinery production (metric tons). Source: USGS MCS 2026.
Who calls it critical
Membership on each government list. “Strategic” marks a higher tier where the list has one; “group” means included as part of a group such as rare earths or PGMs.
Cadmium: key questions
- Where is cadmium mined or produced?
- According to USGS 2025 data, the largest producers are China (41%), South Korea (19%) and Canada (5.7%) of world refinery production.
- Is cadmium a critical mineral?
- Cadmium appears on 1 of the 10 official lists we track (India).
- Is cadmium in short supply?
- Our supply status: Adequate. null
- Why does cadmium matter for AI infrastructure?
- CdTe thin-film solar supplies renewable power for data-center PPAs.
Related minerals
ExplorerGallium
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Indium
TightA soft by-product metal used in touchscreens (ITO) and in indium phosphide — the compound semiconductor behind many high-speed optical lasers.
Germanium
TightA semiconductor metal recovered from zinc and coal ash, essential for fiber-optic cores, infrared optics and high-speed SiGe chips.