TrueAtlas

TrueAtlas™ (part of TrueSource Metals™) — the interactive world map of the metals supply chain. Toggleable layers — USGS-reported country reserves for 61 metals, exchange warehouse cities, the eleven main metal-trading exchanges, top producer HQs, top mines & smelters at operator-published coordinates, major commodity ports, top dry-bulk sea routes (UNCTAD), six metals-relevant rail corridors (Trans-Sib, BAM, China–Europe, Middle Corridor, INSTC, Malmbanan), 50 LBMA Good Delivery refineries, named precious-metal vaults (LBMA London 8 + COMEX NY), 13 sovereign mints, key metals-trading free zones & freeports, and 60 mining / metallurgy universities. Every marker links to its primary publisher.

Metal:

👆 Pick one or more layers below to start. Map opens empty by design — 32 layers would be unreadable simultaneously.

Storage tiers:

Region

Reserves bubbles

Each bubble sits at the country centroid; its radius is proportional to √(USGS-reported reserves) for the selected metal. Source: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026.

Storage — Tier 1 (warranted)

Exchange-warranted vaults: LME-approved warehouse cities, LBMA London bullion vaults, COMEX-approved NY metro vaults and SHFE bonded Shanghai. Public stock figures available.

Storage — Tier 2 / 3 (regional + commercial)

Tier 2 — exchange-approved regional vaults (SGE, TOCOM, MCX, DGCX, Borsa Istanbul). Tier 3 — commercial vaults (Brink's, Loomis, Malca-Amit, G4S, Freeports). No public stocks; link-only.

Storage — Tier 4 (refiners) Tier 5 (CB gold)

Tier 4 — LBMA Good Delivery refiners with on-site vaults (Switzerland's quadriumvirate, Heraeus, Umicore, mints). Tier 5 — sovereign central-bank gold reserves (Fed NY, BoE, Bundesbank, …).

Exchanges

The eleven physical-metals trading venues that publish reference prices: LME, CME/COMEX, SHFE, SGE, TOCOM, MCX, HKEX, DGCX, Borsa Istanbul, MOEX and B3.

Producers (HQ)

Curated list of top global mining & metallurgy producers, plotted at the corporate headquarters city (not mine sites). Filtered by the metal selector — only HQs that produce the selected metal are shown. Source: each company's own corporate disclosures, aggregated in /producers/.

Mines & Smelters

Curated 30 top-tier physical assets — mines (brown triangle) and smelters/refineries (brown square) — plotted at the asset's geographic location. Filtered by the metal selector. Source: each entry links to the operator's official asset page (BHP, Rio Tinto, Codelco, Freeport, Vale, Polyus, Nornickel, Aurubis, Rusal, South32, Anglo American Platinum, Talison, Albemarle, SQM, Arcadium, Navoi, Barrick, South32, PT Timah, etc.).

Ports

20 major commodity ports plotted at their official location, with annual tonnage from port-authority reports (Pilbara Ports, Port of Rotterdam, Antwerp-Bruges, Shanghai SIPG, MPA Singapore, Transnet, Vale terminals, etc.). Each popup links to the operator's primary source.

Sea Routes

Top dry-bulk and concentrate routes for metals (iron ore, copper concentrate, bauxite) — illustrative polylines drawn along established commercial shipping lanes, not navigational. Volume estimates and route significance cite UNCTAD Review of Maritime Transport 2024 and producer disclosures.

Rail Corridors

Six metals-relevant rail freight corridors at their published line geometry — Trans-Siberian, BAM, China–Europe Rail Express (CREX), Middle Corridor (TITR), INSTC and the Kiruna–Narvik Iron Ore Line (Malmbanan). Each polyline is illustrative (not navigational) and links to the operator (RZD, LKAB/Trafikverket) or the multilateral source (UIC, TITR consortium, UN ESCAP, World Bank ITF). Gauge breaks and ferry legs called out where relevant.

Refineries

50 flagship LBMA Good Delivery and LPPM-listed precious-metal refiners (Au / Ag / Pt / Pd) at facility coordinates. Each popup links to the refiner's website + the LBMA/LPPM Good Delivery list. Source: lbma.org.uk/good-delivery + lppm.com/good-delivery.

Vaults

Named precious-metal vault operators — the 8 LBMA London bullion custodians (Bank of England, Brink's, G4S, HSBC, ICBC Standard, JPM, Loomis, Malca-Amit), 6 COMEX-approved NY metro vaults, plus key Asia bullion hubs (HK, Singapore, Le Freeport) and Swiss freeports. Source: LBMA membership list + CME Group COMEX-approved precious-metal warehouses.

Mints

13 sovereign / state-owned coin-producing mints (US, Royal Canadian, Royal Mint, Perth, Monnaie de Paris, Münze Österreich, Japan Mint, China Gold Coin, South African Mint, etc.) at their flagship production facility. Source: each mint's own official site — see /ecosystem/mints/ for the full directory.

Free Zones & Freeports

Metals-relevant free trade zones, freeports and bonded airport areas — Swiss-style freeports (Geneva, Zurich, Chiasso, Luxembourg, Singapore), Middle East commodity FTZs (DMCC, JAFZA, DAFZA), Chinese pilot FTZs (Shanghai Waigaoqiao, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Hainan), HK Airport bonded, Incheon FEZ, UK post-2021 freeports (Teesside, East, Liverpool), Trieste Free Port. Each popup links to the zone authority. Source: each zone's official authority site.

Sanctions hotspots

Country-level density of metals-relevant sanctions designations from the five primary lists (OFAC SDN, OFAC Consolidated, EU FSF, UK OFSI, UN Security Council). Bubble radius is proportional to √(designation count). Click a bubble for a breakdown by subject type (companies / individuals / vessels) and by issuing authority. Source: /ecosystem/sanctions/ · raw JSON: /data/sanctions/latest.json.

Carbon intensity (producer disclosures)

Verified facility-level Scope 1+2 carbon intensity from primary producer disclosures — BlueScope Port Kembla (steel, 1.44 t/t), Kamoa-Kakula (copper, 0.16 t/t), Nickel Industries HPAL Morowali (nickel, 6.97 t/t), Sibanye-Stillwater Cooke (gold, 9.98 t/oz). Marker colour = ratio vs the metal’s global average (green < 0.5× — best-in-class, yellow < 1×, orange < 2×, red ≥ 2×). See the Carbon Intensity Atlas table below for all sources and methodology.

Universities

60 mining engineering, extractive metallurgy and mineral-economics schools across 8 world regions — exact roster from /education/.

Storage facility classification — five tiers

A vault is a vault — but not all vaults are equally public. We classify metals storage facilities into five tiers based on which exchange warrants them, what regulator approves them, and whether daily stock figures are published. Every marker on the map links to the operator's own primary page; we never republish private stock figures.

Tier 1 — Exchange-warranted

Vaults that hold metal eligible for warrant delivery against a futures contract on a major global exchange. Daily on-warrant and cancelled-warrant stock figures are published by the exchange.

LME (18 cities · base metals), LBMA London (gold & silver), COMEX (NY metro · precious), SHFE (Shanghai · base + precious).

Primary source: exchange's own warehouse / stocks report.

Tier 2 — Exchange-approved (regional)

Vaults certified by a national or regional exchange for physical delivery of its contracts. Aggregate inventory is typically published only periodically (monthly), not in daily reports comparable to LME / COMEX.

Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE), TOCOM (Japan), Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX), Dubai Gold & Commodities Exchange (DGCX), Borsa Istanbul Precious Metals.

Primary source: exchange's certification / delivery rules page.

Tier 3 — Commercial vaults

Privately-operated secure vaults serving banks, ETFs, refiners and high-net-worth clients. No public stock figures. Confidentiality is part of the value proposition.

Brink's Global Services, Loomis International, Malca-Amit, G4S, Geneva & Singapore & Luxembourg freeports.

Primary source: operator's own corporate website. Use case: ETF custody, RWA token reserves (e.g. PAXG → Brink's London).

Tier 4 — Refiner vaults

LBMA Good Delivery refiners that hold metal on site as part of normal refining and casting operations. These are not third-party storage facilities — the stock there is the refiner's own work-in-progress and customer-allocated bars.

Argor-Heraeus, MKS PAMP, Metalor, Valcambi (Switzerland's quadriumvirate), Heraeus (Hanau), Umicore (Hoboken), Aurubis (Hamburg · copper), Asahi (SLC), Tanaka (Tokyo), Rand Refinery (Germiston), Royal Canadian Mint, Perth Mint.

Primary source: LBMA Good Delivery List + refiner's homepage.

Tier 5 — Central-bank gold

Sovereign gold reserves held by central banks. Aggregate tonnage is reported (monthly or quarterly) but specific bar-level location is generally not disclosed; some banks hold a share abroad at the NY Fed or Bank of England.

US Mint depositories (Fort Knox, West Point), NY Fed Liberty Street vault, Bank of England, Bundesbank, Banque de France, Banca d'Italia, SNB, PBOC, RBI, BoJ, TCMB + Latin American central banks (BCB, BCRA, BCRP, Banxico, Bank of Canada).

Primary source: central bank's own publication. Aggregate tonnage cross-referenced from World Gold Council.

Why visual hierarchy matters: an LME-warranted ton of copper in Rotterdam is a fundamentally different financial object from a ton of copper in a private Brink's vault. Both exist; both are useful to know about. The visual tier tells you, at a glance, which one publishes stocks and which one doesn't.

Carbon intensity atlas

Greenhouse-gas emissions per tonne of metal produced — Scope 1 + Scope 2, cradle-to-gate. Each figure links to its primary source (industry association or producer disclosure). Country-aggregated averages are not published by industry bodies for most metals; we show global + regional + best/worst operator anchors where they are.

Low ≤ 2Moderate ≤ 5High ≤ 12Very high > 12

Primary aluminium

t CO₂e / t Al

Scope 1+2, cradle-to-gate (mine to cast house)

Scope / dataset	Intensity	Tier	Primary source
Global average (2022)	15.1	Very high	International Aluminium Institute — Global Primary Aluminium GHG Intensity (archived 2024)
Global avg (primary + recycled blended) (2023)	10.04	High	IAI — Sustainability Indicators 2024
Primary + recycled blended (IAI 2024 update)
Top-8 producers blended (2023)	11.77	High	ING/CRU — top-8 aluminium producers blended carbon intensity
Smelting median (ASI sample) (2021)	2.7	Moderate	Aluminium Stewardship Initiative — GHG validation report v2.0
Smelting step only, median value across ASI-certified facilities

Crude steel

t CO₂ / t crude steel

Scope 1+2 (direct + indirect), worldsteel methodology

Scope / dataset	Intensity	Tier	Primary source
Global average (2024)	1.92	Low	World Steel Association — Sustainability Indicators 2025
BF-BOF route (blast furnace + basic oxygen) (2024)	2.34	Moderate	World Steel Association — Sustainability Indicators 2025
Direct (Scope 1 only, IEA methodology) (2022)	1.41	Low	Global Energy Monitor / LeadIT — Green Steel Briefing Oct 2024
BlueScope (AU/NZ) FY2024 (2024)	1.44	Low	BlueScope steel — Steelmaking page (FY2024 disclosure)

Refined copper

t CO₂e / t Cu

Scope 1+2 (mine + refining); selected ranges include partial Scope 3

Scope / dataset	Intensity	Tier	Primary source
Global average (2022)	4.6	Moderate	International Copper Association — ICA Pathway to Net Zero (2023)
Europe average (Fastmarkets sample) (2023)	2	Low	Fastmarkets — Defining 'green copper' (Aug 2023)
Range 1.5-4.0; 'green copper' debate
Kamoa-Kakula (DRC) — best operator (2022)	0.16	Low	Mining Weekly / Skarn-WSP — Kamoa-Kakula least-intensive globally
Mine-gate Scope 1+2 only; with downstream LME-grade refining and Scope 3 (partial): 2.42 t/t

Primary gold

kg CO₂e / oz Au

Scope 1+2 per paid ounce produced from primary gold mines

Scope / dataset	Intensity	Tier	Primary source
Global average (2023)	792	Very high	S&P Global Commodity Insights / Skarn — Gold Emissions Curve 2024
South Africa average (2023)	3249	Very high	Skarn Associates — Largest emission reductions in the gold sector
~4× industry average; deep mining + coal grid; six of ten high-emitting mines globally are in SA
Gold Fields portfolio avg (2023)	656	Very high	Gold Fields — Climate Change Report 2023
Multi-jurisdiction senior; -2% YoY
Sibanye Stillwater Cooke (worst in dataset) (2023)	9980	Very high	S&P Global / Skarn — Primary gold GHG emissions intensities decline (Dec 2024)
Highest single-mine intensity in S&P's 329-mine sample

Class-1 nickel

t CO₂e / t Ni

Scope 1+2; pyrometallurgical (NPI) is much higher than reported Class-1

Scope / dataset	Intensity	Tier	Primary source
Global average (2024)	13	Very high	Argus Media — Indonesia ETS / Nickel intensity (Apr 2025)
Estimated industry average (CarbonChain via Argus reporting)
Indonesia HPAL (next-generation, planned) (2025)	6.97	High	Argus Media — Indonesia ETS / CBAM (Apr 2025)
Nickel Industries HPAL with solar + sulphide re-use, audited by CarbonChain
Nickel Industries Saprolite NPI (legacy route) (2023)	—	pending source	Nickel Industries — Sustainability Report 2023
Higher than HPAL — full figure in NIC 2023 Sustainability Report. Pyrometallurgical NPI is one-tenth more carbon-intensive than 3rd-gen HPAL per company.

Methodology. Carbon intensity = Scope 1 + Scope 2 GHG emissions per tonne of metal (cradle-to-gate). Each datapoint cites a primary industry-association or producer disclosure. Country-aggregated averages are not published by industry bodies for most metals, so we show regional averages (where IAI/WSA publish them) plus selected producer disclosures. Data version 1.0, captured 2026-06-14. Tier thresholds are TSM editorial buckets — the underlying numbers are unchanged from each source.

About this map

Built on free, open-source tooling. Map rendering uses Leaflet (BSD-2-Clause) on top of OpenStreetMap tiles (ODbL). No vendor map SDKs or API keys are involved.

Primary sources only. Reserves figures pass through unchanged from USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 — every reserves popup links directly to the relevant USGS PDF. Warehouse, exchange and university popups link to the operator's own official page. We do not re-encyclopaedify any of this data.

Port operator data. Each port popup shows the legal operator and ultimate parent group with stake and concession year, sourced from each operator's annual report (COSCO Shipping Ports HKEx 1199, China Merchants Port Holdings HKEx 144, DP World, Adani Ports NSE, PSA International, APM Terminals via A.P. Møller-Mærsk, Hutchison Ports via CK Hutchison HKEx 0001) and the relevant port authority disclosures. TSM does not classify ownership — only mirrors what issuers publicly disclose.

Coordinates are approximate centroids (~10 km precision) used only to place markers — not republished from any vendor map dataset. Reserves circle size is proportional to the square root of tonnage so small producers stay visible next to giants.

Last updated: 2026-06-25.