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Where hafnium is found

What is it found in, and where on Earth?

Hafnium has almost the same ion size and charge as zirconium, so it occurs in zirconium minerals. Zircon, from beach and dune sands, is the main source. Most zircon has about one part hafnium to 34 to 50 parts zirconium. Hafnon is a rare mineral with more hafnium than zirconium.

Last updated 14 October 2026.

Minerals and ores

Hafnium has no ore of its own. Zircon (ZrSiO4) is the main ore of both zirconium and hafnium1. Baddeleyite (ZrO2) is a less common source1.

Zircon usually has 34 to 50 parts zirconium for each part hafnium. USGS gives both numbers in the same report: 33.6 to 1 for most natural zircon, and 50 to 1 as typical1. The hafnium content of zircon varies from 6,000 to 11,600 ppm1.

Hafnon, (Hf,Zr)SiO4, is a rare mineral with more hafnium than zirconium1. It occurs in granite pegmatites in the Zambézia district of Mozambique1.

How deposits form

Zirconium and hafnium have nearly the same charge and ion size1. So hafnium takes the place of zirconium in zircon as the mineral grows in magma. The share of hafnium depends on the magma1.

Zircon is hard and heavy. Waves and wind collect it with other heavy minerals in sands on coasts1. The zirconium page has more about these deposits.

Where the deposits are

Hafnium is in the zircon from all zircon mines. By the USGS estimates, Australia, South Africa and Mozambique mined the most zircon in 20252. The Kovdor mine in Russia produces baddeleyite from rock, not sand. In 2017, USGS called it the only igneous deposit (rock formed from magma) in the world that produced zirconium1. The hafnium is separated only in the countries that make zirconium metal3 (see production).

What it comes with

Hafnium always comes with zirconium. Zircon itself is a by-product of mining sands for the titanium minerals ilmenite and rutile1. So hafnium is a by-product of a by-product. The UK criticality assessment of 2024 gives hafnium a companionality score of 10.0. Its authors name hafnium as an example of a metal recovered only at refineries4.

Sources

  1. 1

    U.S. Geological Survey (James V. Jones III, Nadine M. Piatak and George M. Bedinger), 2017. Zirconium and Hafnium, chapter V of Critical Mineral Resources of the United States (Professional Paper 1802) , Pp. V1-V26: summary, uses, supply and demand, geochemistry, deposit types, environmental considerations, health.

    Crustal abundance, the zirconium to hafnium ratio, separation, uses, recycling, toxicity and the environment.

    • The main ore mineral for both elements is zircon (ZrSiO4)
    • Baddeleyite (ZrO2) (fig. V1E ) is a less common but commercially important mineral that contains both zirconium and hafnium, but in a ratio of approximately 73:1.
    • Most natural zircon has a Zr:Hf ratio of 33.6:1
    • typically has a zirconium to hafnium (Zr:Hf) ratio of 50:1
    • The hafnium content of zircon can vary widely, however (from 6,000 to 11,600 ppm)
    • Hafnon ((Hf,Zr)SiO4 ) is a rare hafnium-rich mineral that exhibits continuous solid solution with zircon.
    • naturally occurring hafnon crystals typically have Zr:Hf ratios of 0.03 to 0.08
    • Hafnon occurs in tantalum-bearing granite pegmatites in the Zambézia district of Mozambique
    • Zirconium and hafnium are refractory lithophile elements that have nearly identical charge, ionic radii, and ionic potentials
    • depending on the composition of the magma from which the zircon crystallized
    • The resulting heavy-mineral sand deposits, called placers or paleoplacers, preferentially form at relatively low latitudes on passive continental margins and supply 100 percent of the world’s zircon.
    • is the only igneous deposit in the world that is currently producing zirconium
    • is produced primarily as a byproduct of heavy-mineral sand mining for titanium minerals
  2. 2

    U.S. Geological Survey (Shelby N. Johnston), 2026. Zirconium and Hafnium, in Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 , Pp. 1-2: production and use, salient statistics (hafnium rows), events, world production and reserves, resources, substitutes, footnote 6.

    Hafnium prices from 2021 to 2025, US trade in hafnium, import sources, recycling, substitutes, and the statement that world data are not available.

    • Australia … Mozambique … South Africa … 400 … 160 … 270
  3. 3

    Anthony Lipmann, Lipmann Walton & Co (metal trader), 2012. Hafnium Supply-Demand – MMTA – Brief Metal Statistics .

    A trader's account of hafnium supply, crystal bar production, uses and trade, written in 2012 and updated in 2020.

    • the recovery of Hafnium as by-product is only generated in parts of the world where Zirconium is produced
  4. 4

    UK Critical Minerals Intelligence Centre, British Geological Survey, 2024. UK 2024 Criticality Assessment , Table 1 (criticality results); appendix tables of end uses (Hafnium, SCRREEN 2023), end-of-life recycling rates (Hafnium) and the recycling indicator.

    The UK critical minerals list of 2024, with end uses and end-of-life recycling rates.

    • commonly by-products recovered only at smelters or refineries (for example, cadmium (Cd) 9.6; In 9.8; Ga 9.9; Te 8.5; hafnium (Hf) 10.0)