Are mineral resources finite?
There are two ways to look at this important question.
YES.
mineral resources exist only where they have been concentrated by geologic processes far above the average crustal abundance and where they are accessible for extraction. As minerals are extracted, the remaining supply is reduced.
NO.
All of the solid earth is made of minerals. The only limiting factors are capital, energy, and human ingenuity (i.e. science and technology). We will always have all of the minerals we need because prices and markets will change to adjust to supply.
How will mining change in the future?
Society will continue to extract mineral resources from the earth with greater efficiency and with more attention to the environmental impacts. In addition, as mining regulations change and historic mining localities are exhausted, exploration and development will shift to different parts of the world. Current exploration efforts are being carried out in countries bordering the southwest Pacific Ocean and South America. New types of mineral deposits are being discovered. As mineral processing technology improves, waste material from old mines will be reprocessed to recover minerals that were not recovered initially. Scientists are continuing their experimentation with microbiological mining in which microorganisms are able to remove metallic ions from solutions making them useful in metal recovery and waste-water treatment.
Most industrial minerals will continue to be mined through surface operations which are located as close as possible to the final destination of the product because the amount of material is usually large and transportation is expensive.
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How can we stretch our available mineral resources?
Several possibilities exist for reducing demands for primary (newly mined) mineral resources:
Conservation/resource recovery implies the wisest possible use of resources. In the case of finite mineral resources, it demands more efficient use of mineral resources at every stage. In the past, much lowgrade material and many byproducts were lost during mining and milling because technology did not exist to extract them, they were not needed by industry at the time, or simply because their presence was not known. Anticipation of needs, markets, and technology is difficult, but experience should have taught that industry at some time will need whatever resources exist; dispersal during mining and milling should be avoided even if immediate costs are increased. Special efforts should be made to retrieve (and stockpile if they have no immediate use) those byproducts which only occur as minor elements in ores of other elements.
Recycling. Because processing of mineral materials is never 100% efficient, a considerable part becomes waste during processing operations. Much of this waste, known as primary scrap (as opposed to old scrap from discarded used materials), is retrieved and recycled during processing. Iron, steel, and aluminum plants recycle most of their in-plant waste. When costs force society to decide to recycle all possible material, new technologies will be developed to make recycling more efficient and to expand the variety of recyclable materials. At present ferrous materials, aluminum, lead, copper, and glass are the major candidates for recycling of common materials. Every effort is made to recycle such precious materials as gold and platinum.
Mineral resource substitution is being developed in order to replace scarce resources, and reduce dependence on insecure sources of mineral resources.
What are the proposed future sources of mineral resources?
Large mineral deposits have been found on the ocean floor. Deposits of copper and zinc have been found in mid-ocean ridges, long and narrow undersea mountain ranges. These deposits are very young; some are still being formed. In the deep, smooth basins, manganese nodules of 2 to 12 cm in diameter are continuously forming. The manganese nodules contain cobalt, nickel, and other metals. Tin and gold placer deposits occur near some coastlines and have been mined by dredging. Minute amounts of most metals are dissolved in seawater and some lake waters. Magnesium is mined on a large scale by evaporation of shallow seawater or salt lakes. Some companies are even experimenting with extracting gold directly from seawater. Aside from the minerals that have been mined near shore, extensive mining in the deep sea is still in the future. Numerous considerations are currently being addressed: Who owns the minerals on the ocean bottom? Do they belong to everyone or to those who can discover and recover them? What will be the environmental impact on the deep sea life? What are the best methods for ocean mining? Is deep sea mining more desirable than mining on land? Who should monitor and regulate such mining? Deep sea mining is, however, currently beyond the capability of our technology.
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