The measures needed to avoid severe dislocations arising from 

 mineral shortages include substitution, conservation, and recycling. 

 Such measures emphasize the inseparability of the mineral, energy, 

 and environment problems. The recovery of metals and nonmetals 

 from ores and manufactured products requires energy; recycling and 

 substitution help to save both energy and natural resources, and may 

 improve the quality of the environment; recycling of metals usually 

 requires less energy than the recovery of the same metals from their 

 natural ores; and treating pollution leads, in many cases, to the 

 recovery of valuable materials as well as to reduced environmental 

 damage. 



Recent scientific prospecting on land, based on predictive geology 

 and geophysics, has led to the discovery of several new mineral 

 deposits, such as copper in Arizona and lead in Missouri. In addition, 

 remote sensing — recently given a new dimension by the data returned 

 from NASA's ERTS-1 satellite — is pinpointing new target areas 

 around the world for minerals exploration. 



Geological exploration and research continue to identify potential 

 new sources of scarce minerals. Recent deep-sea explorations suggest 

 that the "manganese nodule" beds on the sea floor may represent an 

 extensive supply of manganese, copper, nickel, and cobalt. In addition 

 to the sea's long-recognized supplies of phosphates for fertilizer, 

 deposits of iron, copper, zinc, nickel, and cobalt are being located. 



Several major advances in the earth sciences over the last 15 years 

 have led to a greatly improved knowledge of geological processes, 

 which should contribute to understanding how and where ore 

 deposits form and thereby enhance the ability to predict the location of 

 concealed resources. Collectively, these new insights indicate that 

 useful ores are found where geophysical and geochemical processes 

 take place over sufficient periods of time and under sufficiently 

 extreme physical conditions to permit adequate differentiation and 

 concentration of minerals to occur. Certain continental margins are 

 likely areas for such conditions to have existed. 



Very little, however, is known yet about the internal processes 

 involved; much further research is required to clarify them. It appears 

 that crustal plates, when approaching the continents, make a 

 downward plunge and thrust up kilometers-thick oceanic sediment. 

 These sediments are metamorphosed and transformed into the 

 continental rock that lies above. With more detailed exploration of 

 these margins and a better understanding of the chemical and physical 

 processes that take place within them, important ore bodies can 

 probably be located. These continuing advances in knowledge improve 

 the prospects of a long-term supply of important mineral resources. 



While these advances are promising, other efforts need to be 

 expanded. Scientific research — particularly in fields of the earth 



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