THE MINERAL POSITION OF THE UNITED STATES 

 AND THE OUTLOOK FOR THE FUTURE 1 



By Elmeb W. Pehkson 

 Chief, Economics and Statistics Branch, Bureau of Mines 



The experience of the past 5 years again has awakened the national 

 conscience to the importance of our mineral resources. The devastat- 

 ing effectiveness of modern weapons made from metal and propelled 

 by mineral fuels, the mineral shortages that have at times threatened 

 serious repercussions on the battle front, the scarcity of the modern 

 conveniences to which we have become accustomed, and fuel and gas- 

 oline rationing have brought home with emphasis the tremendous im- 

 portance of minerals in modern life. Without its mineral resources 

 the United States would be restricted to an agricultural -type economy 

 capable of supporting considerably less than the 135,000,000 people 

 now living within its borders at a standard that is the envy of the 

 world. These same resources permit the 7 percent of the world's 

 population residing in the United States to do 40 percent of the world's 

 work. The fact is that we owe our industrial and military power to 

 our great mineral resources, the equal of which has not yet been de- 

 veloped in any other like area of the globe. 



Possession of such wealth is of course an outstanding national asset, 

 but it is one that also could have serious implications for the future. 

 This arises from the fact that unfortunately mineral deposits are ex- 

 haustible, from which it follows that the faster we grow in industrial 

 strength and military potency — a growth made possible largely 

 through increased mineral output — the faster we liquidate the very 

 basis of our power. That power must be sustained not only to assure 

 our economic well-being but also to permit us to discharge effectively 

 the greater responsibility in international affairs that will come to us 

 in the postwar years. It is in keeping with the times, therefore, if 

 tonight we endeavor to appraise our present mineral position and ex- 

 plore the outlook for the future, and, in view of the epochal decade in 

 world affairs that lies ahead, it is essential that we do this with realism 

 and candor. 



1 Presented before the New York Section, American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical 

 Engineers, February 19, 1945. Published by permission of the Director, U. S. Bureau of 

 Mines. Reprinted by permission from Mining and Metallurgy, April 1945. 



175 



