INTRODUCTION 



Table 1. — Potential U.S. resources of some important min- 

 eral commodities, in relation to minimiim anticipated cumu- 

 lative demand to year 2000 A.D. 



ST=short tons. lb=pounds. 



LT=long tons. Tr oz=troy ounces. 



Identified resources: Includes reserves, and materials other than re- 

 serves that are reasonably well known as to location, extent, and grade, 

 that may be exploitable in the future under more favorable economic 

 conditions or with improvements in technology. 



Hypothetical resources: Undiscovered but geologically predictable deposits 

 of materials similar to present identified resources. 

 I. Domestic resources (of the category shown) are greater than 10 



times the minimum anticipated cumulative demand 1968-2000. 

 II. Domestic resources are 2 to 10 times the MACD. 



III. Domestic resources are approximately 75 percent to 2 times the 



MACD. 



IV. Domestic resources are approximately 36-75 percent the MACD. 

 V. Domestic resources are approximately 10-35 percent the MACD. 



VI. Domestic resources are less than 10 percent of the MACD. 



Identi- 

 Minimum anticipated fied Hypothetical 

 Commodity cumulative demand, re- resources 



1968-2000 1 sources 



Aluminum 290,000,000 ST II Not estimated. 



Asbestos 32,700,000 ST V VI 



Barite 25,300,000 ST II II 



Chromium 20,100,000 ST VI VI 



Clay 2,813,500,000 ST III II 



Copper 96,400,000 ST III III 



Fluorine 37,600,000 ST V V 



Gold 372,000,000 Tr oz III Not estimated. 



Gypsum 719,800,000 ST I I 



Iron 3,280,000,000 ST II I 



Lead 37,000,000 ST III IV 



Manganese 47,000,000 ST III Not estimated. 



Mercury 2,600,000 flasks V Not estimated. 



Mica, scrap 6,000,000 ST II I 



Molybdenum 3,100,000,000 lbs I I 



Nickel 16,200,000,000 lbs III Not estimated. 



Phosphate 190,000,000 ST II I 



Sand and gravel _ 56,800,000,000 ST III Not estimated. 



Silver 3,700,000,000 Tr oz III III 



Sulfur 473,000,000 LT I I 



Thorium 27,500 ST = II Not estimated. 



Titanium (TiO^) _ 38,000,000 ST II II 



Tungsten 1,100,000,000 lbs IV IV 



Uranium 1,190,000 ST II III 



Vanadium 420,000 ST II Not estimated. 



Zinc 57,000,000 ST II II 



' As estimated by U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1970. 



- For thorium, TnaxiynuTr. anticipated cumulative demand 1968-2000, 

 which assumes commercial development of economically attractive thorium 

 reactors by 1980. 



Careful study of both this table and the volume 

 in its entirety leads to the conclusion that only a 

 few commodities are readily available to the United 

 States in quantities adequate to last for hundreds 

 of years. By no means is it too early to become 

 concerned about future mineral supplies — and to 

 start planning. Charles F. Park (1968) wrote of 

 the decrease in mineral supplies that is placing 

 modern American affluence in jeopardy. The real 

 extent of our dependence on mineral resources places 

 in jeopardy not merely affluence, but world civili- 

 zation. 



LOW-GRADE ORES AND THE ENVIRONMENT 



The impelling need for minerals poses environ- 

 mental problems of concern to all. Probably fore- 

 most among these is the fact that for many min- 

 erals future production will depend on mining enor- 



mous volumes of low-grade ores, with necessarily 

 strong environmental impact. The problem can be 

 temporary, and can be solved, as witness the utili- 

 zation of the manganese deposits in the Nikopol 

 region, U.S.S.R., described in the chapter on "Man- 

 ganese." But in most areas the opposing factions of 

 industry and environmentalist are still just facing 

 off. We believe the problem must be met squarely, 

 realistically, and soon, by frank and objective ex- 

 change — not merely between small groups repre- 

 senting the mining industry on the one hand and 

 outdoor enthusiasts on the other but between 

 industry and the public at large. The environment 

 is far bigger then any small interest group. Ulti- 

 mately, a concerned public must decide in which 

 order to place its priorities, and each faction of that 

 public is entitled to basic information on the need 

 for and availability of mineral resources as a foun- 

 dation on which to base its decisions. Thus, as only 

 two examples of such factions, the enthusiastic 

 hiker — whether fisherman. Scout leader, or vaca- 

 tioning city dweller — must realize that his dacron- 

 covered aluminum-frame backpack, his nylon fish- 

 ing line, his polyurethane foam pad, and even his 

 dehydrated foods are either made of or processed 

 by mineral products, which continue to be used up 

 and must continue to be made available. Conversely, 

 the miner must realize that his assertion of need to 

 develop a new copper deposit, when the technology 

 of extraction may leave not only important poten- 

 tial byproducts but half the copper itself in the 

 ground, may sound more like expediency than need. 

 It is beyond the scope of this volume to attempt 

 a comprehensive review or evaluation of the min- 

 eral-environmental problem in general. Our pur- 

 pose here is simply to indicate that the chapters of 

 this volume provide some of the basic information 

 on which such reviews or evaluations should be 

 based. 



ECONOMICS AND WASTE 



A major aspect of resources that appears in many 

 of these chapters is the extent to which many po- 

 tential byproducts or coproducts are literally being 

 ivasted — lost forever — because there is no apparent 

 economic incentive for recovering them. Some min- 

 erals go into slurry ponds, some into slags, some up 

 the flue. Examples of such commodities are the 

 vanadium in magnetite deposits; selenium, tellu- 

 rium, and gold lost through in-place leaching of 

 porphyry copper deposits ; fluorine, vanadium, ura- 

 nium, scandium, and rare earths in marine phos- 

 phorites ; cadmium, bismuth, and cobalt in lead 

 ores; and several metals in coal ash. Strictly speak- 



