Resource futures - Minerals

Question 1

Mineral depletion in the future

Answer 1

• The availability of minerals will gradually decrease as more reserves are used up, meanwhile the demand for minerals will increase as the population grows.
• Rising economic development around the world will also put pressure on ore mineral reserves, as countries develop they use more minerals in infastructure, transport and consumer goods. For example electricity access will continue to become more widespread, which will increase the demand for the metals used in wiring.
• A group of 17 metals known as the rare earth elements is particulary important for the future, they are used in a huge number of everday items such as mobile phones, computers and vehicle axhaust systems. As modern tech becomes more widespread, demand for rare earths elements is rapidly increasing.

Question 2

Technological improvements will effect mineral supply

Answer 2

• Exploration, strategies for finding minerals are improving, for example using remote sensing and 3D imaging. HOWEVER THERE IS A ENVIROMENTAL IMPACT.
• Extraction, more efficient machienry and developments in robotics could allow minerals to be extracted more quickly and effectively, for example using driverless vehicles.
• Phytomining is when plants are grown to absorb copper compounds from the soil, then burnt to exract the copper, this can allow low grade ores to be exploited.
• Enhanced transport due to huge excavators and trains allows this ore to then be distributed on a large spatial scale. This is important to close the production-consumption spatial gap for resources like copper, 45% of is produced in the Andes but 60% is consumed in Asia, preventing shortages on national scales as well as global.
• One of the most prominent pieces of tech used in mining is workforce tracking aka wearable technology – this provides real-time monitoring which allows for greater mining productivity

Question 3

Economic developments will effect mineral supply

Answer 3

• If supply falls or demand increases, price will increase, this will increase the price of goods and may hinder some countries economic development if they cant afford the minerals they need.
• Recycling of minerals is sometimes limited by economic cost but it may become more common as ore reserves are depleted.
• Economic development means that more countries can afford minerals and the technologies to produce them.
• Some mineral reserves have not uet been exploited for economic reasons, however as more acesible reserves are depleted it may be necessary to invesnt in mineral extraction at more difficult sites.

Question 4

Political developments will effect mineral supply

Answer 4

• Conflcit over ore minerals may increase and the search for new reserves is likely to become more of a political priority as demand increases and the reserves are depleted.
• UK government has released critical minerals stratgey 1 - aims to ensure that the minerals needed for the future of electronics, energy generation and military operations are extracted responsibly.
• Mining projects are expected to spread to emerging markets in Latin America and Africa, depending on FDI from both Western and Chinese TNCs. Antarctica is predicted to contain huge deposits of needed minerals, but the 1991 the (Madrid) Protocol on Environmental Protection prohibited all forms of mineral exploitation, although this will be revisited in 2048.
• Governmans and TNCs are being forced to recognise the rights of indigenous people in the development of new mines. For example uprisings and strikes by local people over the social and enviromental imapcts of the Santa Ana mine in peru led to the closure of the mine, this impacts supply.

Question 5

Economic developments cannot correct mineral shortages

Answer 5

• Shortages can occur on a wider scale because of this, economic development and global economic growth means that demand for minerals is going to increase, for use in smarthphones etc.
• More reserves become economicaly viable

Question 6

Enviromental developments correct mineral shortages

Answer 6

• Climate change = receding ice caps = more minerals accessible e.g. this is happening in Greenland

Question 7

Enviromental developments wont correct mineral shortages

Answer 7

• Trend towards greater environmental protectionism in the future as people are more concerned with climate change, so governments may conserve areas under which minerals are found, leading to shortages in minerals due to less extraction, or because of diverting extraction to other areas e.g. LICs/NEEs
• Kennecott Bingham Canyon Mine. ¼ of selenium flowing in the lake is from the mine, harming migratory birds and their ecosystems (wetlands, marshes, freshwater ponds), while groundwater pollution has damaged fish. However organisations like the United States Department of Interior Fish and Wildlife Service take legal action against Kennecott for the mine’s release of hazardous substances (lead, zinc and cadmium).
• EIAs becoming more important prior to approval of new mining projects.