Discuss the elements of sustainable minerals management
What will be an ideal response?
Minerals are non-renewable resources and therefore need to be mined and utilized efficiently. Otherwise, some, like indium, copper, gold, and tantalum, which are scarce, will rapidly reach the depletion point, past which their extraction and processing will be prohibitively expensive. A cornerstone of sustainable minerals use is recycling. In natural sustainable systems virtually all materials are recycled. A greater volume of recycled mineral and a more efficient recycling process will provide a longer lifetime and a longer time in which to discover more available, cheaper, and hopefully renewable replacements for scarce elements. Practical goals are those already attained for gold, where more metal is recycled than consumed, and lead, where 80% of U.S. lead consumed comes from recycled post-consumer items. Finally, new deposits need to be sought, and more efficient extraction technologies developed.
You might also like to view...
The boundary between the Tippecanoe Sequence and the overlying Kaskaskia Sequence is marked by a major _______________
Fill in the blank(s) with correct word
All weather occurs in the troposphere: a. the atmospheric layer closest to the earth's surface
b. the atmospheric layer found about 100 km above the earth's surface. c. the atmospheric layer above the stratosphere. d. None of these choices.
At a latitude of 80? S, the prevailing surface winds would be:
a. easterly. b. southerly. c. westerly. d. northerly.
Which of the following is a greenhouse gas?
A. oxygen B. nitrogen C. argon D. methane