Limits To Growth/selected important minerals

Introduction

The production rates and estimated exhaustion rates (years to exhaustion at the current rate of consumption and also the number of years left if the world consumed at half the US per-capita rate.) for several important minerals are shown in this table, adapted from ^[1]

Mineral	Exhaustion Rate, Current	Exhaustion Rate, Half US Rate	World mine Production 2005 (Tonnes)
Antimony	30 yrs	15-20yrs	150,000
Aluminum	1027 yrs	510 yrs	31,900,000
Chromium	143 yrs	40 yrs	18,900,000
Copper	61 yrs	38 yrs	15,000,000
Gold	45 yrs	36 yrs	2,430,000
Molybdenum	n/a	n/a	186,000
Nickel	90 yrs	57 yrs	1,449,000
Phosphorous/Phosphate Rock	345 yrs	142 yrs	154,000,000
Platinum	360 yrs	42 yrs	548,000
Silver	29 yrs	9 yrs	20,411,000
Tantalum	116 yrs	20 yrs	142,700
Titanium	n/a	n/a	16,134,000
Tin	40 yrs	17 yrs	337,000
Zinc	46 yrs	34 yrs	10,100,000

References:

↑ Turner, R. K., Morse-Jones, S., and Fisher, B. (2007). Perspectives on the ‘Environmental Limits’ Concept: A report to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. CSERGE, Norwich. Defra, London.

[1] Turner, R. K., Morse-Jones, S., and Fisher, B. (2007). Perspectives on the ‘Environmental Limits’ Concept: A report to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. CSERGE, Norwich. Defra, London.

[1]