Chapter Introduction

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CHAPTER 26

MINERAL RESOURCES

NO STONE UNTURNED

A bevy of unfamiliar minerals is crucial for our everyday technologies—but they come with a slew of problems

Young men work at various levels of a wall at a gold-mining site in Ghana, a country in West Africa.
George Osodi/Panos

CORE MESSAGE

Modern society is dependent on a limited supply of nonrenewable mineral resources for all kinds of products and industrial processes. However, extracting and processing these resources can cause environmental damage, present occupational hazards for workers, and negatively impact local communities. In addition, some mineral resources are becoming scarce. Sustainable use of mineral resources includes conservation and recycling, as well as substituting alternative materials for some minerals. Meanwhile, the industry must develop less destructive methods and employ environmental safeguards for acquiring and processing these resources.

AFTER READING THIS CHAPTER, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO ANSWER THE FOLLOWING GUIDING QUESTIONS

  • 1 What are mineral resources, and how do we use them in modern society?

  • 2 What geologic forces help shape the planet, the rocks, and the minerals in Earth’s crust?

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  • 3 How are mineral resources mined and processed?

  • 4 What are the environmental and social impacts of mineral mining and processing?

  • 5 What can be done to reduce the negative impacts of mining and processing mineral resources and to address concerns about resource scarcity?

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It’s hard to imagine a future that’s higher tech than the world we live in now, replete as it is with tablets, cell phones, and e-readers. But if you want a glimpse of what such a future might hold, take a peek into Mark Hersam’s lab at Northwestern University in Chicago. The engineering professor has developed a carbon-based material that promises to revolutionize the way we produce energy, not to mention the way we make a whole suite of electronic appliances. Imagine flexible solar tents that provide soldiers in the field with a steady, consistent supply of electric power, or solar-powered clothes that double as “wearable electronics,” and you’ll begin to get a sense of what makes Hersam’s work so exciting.

The carbon nanotubes he’s developed—tiny, tubular-shaped carbon molecules that resemble rolled-up pieces of chicken wire—are poised to replace indium, a naturally occurring element that is growing in demand but is, like many other natural resources, environmentally hazardous to mine. Indium has been the key ingredient in touchscreens and liquid crystal displays (LCDs), as well as in the solar cells that form the basis of solar power. Its exceeding softness and malleability make it ideal for creating thin, transparent semiconductors. But indium is rare in nature, and the explosion of LCD technology has threatened to make it rarer still. Hersam’s nanotubes, which are made of carbon, latex, and polystyrene (all cheap and readily available ingredients), and which conduct electricity as well as indium does, could provide an alternative.

element

A pure chemical substance made up of one type of atom; there are 92 naturally occurring elements.