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Are they are minerals(iron, silicon, etc..) that the world is in danger of running out of in the next 50-100 years? This doesn't get much discussion as PEAK OIL is all anyone talks about. But if we don't have those minerals, all the oil in the world is useless.

Yes
Peak metals are next.
Copper and high grade ores of many metals are in short supply.

Minerals don't really disappear, and so there will always be a way to recycle. It's mainly a ROI issue, but when push comes to shove, we WILL recycle even if we have to work hard to find a way to do it (like extracting the indium from old LCD panels).

New scientist on in-the-ground minerals and recycling
http://www.newscientist.com/data/images ... 051202.jpg

phosphorous depletion could be a problem unless we start treating human and livestock waste differently.

I work in mining research. I can tell you that for decades now the mining technology has been approaching an asymptote. Deposits are getting really low grade and have harder rock (costs more to extract). This has been trucking along at a nice even pace that doesn't harm the status-quo too much so industry is nicely asleep and complacent.

We are about to hit several serious limitations that will create a step change.

1 Cheap energy is on its way out, so the ability to shift 1000's of tonnes of rock to extract 0.5g/t of say gold will become harder.

2 Potable water is soon going to become really scarce. Water is used in the separation process. Dry separation can be done but it is not so efficient and current practice doesn't include it.

3 Ever increasingly restrictive environmental legislation. This seriously needs cleaning up. Check out the Tar Sands in Alberta. Doing so will spell the end of many current operations in today's conditions, let alone in a tighter NPV profile.

The industry is about to hit that brick wall, without any help whatsoever. My solution to all this:

Industrial recycling using mineral engineering methods. I am quietly putting this into place. They do it in Europe really well. Not here in Australia (YET).


Reality bites on this one. Chapter 18 of the crash course illustrates this nicely.

Kind Regards

Dr Bang