Yair . . . I'm showing my ignorance here but I'll ask a Question.
I read that we are running out of this or that . . . high grade iron ore, copper ore, Bauxite, phosphate and so on.
Well where did it all go? It's still here somewhere but mostly in another form which can often be recycled.
As far as I can see the only things that are truly "gone" are fossil fuels which are still here but exist now as a gas . . . as I see it the "work" they did in passing from a liquid or solid to a gas is largely irrelevant in the great scheme of things.
Cheers.