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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

World mineral supplies

Journal Article · · Ed. Res. Rep. (Wash., D.C.); (United States)
OSTI ID:7240642

The world mineral supplies are concentrated in developed countries with some exceptions: the large oil reserves in the Middle East and North Africa, copper in South America and Africa, tin and tungsten in Southeast Asia, bauxite in the Caribbean, and cobalt in Zaire. But the USSR, the USA, Canada, Australia, and South Africa account for more than 90 percent of the total value of all minerals consumed in the world. The mineral supply situation is first reviewed under two topics: (1) anxiety over availability and price, and (2) past efforts to meet mineral needs. Predictions for the future are then discussed in the third main topic, coping in an age of mineral scarcity, and involve the following: conservation; removal of legal restrictions; substitutes; and the sea as potential source of new abundance. (MCW)

OSTI ID:
7240642
Journal Information:
Ed. Res. Rep. (Wash., D.C.); (United States), Journal Name: Ed. Res. Rep. (Wash., D.C.); (United States) Vol. 1:20; ISSN EDRRA
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English