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Mining Overview

Production Overview

Sand and gravel are by far the most widely mined materials by mass. The world produced the following minerals.

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Minerals for which world production is above one million tons per year in 2020, according to the U. S. Geological Survey 1. Sand and gravel figures from the Visual Capitalist 2.

Metal production in the world is as follows.

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Leading nonferrous (i.e. not iron) metal production in the world as of 2020 1.

Precious metal production is much less than the bulk commodities above, but these metals drive both disproportionate economic value and environmental impact.

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Production of select precious metals worldwide in 2020 1.

Production Growth

The demand for minerals could grow considerably in coming years, especially minerals that are needed for clean energy technology.

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Expected demand for select minerals in 2040, relative to 2020 demand, under the IEA's Sustainable Development Scenario, which envisions rapid growth in low-carbon energy technology. Source: IEA 3.

In monetary terms, the demand for clean energy minerals is likely to overtake the demand for coal in the 2030s 3.

There is no threat of long-term shortage of minerals, but due to long lead times--up to 20 years from the discovery of mineral deposits to production--rapid growth may result in short-term supply crunches.

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Source: IEA 3.

Mining Techniques

Mining can generally be divided into two techniques: surface mining and underground (or sub-surface) mining. In the United States, surface mining is predominately used.

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Surface mining is the primary method used in the United States. Source: 4.

Phytomining

Phytomining is the technique of using plants to bioaccumulate and harvest minerals 5. Relatedly, phytoremediation is proposed to clean heavy metals such as nickel from soils. Nickel, manganese, cadmium, zinc, arsenic 6, noble metals such as silver, gold, and platinum-group metals 7, and rare Earth elements 8 have been proposed as mining candidates. It is hoped that phytomining will be economical for harvesting minerals from ore tailings or for ores that with too low concentration to otherwise be economical.

Due to the low land use efficiency of phytomining, the technique could have greater ecological impact per unit mineral harvested than conventional mining 6. So far, phytomining has not advanced beyond field trials 6.

Artisanal Mining

Artisanal mining (ASM), as opposed to industrial mining, is small scale mining conducted outside of purview of a major company, often in poor countries and by hand. A majority of worldwide mining employment, and a significant share of minerals, are mined via ASM.

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Data available from the International Institute for Sustainable Development 9.

ASM is most often an income supplement to small-scale agriculture, usually conducted in low-income countries and by hand 9.

ASM, particularly for gold mining, is the largest source of mercury pollution worldwide, and other health hazards of ASM are exposure to lead, cobalt, cyanide, arsenic, cadmium, as well as noise and dust exposure and other impacts 10. ASM also contributes to deforestation and over-stripping of overburden 11, water and soil pollution, and long-term damage through a lack of reclamation 12.

Problem:
Health Costs of ASM
Solution:
Convention on Safety and Health of ASM

Conflict Minerals

The "resource curse" posits that countries rich in minerals or fossil fuels might, as a result, experience conflict and reduced economic growth. This is suggested in particular in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the mineral-rich East Kivu region has been in a state of conflict since 2004, pitting the Congolese government against rebel groups, including the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CND) and Mouvement du 23 Mars (M23). Many other groups, including the Islamic State, operate in the conflict 13. A provision of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Consumer Reform and Protection Act requires producers of gold, tin, tantalum and tungsten to certify that their minerals do not finance the Kivu conflict 14.

It has been argued that Kivu's mineral wealth incentivized rebels to initiate the war out of a profit motive 15. However, it is likely that the financial motivation of mineral wealth plays only a minor role in fueling the conflict 16,17.

The Kimberly Process Certification Scheme is designed to certify the origins of diamonds and prevent conflict diamonds from entering the mainstream market 18. However, the effectiveness of the Kimberly Process in preventing human rights abuses has been questioned 19.

References

  1. United States Geological Survey. "Mineral Commodity Summary 2021". 2021. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  2. LePan, N. "All the World’s Metals and Minerals in One Visualization". Visual Capitalist. March 2020. ↩

  3. International Energy Agency. "The Role of Critical World Energy Outlook Special Report Minerals in Clean Energy Transitions". May 2021. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  4. Hartmann, H. Introductory Mining Engineering. Chapter 1. ↩

  5. Brooks, R. R., Chambers, M. F., Nicks, L. J., Robinson, B. H. "Phytomining". Trends in Plant Science 3(9), pp. 359-362. September 1998. ↩

  6. Robinson, B. H., Anderson, C. W. N., Dickinson, N. M. "Phytoextraction: Where’s the action?". Journal of Geochemical Exploration 151, pp. 34-40. January 2015. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  7. Dinh, T., Dobo, Z., Kovacs, H. "Phytomining of noble metals - A review". Chemosphere 286(3): 131805. January 2022. ↩

  8. Dinh, T., Dobo, Z., Kovacs, H. "Phytomining of rare earth elements – A review". Chemosphere 297(3): 134259. June 2022. ↩

  9. Fritz, M., McQuilken, J., Collins, N., Weldegiorgis, F. "Global Trends in Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM): A review of key numbers and issues". International Institute for Sustainable Development. 2018. ↩ ↩2

  10. Landrigan, P. et al. "Reducing disease and death from Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) - the urgent need for responsible mining in the context of growing global demand for minerals and metals for climate change mitigation". Environmental Health 21: 78. August 2022. ↩

  11. Ncube-Phiri S., Mucherera B., Ncube A. "Artisanal small-scale mining: Potential ecological disaster in Mzingwane District, Zimbabwe". Jàmbá: Journal of Disaster Risk Studies 7(1):158. January 2015. ↩

  12. Kinyondo A., Huggins C. "State-led efforts to reduce environmental impacts of artisanal and small-scale mining in Tanzania: Implications for fulfilment of the sustainable development goals". Environmental Science & Policy 120, pp. 157-165. June 2021. ↩

  13. Candland, T., Finck, A., Ingram, H. J., Poole, L., Vidino, L., Weiss, C. "The Islamic State in Congo". Program on Extremism, George Washington University. March 2021. ↩

  14. U. S. Department of State. "Conflict Minerals". Accessed December 5, 2022. ↩

  15. Collier, P. "Doing Well Out of War: An Economic Perspective. In Berdal, Mats and Malone, David (eds) Greed and Grievance: Economic Agendas in Civil War". Boulder: Lynne Reiner Publishers, pp. 99–111. 2000. ↩

  16. Bernarding N., Guesnet L., Müller-Koné M. "No rebel without a cause: shifting the debate about conflict minerals in eastern DRC". BICC Working Paper, 19 p. 2015. ↩

  17. Lyall, G. "Rebellion and Conflict Minerals in North Kivu". African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes. April 2017. ↩

  18. Kimberly Process Certification Scheme. "About". Accessed December 5, 2022. ↩

  19. Human Rights Watch. "Human Rights Watch Statement on the Kimberley Process". June 2016. ↩