Interaction with Mineral Resources in Everyday Life

Ubiquity of Mineral Resources

• Mineral resources are integral to daily life and found in numerous daily activities and objects:
  • Waking up, breakfast, commuting, classes, leisure, meals, and bedtime.
• Used in all sectors due to diverse physical and chemical properties like solidity, conductivity, color.
• Everyday objects (alarm clocks, bicycles, tablets, cars, toothpaste) contain a variety of minerals.

Key Minerals and Their Uses

• Copper: Excellent conductive properties.
• Cobalt: Enhances power storage in electric vehicle batteries.
• Tungsten: Known for high resistance.
• Rare Earth Elements: Support energy transition.
• Sand: Third most consumed substance by humans.

Source and Extraction of Mineral Resources

• Origin: Mined or quarried from underground sources.
• Geologists: Study underground matter to locate resources.
• Mining Types:
  • Open Pit Surface Mining: Large-scale pits.
  • Underground Mining: Tunnels to access deposits.
• Depth:
  • Mines: Extend several hundred meters underground.
  • Quarries: Reach tens of meters deep.
• Geology: Determines mining locations and methods.

Formation of Mineral Resources

• Caused by tectonic plate movement: mountains, basins, oceans.
• Conditions of pressure and temperature lead to deposit formation.
• Dynamic geological movements create deposits.

Application of Mineral Resources

• Found in unexpected places: medication, construction (walls, tiles), vehicles, art supplies, paper.

Importance and Sustainability of Mineral Resources

• Indispensable due to unmatched functional diversity.
• Responsible use is critical due to lengthy formation time (millions of years).
• Recent century's extraction equals past few tens of thousands of years.
• Future challenges:
  • Deeper deposits.
  • Complex extraction.
  • Need for advanced, costly technology.
• Advocated solutions:
  • Sustainable product design.
  • Recycling of materials to conserve resources.