Page 104 - Laboratory Manual in Physical Geology

8. Use the Mineral Database ( FIGURE 3.21 ) and goggles, missile systems, and medical equipment. China

FIGURE 3.22 to determine and record the mineral’s currently produces nearly all of the world’s supply of rare
chemical composition and help you determine earth elements, and the United States produces almost
how you personally depend on the mineral none. This has created what is widely known as the “rare
(including commodities refined from it). For more earth crisis,” and a shortage of rare earth elements used to
information about specific minerals or elements, you make fluorescent light bulbs has become widely known
can refer to the U.S. Geological Survey’s Mineral as the “phosphor crisis.” Yet the United States also relies
Commodity Summaries ( http://minerals.usgs.gov/ on foreign supplies of many other minerals and elements
minerals/pubs/mcs/ ). extracted from them. Has the United States entered an
unsustainable level of mineral dependency?

ACTIVITY U.S. Net Import Reliance on Non-fuel
Mineral Resources
3.5 The Mineral Dependency Commodities are natural materials that people buy and
Crisis sell, because they are required to sustain our wants and
needs. Three classes are: agricultural products, energy
resources, and non-fuel mineral resources. The non-
THINK How do you personally depend on fuel mineral resources include rocks, minerals used in

About It minerals and elements extracted their unrefined state or as ore from which specific ele-
from them? How sustainable is your ments can be profitably refined, and chemical elements
dependency on minerals and elements extracted from ores. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
extracted from them?
has determined that the United States was the world’s
largest user of non-fuel mineral resources in 2012 (about

OBJECTIVE Evaluate your personal and U.S. 12,000 pounds, or 11.3 metric tons, per person each
dependency on minerals.
year). To sustain its needs, the U.S. imported some of the
PROCEDURES minerals (and elements already extracted from them) that

it needed. FIGURE 3.22 shows the 2012 U.S. net import

1. Before you begin , read the background
information below and on page 99. Your instructor reliance (expressed as a percent) on some selected miner-
will provide laboratory equipment, but this is als and elements refined from them. The United States
what you will need to bring to lab: exports some of the same non-fuel mineral resources
that it imports, so net import reliance is the total of U.S.
___ Activity 3.5 Worksheet (p. 109 ) and pencil production and imports, minus the percentage of exports.
___ Activity 3.4 Worksheets that you already A net import reliance of 80% means that 80% of the
completed

resource is imported. FIGURE 3.22 does not include all of

2. Then refer to FIGURE 3.22 , and follow your the rare earth elements. Also not shown are minerals and

instructor’s directions about how to complete elements for which the U.S. is less than 5% import reli-
the Activity 3.5 worksheet. ant (or a net exporter).
USGS Mineral Resources Data
System (MRDS)
Mineral Dependency Recall that commodities are natural materials that people
Did you know that some of the minerals used to make buy and sell, because they are required to sustain our
your cell phone and fluorescent light bulbs are quite wants and needs. Three classes are: agricultural products,
rare nonrenewable resources? Many high-tech products energy resources, and non-fuel mineral resources. The
depend on such nonrenewable mineral resources, yet U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) divides the non-fuel
many are either not mined within the United States mineral resources into two groups. Nonmetallic mineral
or are mined here only in small quantities. The loca- resources are mostly rocks made of unrefined minerals
tions where they can be economically extracted in the (such as rock salt) and rocks (gravel, granite, marble).
United States have already been mined or are too small Metallic mineral resources are ores (rocks or minerals
to be developed. Of particular concern are minerals from which chemicals, usually metals, can be extracted
mined as ores for rare earth elements , a group of 17 ele- at a profit) and chemical elements that have already
ments used in products like fluorescent light bulbs, flat been extracted from ore minerals. The USGS Mineral
screen televisions, cell phones, computers, solar panels, Resources Data System (MRDS) is a global database
wind turbines, hybrid cars, cameras, DVDs, recharge- of both kinds of mineral resources and where they have
able batteries, magnets, medical equipment, night-vision been found and/or processed.

Mineral Properties, Identification, and Uses ■ 89