Why is the need for mineral resources so little understood?
The role of mineral in modern society is little understood or appreciated by most people because the identity of minerals is commonly hidden in the finished product. No one questions the identity or importance of air and water. The purchaser of gasoline for an automobile is clearly aware of the need for a petroleum product. However, the purchaser of an automobile does not think that he is buying a composite of iron, manganese, chromium, lead, zinc, platinum, copper, aluminum, and many other materials, each essential to some part of the automobile. The calcium, iron, manganese, zinc, and other essential elements are not seen in the food we eat; nor are the minerals used in the implements, machinery, and fertilizers of modern agriculture visible in the product. The energy industries require 29 different nonfuel mineral commodities in order to harness and deliver the energy on which society depends. Telephone handsets contain 42 different elements. Of about 100 mineral commodities used by
