ABSTRACT
In the precapitalist period, the peoples of the Third World used mineral commodities and substances for a wide variety of purposes. Copper and iron were used for agricultural implements and weaponry, gold and silver for currency and jewelry, crude petroleum as an inflammant. From the point of view of the Third World, one can identify at least eight outstanding problems relating to the political economy of minerals which result from the legacy of imperialistic exploitation and for which a coherent policy needs to be devised. A minerals policy can only be properly developed in the context of a general strategy in Third World countries for economic liberation, self-reliance, and satisfaction of the basic material needs of the population, especially rural and urban workers, underemployed, and unemployed. Such a strategy must of necessity be based on a correct diagnosis of the basic physiognomy of dependent underdevelopment.
