ABSTRACT
The supply of mineral resources for the sustainable development of civilisation is fundamentally one of the geology of the Earth providing the resources and our ability to find and economically extract them in environmentally and socially responsible ways. While recycling and reuse of materials in a circular economy framework is becoming increasingly common, by far most of the materials we use today come directly from the subsurface of the Earth. Today, important issues regarding communities, health and safety, impacts on natural habitats, permitting and regulatory issues, and meeting global Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) targets and UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are incorporated in a holistic, future-focused and stakeholder-based resource-producing industry. Despite calculations of peak material shortages, we observe that supply more commonly meets demand largely through consumption evolution and product innovation. Reliable estimates of the current and future supply of minerals rely therefore on an interplay of technical, environmental and business issues affecting an industry transitioning to meet changing current and future changing needs.
