ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a summary overview of the minerals cycle from the location of minerals and exploration to the different types of end-uses of mineral commodities. It considers employment levels, economic dependency on mineral production, and trends in mineral prices. The varying patterns of occurrence of minerals depend largely on the processes that form them, whether they be geological, fluvial, or biological. Mineral commodities are supplied in different quantities, reflecting their scarcity and their value in use. Common mineral commodities can be produced cheaply, as they can be extracted from large deposits with economies of scale. Rare mineral commodities are expensive to produce because they tend to occur as trace elements in only a few deposits. Each mineral resource currently exploited has a unique pattern of geographical occurrence, as indicated by brief descriptions of copper, aluminium, and iron ore and steel production. Alumina is an intermediate product between bauxite and aluminium.
