Conservation Of Minerals

• The role of minerals in an economy and in daily life is appreciable in the sense that the substance and items manufactured from them has become part and parcel of human life.
• Industry and agriculture also heavily depends upon minerals directly or indirectly.

WHY TO CONSERVE MINERALS:

• Nature of minerals, their availability and growing demand is forcing human society to find ways to conserve minerals. They are non-renewable and unevenly distributed.
• The total volume of mineral deposits available to us is very less. It is only one percent of the earth’s crust.
• Minerals are non renewable and we are rapidly consuming minerals. If it gets exhausted it may take millions of years for formation or it may never be reformed.
• Continued extraction of ores leads to increasing cost as they are extracted from greater depths and as extraction continues their quality decreases.

WAYS TO CONSERVE MINERALS:

• A continual and concerted effort is to make use of our limited exhaustible mineral resources in a planned and sustainable manner in safeguarding our future.
• Improved technologies need to be constantly evolved to allow use of low grade ores at low costs.
• Recycling of metals, using scrap metals and other substitutes are steps in conserving our mineral resources for the future.