Global Resources Crisis starting! Run Out of GOLD 1st before out of oil! HUAT AH! Nuke others for Gold ASAP!

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https://www.msn.com/en-sg/money/new...scoveries-are-shrinking/ar-AAA0b4m?li=BBr8Cnr


The world is running out of GOLD: Mining experts warn discoveries are shrinking



George Martin

13/7/2018



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Mining experts have warned that the world's gold supplies could soon be depleted.
Experts across the industry said we will soon hit 'peak gold' - the point at which gold discoveries start to decline as there are no more new resources to discover.
According to scientists, the 'peak gold' point will be reached in 2019 and supplies of the precious metal are set to tail off year-on-year from that point onward.
Ian Telfer, chairman of Goldcorp, told the Financial Post last month: 'If I could give one sentence about the gold mining business… it's that in my life, gold produced from mines has gone up pretty steadily for 40 years.

© Provided by Associated Newspapers Limited Global gold supplies are expected to peak in 2019 but industry experts have warned they may already have peaked
'Well, either this year it starts to go down, or next year it starts to go down, or it's already going down… We're right at peak gold here.'
At Goldcorp, production has dropped off since 2015 when it produced 3.4 million ounces of gold. It produced 2.8 million in 2016 and 2.5 million last year.
Telfer also warned that the current price of gold reflects the feeling in the market that the supply of gold could soon dry up.
Also watch: SC refuses to stay RBI's ban on cryptocurrencies




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'Are we not looking for it? Are we bad at finding it? Or have we found it all? My answer is we found it all. At US$1,300 (per ounce of) gold, we found it all,' he added.
I don't think there are any more mines out there, or nothing significant. And the exploration records indicate that.'
And Telfer certainly isn't alone, as several other industry experts have piled in to suggest gold may have had its day.
Last month, Rudy Fronk, Chairman and CEO of Seabridge Gold said: 'Peak gold is the new reality in the gold business with reserves now being mined much faster than they are being replaced.'
While Nick Holland, CEO of South Africa's largest gold producer Gold Fields, said: 'We were all talking about how production was going to increase every year. I think those days are probably gone.'
Kevin Dushnisky, President of mining giant Barrick Gold, commented: 'Falling grades and production levels, a lack of new discoveries, and extended project development timelines are bullish for the medium and long-term gold price outlook



https://schiffgold.com/key-gold-news/are-we-running-out-of-gold/

Are We Running Out of Gold?

July 12, 2018 by SchiffGold 0 7
Last May, the head of the world’s largest mining company said we’ve found all of the gold. Goldcorp CEO Ian Telfer told the Financial Times, “we’re right at peak gold here.”
Peak gold is the point where the amount of gold mined out of the earth will begin to shrink every year, rather than increase, as it has done pretty consistently since the 1970s.
You could blow off Telfer’s comments off as hyperbole or the musings of a contrarian except that he’s not the only person in the gold mining industry worried about decreasing gold production. As a recent Business Insider article reported, many of the top people responsible for supplying the world’s gold say we’re running out of the yellow metal.
Mining execs are concerned because they are no longer finding large deposits to replace aging mines. Last fall, Franco-Nevada chairman Pierre Lassonde said he expects a significant dip in gold production in the coming years.

If you look back to the 70s, 80s and 90s, in every one of those decades, the industry found at least one 50+ million-ounce gold deposit, at least ten 30+ million-ounce deposits, and countless 5 to 10 million ounce deposits. But if you look at the last 15 years, we found no 50-million-ounce deposit, no 30-million-ounce deposit and only very few 15 million ounce deposits.”​

And just last month, Seabridge Gold chairman Rudy Frink also expressed concern about shrinking gold reserves.

Peak gold is the new reality in the gold business with reserves now being mined much faster than they are being replaced.”​

Barrick Gold president Kevin Dushnisky said even as the number of new discoveries falls off, ore grades and productions levels in existing mines are declining. He said, “Extended project development timelines are bullish for the medium and long-term gold price outlook.”
Consider just one example. South Africa once led the world in gold production. More than 40% of all the gold mined in human history came from the Witwatersrand Basin. But early this year, a study came out saying South Africa could run out of gold within four decades. Analysts say that at current production levels, the world’s fifth largest gold producer has only 39 years of accessible gold reserves remaining.
Technology could help boost production. As people began worrying about peak oil, new drilling techniques allowed oil companies to reach previously unreachable deposits. Meanwhile, other industries like solar and wind began developing substitutes for oil. But as Business Insider notes:

There’s not really a substitute for gold. And the biggest players in the space are saying we’re running out.”​

The Business Insider article notes that it’s hard to pinpoint a top or bottom in gold production, but the looming decline in gold supply could present “an interesting opportunity” for investors, especially considering gold prices have fallen in recent weeks. This may be the time to buy gold.

The long-term fundamentals seem pretty obvious- the people responsible for supplying the world with gold are saying the world is running out of gold and that supply is declining at an alarming rate.”​

When we look at the future of gold, it’s easy to get caught up in the latest price move, trade wars and the most recent policy pronouncement by the Federal Reserve. Of course, it’s important to keep abreast of the latest developments in the news cycle. But investors should never lose sight of the most basic fundamentals – supply and demand. The gold industry may well be entering a long-term — and possibly irreversible — period of less available gold. As mining companies find it more difficult to pull gold out of the earth, it will mean less gold for refiners to produce for the consumer market. Remember, gold gets its value from its scarcity.

Get Peter Schiff’s latest gold market analysis – click here for a free subscription to his exclusive monthly Gold Videocast.
Interested in learning how to buy gold and buy silver?
Call 1-888-GOLD-160 and speak with a Precious Metals Specialist today!

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Related
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gold production, Ian Telfer, mining, peak gold, Pierre Lassonde, Rudy Frink


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https://www.rt.com/business/432838-global-gold-shortage-alarm/



HomeBusiness News

World running out of gold & there’s no substitute, experts warn
Published time: 12 Jul, 2018 09:42
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© David Gray © Reuters

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People responsible for supplying the world with gold are sounding the alarm, saying discoveries of the precious metal are shrinking and there’s no reasonable substitute.
Mining companies are no longer finding new deposits of gold to replace their aging mines. South Africa’s 140-year-old gold industry – which was once the world’s largest – is currently facing a major crisis. The country’s mineral council says 75 percent of gold mines are unprofitable or barely making money.
Read more
75% of South African gold mines unprofitable – mineral council
“We were all talking about how production was going to increase every year. I think those days are probably gone,” said Nick Holland, CEO of South Africa’s largest gold producer Gold Fields.
He was echoed by Rudy Fronk, chairman and CEO of Seabridge Gold, who noted that “Peak gold is the new reality in the gold business with reserves now being mined much faster than they are being replaced.”
According to Kevin Dushnisky, president of mining giant Barrick Gold, “Falling grades and production levels, a lack of new discoveries, and extended project development timelines are bullish for the medium and long-term gold price outlook.”
The biggest warning comes from mining executive Ian Telfer, chairman of Goldcorp. In an interview with Financial Post, he said: “If I could give one sentence about the gold mining business… it’s that in my life, gold produced from mines has gone up pretty steadily for 40 years. Well, either this year it starts to go down, or next year it starts to go down, or it’s already going down… We’re right at peak gold here.”
One of the most well-respected and knowledgeable mining experts in the world, Pierre Lassonde, also says we’re reaching ‘peak gold’.


“If you look back to the 70s, 80s and 90s, in every one of those decades, the industry found at least one 50+ million-ounce gold deposit, at least ten 30+ million-ounce deposits, and countless 5 to 10 million ounce deposits.
But if you look at the last 15 years, we found no 50-million-ounce deposit, no 30-million-ounce deposit and only very few 15 million ounce deposits,” said Lassonde, the billionaire founder of gold royalty giant Franco-Nevada and former head of Newmont Mining.
For more stories on economy & finance visit RT's business section

 

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https://www.sbcgold.com/blog/are-we-running-out-of-gold/

Are We Running Out of Gold?
BY Eric Sepanek

Gold demand has been growing in recent years, fueled by technological applications, jewelry, and safe haven investing. With many experts claiming gold production peaked in the mid-1990s, gold supply could be limited in the coming years. While we aren’t running out of gold entirely, the World Gold Council’s recent Gold 2048 report indicates “mine supply will struggle to expand” and even “decline over the next 30 years.”
Gold Mining Challenges

While we can expect the mining industry to produce gold at current levels for a few more years, supplies are set to start falling after that unless another major discovery occurs. Here are some of the major issues for mines.

• Diversification of Mines
  Throughout the past three decades, gold mining has become more globalized, with operations in China and Russia significantly adding to supplies from the ‘big four’: South Africa, the U.S., Australia, and Canada. Such diversification has allowed production to reach record levels. Since the mid-1970s, the quantity of gold ever mined has doubled to 190,000 tons. At this rate, another 97,000 tons could be produced by 2048. The big question is, where will all this gold come from?
  
  
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• Insufficient Reserves
  Fifteen years—that’s how long mines across the world could keep up current production rates with the 55,000 tons of gold mineral reserves available. This is, of course, only if a metallurgical recovery factor of 90 percent were to be achieved. Put simply, known gold supplygold supply is shrinking.
• Remote Mineral Resources
  There’s enough gold in known mineral resources to keep mine operations at full compacity for the next 30 years; however, recovering them at current gold prices is uneconomical and, in many cases, further study is required to determine whether a particular reserve would prove profitable.
• Rising Construction Costs
  The cost of resource discovery, production, and mine construction has significantly increased in recent years. For example, production expenses have risen about 10 percent a year over the past 15 years. Maintaining production at current levels will require gold prices to jump to $1,500 an ounce.
• Fewer Big Discoveries
  The rate of gold discoveries has fallen over the last 30 years, despite rising exploration budgets. Moreover, planned mining developments aren’t expected to yield major discoveries of gold. This means gold will increasingly derive from smaller operations, which may face greater challenges remaining sustainable in the face of inflationary production costs.

Rising Gold Demand

Demand for gold from an array of sources will continue to rise even as supplies start to diminish. Below are some of the major drivers of gold demand.

• Safe Haven Investing
  Tensions in the Middle East, prickly Brexit negotiations, and uncertainty surrounding the current administration will continue to drive safe haven investing in the near future.
• Physical Gold Buying
  Anticipating rising prices, many investors will increase the demand for physical coins and bars, causing a spike in retail demand. In 2017, gold bullion bars and coins saw a 9 percent increase in demand compared to 2016.
• Overheated Stock Market
  Wise investors expect the stock market bubble to burst and are diversifying their portfolios with gold in the meantime.
• Central Bank Purchases
  Central banks are predicted to acquire more than 400 tons of gold in the next year.
• New Foreign Markets
  Another major source of gold demand will be the growing middle class in India and China. Technology in the form of mobile apps will improve access to gold and the immediacy of trading for these markets.
• Industry Applications
  The use of gold in the technology, energy, and healthcare sectors is set to increase, according to the World Gold Council report.

A Constricting Market
Shrinking supply and rising demand will likely cause the gold market to constrict in the near future, making the precious metal much more expensive. The key for investors is to buy gold now before the next big price jump. Learn more about how to invest in gold.



https://www.businessinsider.com/the...-there-are-still-ways-to-profit-2017-10/?IR=T

The world is running out of gold — here's how to play it

• Frank Holmes, U.S. Global Investors
• Oct. 31, 2017, 9:42 PM
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Shop attendant Aya Ito holds gold bars at a jewellery shop in Tokyo.Reuters

• There's been a slowdown in number of new gold discoveries
• This will lead to a dip in supply and increase the price of gold.

My good friend Pierre Lassonde, cofounder and chairman of Franco-Nevada, doesn’t know how we’ll replace the massive gold deposits of the past 130 years or so. Speaking with the German financial newspaper Finanz und Wirtschaft this month, Pierre says we’re seeing a significant slowdown in the number of large deposits being discovered. Legendary goldfields such as South Africa’s Witwatersrand Basin, Nevada’s Carlin Trend and Australia’s Super Pit—all nearing the end of their life cycles—could very well be a thing of the past.
Over the medium and long-term, this could lead to a supply-demand imbalance and ultimately put strong upward pressure on the price of gold.
According to Pierre:

If you look back to the 70s, 80s and 90s, in every one of those decades, the industry found at least one 50+ million ounce gold deposit, at least ten 30+ million ounce deposits and countless 5 to 10 million ounce deposits. But if you look at the last 15 years, we found no 50 million ounce deposit, no 30 million ounce deposit and only very few 15 million ounce deposits.​

So few new large mines are being discovered today, Pierre says, mostly because companies have had to slash exploration budgets in response to lower gold prices. Earlier this year, S&P Global Market Intelligence reported that total exploration budgets for companies involved in mining nonferrous metals fell for the fourth straight year in 2016. Budgets dropped to $6.9 billion, the lowest point in 11 years. Although we’ve seen an increase in spending so far this year, it still dramatically trails the 2012 heyday.

US Global Investors

And because it takes seven years on average for a new mine to begin producing—thanks to feasibility studies, project approvals and other impediments—output could recede even more rapidly in the years to come.
“It doesn’t really matter what the gold price will do in the next few years,” Pierre says. “Production is coming off, and that means the upward pressure on the gold price could be very intense.”
Have we reached peak gold?
Other factors contributing to the decline include tougher regulations and higher production costs. And unlike with the oil industry, no “fracking” method has been invented yet to extract gold from hard-to-reach areas, though Barrick—the world’s largest producer by output—has been experimenting with sensors at its Cortez project in Nevada.What Pierre is talking about, of course, is the idea of “peak gold.” I wrote about this last year and suggested another factor that could be curtailing new discoveries—namely, the low-hanging fruit has likely already been picked. Gold is both scarce and finite—one of the main reasons why it’s so highly valued—and explorers are now having to dig deeper and venture farther into more extreme environments to find economically viable deposits.
Take a look at how drastically annual output has fallen in South Africa, once the world’s top gold-producing country by far. In the 1880s, it was the discovery of gold in South Africa’s prolific Witwatersrand Basin—responsible for more than 40 percent of all gold ever mined in human history, if you can believe it—that helped transform Johannesburg into one of the world’s largest and most populous cities. Today, South Africa’s economy is the most advanced and stable in Sub-Saharan Africa, all thanks to the yellow metal.
In 1970, miners dug up more than 1,000 metric tons—an unfathomably large amount. Since then, production has steadily dropped. No longer in the top spot, South Africa produced only 167.1 tons in 2016, an 83 percent plunge from the 1970 peak. Meanwhile, miners in the notorious Mponeng mine—already the world’s deepest at 2.5 miles—continue to follow veins even deeper into the earth at greater and greater expense.

Markets Insider

Australia could soon be seeing a similar downturn over the next four decades. A first-of-its-kind study conducted by MinEx Consulting and released this month, shows that Australia’s gold production is expected to see a significant drop between now and 2057. By then, all but four of the 71 currently operating mines in the country will be exhausted. Most of these will close in the next couple of decades. Any additional production will be dependent on new exploration success, which will become increasingly difficult if companies don’t invest in exploration and if the Australian government doesn’t relax rules in the mining space.
MinEx estimates that “for the Australian gold industry to maintain production at current levels in the longer term, it will either need to double the amount spent on exploration or double its discovery performance.”
To be fair, large discoveries haven’t disappeared entirely. Back in March it was reported that Shandong Gold Group, China’s second-largest producer, uncovered a deposit in eastern China containing between 380 and 550 metric tons of the yellow metal. If true, this would make it the country’s largest ever by amount. The mine has an estimated lifespan of 40 years once operations begin.
In addition, Kitco reports this month that Toronto-based Seabridge Gold recently stumbled upon a significant goldfield in northern British Columbia. The find appeared, coincidentally, after a glacier retreated. It’s estimated to contain a whopping 780 metric tons.
“There’s no question that as glaciers retreat, more ground will become available for exploration and more discoveries could be made in that part of the world,” Seabridge CEO Rudi Fronk told Kitco.
The company already has the permits to begin mining.

US Global Investors

Exploration budgets jumped

US Global Investors
As I said earlier, we just saw an encouraging spike in the amount spent on exploration. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, exploration budgets increased in the 12-month period as of September for the first time since 2012. Budgets jumped 14 percent year-over-year to $7.95 billion, with gold explorers leading the way. During this period, gold companies spent around $4 billion on exploration, which is roughly half the value of all nonferrous metals mining budgets.
But because exploration is getting more expensive for reasons addressed earlier, senior producers might very well decide instead to acquire smaller firms with proven, profitable projects.
This could create a lot of value for investors, so I would keep my eyes on juniors that look like targets for takeover. Dealmaking in the Australian mining industry, for example, is showing some growth this year compared to last, according to a September report by accounting firm BDO. Last year, Goldcorp finalized its deal to acquire Vancouver-based junior Kaminak Gold, and in May of this year, El Dorado announced it was taking over Integra Gold for C$590 million. I expect to see even more deals in the coming months.
In the meantime, I agree with my friend Pierre’s “absolute rule” that investors should hold between 5 and 10 percent gold in your portfolio. I would also add gold stocks to the mix, especially overlooked and undervalued names, and rebalance once and twice a year.

Read the original article on U.S. Global Investors. Copyright 2017.

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https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/world-facing-global-sand-crisis-180964815/
The World is Running Out of Sand
The little-known exploitation of this seemingly infinite resource could wreak political and environmental havoc

We hear a lot about the over-extraction of oil, but less about the consequences of the sand trade. (Blend Images / Alamy)
By Aurora Torres, Jianguo "Jack" Liu, Jodi Brandt and Kristen Lear, The Conversation

smithsonian.com
September 8, 2017

504201822.3K

When people picture sand spread across idyllic beaches and endless deserts, they understandably think of it as an infinite resource. But as we discuss in a just-published perspective in the journal Science, over-exploitation of global supplies of sand is damaging the environment, endangering communities, causing shortages and promoting violent conflict.


Skyrocketing demand, combined with unfettered mining to meet it, is creating the perfect recipe for shortages. Plentiful evidence strongly suggests that sand is becoming increasingly scarce in many regions. For example, in Vietnam domestic demand for sand exceeds the country’s total reserves. If this mismatch continues, the country may run out of construction sand by 2020, according to recent statements from the country’s Ministry of Construction.

This problem is rarely mentioned in scientific discussions and has not been systemically studied. Media attention drew us to this issue. While scientists are making a great effort to quantify how infrastructure systems such as roads and buildings affect the habitats that surround them, the impacts of extracting construction minerals such as sand and gravel to build those structures have been overlooked. Two years ago we created a working group designed to provide an integrated perspective on global sand use.

In our view, it is essential to understand what happens at the places where sand is mined, where it is used and many impacted points in between in order to craft workable policies. We are analyzing those questions through a systems integration approach that allows us to better understand socioeconomic and environmental interactions over distances and time. Based on what we have already learned, we believe it is time to develop international conventions to regulate sand mining, use and trade.

Sand mining on the west side of the Mabukala bridge in Karnataka, India (Rudolph A. Furtado)
**********

Sand and gravel are now the most-extracted materials in the world, exceeding fossil fuels and biomass (measured by weight). Sand is a key ingredient for concrete, roads, glass and electronics. Massive amounts of sand are mined for land reclamation projects, shale gas extraction and beach renourishment programs. Recent floods in Houston, India, Nepal and Bangladesh will add to growing global demand for sand.

In 2010, nations mined about 11 billion tonnes of sand just for construction. Extraction rates were highest in the Asia-Pacific region, followed by Europe and North America. In the United States alone, production and use of construction sand and gravel was valued at $8.9 billion in 2016, and production has increased by 24 percent in the past five years.

Moreover, we have found that these numbers grossly underestimate global sand extraction and use. According to government agencies, uneven record-keeping in many countries may hide real extraction rates. Official statistics widely underreport sand use and typically do not include nonconstruction purposes such as hydraulic fracturing and beach nourishment.

Dredger pumping sand and water to shore for beach renourishment, Mermaid Beach, Gold Coast, Australia, Aug. 20, 2017. (Steve Austin, CC BY-SA)
Sand traditionally has been a local product. However, regional shortages and sand mining bans in some countries are turning it into a globalized commodity. Its international trade value has skyrocketed, increasing almost sixfold in the last 25 years.

Profits from sand mining frequently spur profiteering. In response to rampant violence stemming from competition for sand, the government of Hong Kong established a state monopoly over sand mining and trade in the early 1900s that lasted until 1981.

Today organized crime groups in India, Italy and elsewhere conduct illegal trade in soil and sand. Singapore’s high-volume sand imports have drawn it into disputes with Indonesia, Malaysia and Cambodia.

**********

The negative consequences of overexploiting sand are felt in poorer regions where sand is mined. Extensive sand extraction physically alters rivers and coastal ecosystems, increases suspended sediments and causes erosion.

Research shows that sand mining operations are affecting numerous animal species, including fish, dolphins, crustaceans and crocodiles. For example, the gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) – a critically endangered crocodile found in Asian river systems – is increasingly threatened by sand mining, which destroys or erodes sand banks where the animals bask.

Sand mining also has serious impacts on people’s livelihoods. Beaches and wetlands buffer coastal communities against surging seas. Increased erosion resulting from extensive mining makes these communities more vulnerable to floods and storm surges.

A recent report by the Water Integrity Network found that sand mining exacerbated the impacts of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Sri Lanka. In the Mekong Delta, sand mining is reducing sediment supplies as drastically as dam construction, threatening the sustainability of the delta. It also is probably enhancing saltwater intrusion during the dry season, which threatens local communities’ water and food security.

Potential health impacts from sand mining are poorly characterized but deserve further study. Extraction activities create new standing pools of water that can become breeding sites for malaria-carrying mosquitoes. The pools may also play an important role in the spread of emerging diseases such as Buruli ulcer in West Africa, a bacterial skin infection.

**********

Media coverage of this issue is growing, thanks to work by organizations such as the United Nations Environment Programme, but the scale of the problem is not widely appreciated. Despite huge demand, sand sustainability is rarely addressed in scientific research and policy forums.

The complexity of this problem is doubtlessly a factor. Sand is a common-pool resource – open to all, easy to get and hard to regulate. As a result, we know little about the true global costs of sand mining and consumption.

Demand will increase further as urban areas continue to expand and sea levels rise. Major international agreements such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Convention on Biological Diversity promote responsible allocation of natural resources, but there are no international conventions to regulate sand extraction, use and trade.

As long as national regulations are lightly enforced, harmful effects will continue to occur. We believe that the international community needs to develop a global strategy for sand governance, along with global and regional sand budgets. It is time to treat sand like a resource, on a par with clean air, biodiversity and other natural endowments that nations seek to manage for the future.

This article was originally published on The Conversation.

Aurora Torres, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Ecology, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research

Jianguo "Jack" Liu, Rachel Carson Chair in Sustainability, Michigan State University

Jodi Brandt, Assistant Professor - Human Environment Systems, Boise State University

Kristen Lear, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Georgia




https://globalnews.ca/news/4274233/world-running-out-of-sand-black-market/

The world is running out of sand — there’s even a violent black market for it

By Katie Dangerfield National Online Journalist, Breaking News Global News

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WATCH: This is why it matters that there's a shortage of sand around the world



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Sand seems like an infinite resource — especially when one imagines endless beaches and deserts — but the granular material is one of the most-consumed resources on the planet, and it could be running out.
This is because it’s used in a lot of products, such as toothpaste, sunscreen, kitchen sinks, computer chips and glass. But the biggest consumer of sand comes from the construction industry, which uses it to make brick, asphalt and concrete.

READ MORE: Specialty sand market heats up as oil, gas drilling rebounds

The big business of sand is actually referred to as the “the new gold rush,” by many experts. And the demand comes with a warning.
“Sand is the essential ingredient that makes modern life possible. And we are starting to run out,” journalist and author Vince Beiser told New York Times.
The over-exploitation of sand is leading to the disappearance of beaches and islands, and it’s polluting rivers and wrecking havoc on the ocean floor. Not only that, it’s also creating a violent black market.
WATCH: Here’s what you need to know about the plastic-eating enzyme that could help with pollution

Why is it being used?


Sand and gravel are the most-extracted solid materials in the world, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Formed by erosive processes over thousands of years, it’s also mined at a rate far greater than its renewal.
Between 47 and 59 billion tonnes of sand and gravel (also known as aggregates) are mined every year, UNEP said. It’s used in concrete and asphalt for roads, buildings, parking lots, runways and many other structures.

READ MORE: Quebec tackles black market in construction industry

China and India, which are leading a global construction boom, are some of the most voracious consumers of sand due to rapid economic growth.
“From 2011 to 2013, China used more cement than the United States used in the entire 20th century,” Beiser told the New York Times.
Many of these growing cities require vast amounts of sand for apartment blocks, skyscrapers and shopping malls. The demand for the resource is so boundless that certain types of construction sand that’s used in Dubai (which is a desert city), is imported from Australia.

The Burj Khalifa tower, center, stands among city skyscrapers and the Address Sky View, center right, under construction by developers Emaar Properties PJSC, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Wednesday, April 11, 2018.
Christopher Pike/Bloomberg via Getty Images

What about desert sand?
The sand that is used in most products is found at the bottom of rivers, lakes, oceans and on beaches. Unfortunately, the sand from the desert is unsuitable for construction.
“The sand from the desert does not work as the grains are too round from wind erosion, so it does not stick together and offer strength,” said researcher and founder of sandstories.org, Kiran Pereira.
“You need angular grains that will interlock and hold concrete together. That’s why so much sand has been used from rivers and oceans,” she said.

Mining equipment sit at an aggregate mine processing facility in this aerial photograph taken above Caledon, Ont., on Oct. 2, 2017. The demand for sand is on the rise as urban development around the world soars and hydraulic fracturing technology becomes more popular all over the world.
James MacDonald/Bloomberg via Getty Images


Because desert sand is almost useless for construction, a lot of nations, like Dubai and Mauritania, which are located in deserts, actually face shortages with the resource.
For example, Dubai imported sand from Australia to build the Burj Khalifa tower, the highest building in the world at 828 metres.
Singapore is one of the largest importers of sand, using it to expand the tiny island nation in physical size by about 24 per cent since 1960, according to Bloomberg. The country uses so much sand that its once-biggest suppliers, Indonesia and Vietnam, have banned exporting there amid environmental concerns.
Why does it matter?
Sand makes up our entire civilization, according to Pascal Peduzzi, Director of GRID-Geneva at the United Nations. And we’re using so much of it that at one stage we will run out.
“The amount that we are using … it’s tremendous,” he said. “The amount we use every year is enough to construct a wall 27 metres high by 27 metres wide around the equator.”
READ MORE: If it’s not green on this map, it’s a water source that’s been hurt by climate change
And it has a significant impact on the environment.
“It erodes river banks, destroys beaches and the ocean, and impacts fisheries and communities,” Peduzzi added.
In some extreme cases, the illegal mining of sand has changed international boundaries, such as the disappearance of sand islands in Indonesia. In China, sand extraction has caused a dramatic decline in the water levels of Poyang Lake, the country’s largest freshwater lake.
WATCH: Exclusive data shows large gap between Canadian and U.S. refineries on pollution

Sand mafia
The global shortage of sand has also sparked a violent black market also known as the “sand mafia” to steal large amounts from rivers and beaches.
“Sand is a currency of development. It’s even becoming militarized in places like Singapore, where stockpiles of sand are guarded because it’s needed for development,” Peduzzi said.

Trolleys filled with sand, bee-lined at Badarpur village near Loni on Aug. 3, 2013, in Ghaziabad, India. After Gautam Budh Nagar, Ghaziabad is fast emerging as an illegal sand mining hub in the NCR. There is huge demand for illegally mined sand, as it is cheap because the so-called “sand mafia” don’t have to pay a royalty to the administration.
Sakib Ali/ Hindustan Times via Getty Images


The problem of the sand mafia is especially felt in India, where the demand for the grain is soaring, but the stockpiles are shrinking. The sand mafias in the area take the resource illegally and even kill people in their way.
“Some people steal beaches overnight,” Pereira said. “And some people have even killed for it. There’s a lot of violence for something as little as sand.”
What are the alternatives?
“There isn’t a magic solution as we are so dependent on sand,” Peduzzi said.
But he said there are ways to reduce our consumption of sand. For example, when building up shorelines, instead of using concrete, use a sustainable method, such as ecosystems, vegetation and even some coral reefs.

READ MORE: Climate change is affecting the way we design buildings

“We are using sand like crazy and we need to have rules on standards, such as where it is coming from and to make sure it’s sustainable. We not only have to make sure it’s environmentally safe, but also that social standard are abided as sometimes sand is even mined by children.”
Pereira said research is also key. Currently, there are researchers who have found a way to use desert sand for construction by putting an additive in it, which makes it strong for concrete.
“We need more research like this,” she said. “But there needs to be an incentive as it’s just cheaper to import sand from anywhere else.”




© 2018 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

 

[Ang4MohTrump]

https://www.mining-technology.com/f...rld-running-out-of-critical-minerals-5776166/



Analysis
Mined into extinction: is the world running out of critical minerals?

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Of all the minerals mined over the centuries, have any been forgotten or mined into extinction and, more importantly, is mankind in danger of running out of critical resources? Julian Turner talks to Dr Lawrence Meinert, deputy associate director for energy and minerals at the US Geological Survey.

In 1987, in the remote mining town of Ivigtût on the west coast of Greenland, an extinction event took place that went virtually unnoticed and unremarked upon outside of geological and mining circles.
Now abandoned, Ivigtût once contained the world’s largest known reserves of naturally occurring cryolite. First described in 1798, this rare mineral was primarily used in aluminium extraction, but also as an insecticide and pesticide, to make caustic soda and even to give fireworks a yellow colour.
And then in 1987 the mine simply ran out.
Its demise is a reminder of how susceptible mineral supplies are to the dynamics of global demand, consumption and pricing, and the impact they have on mankind’s social and industrial evolution.
“Many mineral commodities have changed in importance over time,” says Dr Lawrence Meinert of the US Geological Survey (USGS). “In the Stone Age flint was extremely valuable, but obviously the need for flint arrowheads has diminished and thus the mining of flint has stopped. Similarly, the Romans prized salt very highly, but it’s centrality to the world’s economy is now much less than in the past.
“Conversely, the use of most metals has skyrocketed during the industrial age, with iron, copper and aluminium being mainstays of much of the world’s economy and infrastructure. Rare earth elements are much more important than they were 30 years ago and are indispensible in technologies such as smartphones, wind turbines and hybrid cars.
“Other changes have only recently started developing; for example, the expansion of the world’s electric car fleet promises to greatly increase the need for lithium. In a similar vein it is likely that future technologies will require other elements of the periodic table that are not widely used today.”
Reserves vs resources: cost, price and technology
Meinert is quick to make the distinction between ‘reserves’, minerals identified in location and quantity therefore relatively easy to factor into supply chains and rates of consumption, and ‘resources’, which often cannot be quantified without long-term geologic and geophysical study.
“It is very important to understand that neither ‘reserves’ nor ‘resources’ are the same as ‘all there is’,” says Meinhart, so just because a mineral, such as cryolite, is no longer commercially available does not necessarily mean that it is terminally depleted, simply that greater effort may be required to find it.
“It is very important to understand that neither ‘reserves’ nor ‘resources’ are the same as ‘all there is’.”
“Minerals are not something we run out of,” he adds. “If you go to the kitchen and discover you have run out of salt, it does not mean that salt does not exist on planet Earth, or in the US, or at your local store.
“World reserves of almost all commodities are greater now than they were 50 or 100 years ago even though large amounts have been produced. This is because the time value of money leads most companies to only drill out 20 or 30 years’ worth of reserves even though much larger resources might be available. Some mines have had 20 years’ worth of ‘reserves’ for more than a century.”
Critical levels: is China running out of rare earth metals?
China, home to more than 90% of rare earth production, claims that supplies of metals such as dysprosium, neodymium and lanthanum – coveted for their conductive and magnetic properties, and used in everything from laptops to missile guidance systems – could be exhausted within 20 years, further spooking global commodity markets. Does Meinert share in the Chinese Government’s pessimism?
“We can calculate how long stated reserves of rare earth minerals − often referred to as critical minerals because of their importance to modern society − would last at the current rate of production and that number may well be about 20 years, although reserve estimates are not closely constrained,” says Meinert.
“Importantly, this does not mean that China would run out of rare earth minerals in 20 years; their reserves two decades from now may be the same (or smaller or larger) as they are now, due to increased exploration drilling. However, China is currently is the world’s largest producer of rare earth elements, and so a disruption of that supply for whatever reason would have profound effects on world markets and global industry.”
In 1950, the USGS estimated global reserves of zinc at 77 million tonnes (Mt). In 2000, the US Government announced reserves were up to 209Mt. Tin, copper, iron ore and lead have all experienced similar increases. As for Cryolite, the mineral is still present in small quantities around the world.
“You can go to Ivigtût today and grab a handful of cryolite; here in Washington DC, the Smithsonian Museum has samples of it. However, it is a relatively rare mineral and large deposits are uncommon. The originally defined resource has been mined out and cryolite’s use as a flux has largely been supplanted by synthetic sodium aluminium fluoride, produced from the common mineral fluorite.”
Supply disruption: USGS methodology and import reliance
So are any minerals in terminal decline, according to Meinert, and if so, what can we expect in terms of supply disruption and the potential impact on the US and global economies?
“For some commodities there are long-term trends of increasing or decreasing use but the phrase ‘terminal decline’ suggests an irreversible change that ends in zero use − this has not happened for any of the 90+ commodities tracked by the USGS,” he confirms. “The production or consumption of a particular commodity may go up or go down, but in no case has the world run out of minerals.
“The phrase ‘terminal decline’ suggests an irreversible change that ends in zero use − this has not happened for any of the 90+ commodities tracked by the USGS.”
“However, there is reason for concern about the possibility of a supply disruption for certain mineral resources, such as occurred in the past ten years with rare earth elements. The USGS has developed a methodology for identifying such critical minerals, tracking the change in their ‘criticality’, and forecasting potential trouble spots in the future.
“In addition to supply disruption there is the question of import dependence. As documented in the 2017 Mineral Commodity Summaries, the US is now 100% reliant on foreign sources for 20 different mineral commodities and imports the majority of [its] needs for more than 50 commodities.
“Thus, supply disruption is likely to be a more immediate consideration than supply exhaustion or running out of a particular mineral resource.”




https://www.visualcapitalist.com/forecast-when-well-run-out-of-each-metal/


A Forecast of When We’ll Run Out of Each Metal

Published
5 years ago
on
September 4, 2014


By
Jeff Desjardins





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A Forecast Of When We’ll Run Out of Each Metal
Here is one interpretation of when we’ll run out of each metal or energy source. While the technicalities of some of this information can be debated, I think the general theme runs the same. There is a limited supply of these commodities – and if there are no discoveries, no price changes, and no changes in consumption, we are running out relatively soon. In my opinion, there are two caveats that are always worth considering when looking at something like this.
1. “Reserves” are an engineering number that are based on economic viability. Technically speaking, there are small concentrations of gold everywhere. It is just not usually viable to mine 0.1 g/t gold. When we will “run out” of each mineral in this chart is based on current reserves and prices. If the gold price doubles, then suddenly it is economic to mine more.
2. This chart is a reminder that something has to give. Either prices are going to have to go up, or new amazing discoveries have to be made to keep prices down. It’s basic economics, and either way it seems that there are many opportunities in the mining industry for investors and speculators on both fronts.






https://www.streetwisereports.com/pub/na/copper-reserves-could-run-out-in-25-years


Copper Reserves Could Run Out in 25 Years





Source: Harlan Kessler, Seeking Alpha (1/14/13)

"There are a number of ways to play the potential supply and demand imbalance for copper."

Depleting Supply
A 2005 U.S. Geological Survey reported a total reserve base of 1.6 billion tons or recoverable ore, of which 950 million tons (Mt) was considered economically recoverable. Given current annual world demand of 15 Mt, recoverable copper may be exhausted in slightly more than 60 years. A notable environmental analyst, Lester Brown, has suggested copper reserves may run out within 25 years, assuming a 2% annual growth rate. Of the largest 28 copper mines in the world, 21 are not expandable, many being exhausted by 2015.

Increasing Demand
Global consumption is expected to grow by 1.2%. Refined copper demand reached 20.4 Mt in 2011 compared with global production of 16.1 Mt for the same time period. China's demand accounts for over 22% of global demand and growth expected to slow to 6.6% in 2012.
Resurgence in the Housing Market
Approximately one-third of copper use is attributed to residential building construction. The housing market continues to strengthen with reduced inventories and improving buyer demand. As demand for housing increases, the demand for copper will increase.
Automotive Market
Auto sales are expected to finish 2012 at 14.4M, the highest level since the 16.1M in 2007. In addition, the average car's 11-year lifespan will drive demand.
While demand continues to grow, copper production faces challenges. There are a number of ways to play the potential supply and demand imbalance for copper. . .
Harlan Kessler
Seeking Alpha




https://www.forbes.com/sites/timwor...e-we-going-to-run-out-of-metals/#135388e8527d


47,695 viewsOct 15, 2011, 09:45am
When Are We Going to Run Out of Metals?





Tim Worstall
Contributor

Roger Pielke Jr, and The Economist are having a little discussion about whether metals prices are going to continue to fall, as they have done for the past century and a half. I'd like to sidle up to an answer to this question by answering first a slightly different one: are we ever going to run out of metals?

Or at least, on any conceivable time scale are we going to do so? I'll start with this because it's a common argument that we really are going to run out of "resources" such as metals at some point soon and it is this which is going to doom our industrial civilisation.

So, let us consider a minor metal which almost no one has ever heard of: tellurium. It's important because it's the major ingredient in Cd/Te solar panels, the sort of thing that First Solar produces. One of those things that might stave off climate change.

It's also very rare. The best guess is that the crust of the earth is only 0.001 parts per million (or one part per billion) Te. So there's really not much of it around. It is one of the very rarest elements on the planet in fact. And it would be a bit of a problem if one of our vital industries, solar panels to beat climate change, ran out of the vital raw ingredient.





So, how likely is this? Well, the Earth weights 6x10 to the 24 (sorry, can't do those clever math numbers) kilos, the crust is 2% of the Earth's weight and of that crust, one part per billion is tellurium which means that we've only got

120,000,000​

120 million tonnes of tellurium to play with.

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Given my maths it's entirely possible that there's too few or too many zeros there. However, current annual usage of tellurium is around the 125 tonnes a year mark. Yes, that is for the entire world, the global annual usage.

So, even for one of the rarest metals on the planet we seem to have a million year supply of it. We could, at this point, say that the environmentalists are obviously correct, there is a risk of running out and we'd better do something about it. But worrying about what happens in a million years time is really a very slightly silly thing to be worrying about: the odds that our species will still be here at that time are pretty low, let alone the idea that we'll be reliant upon Cd/Te solar panels.

So, no, we don't in fact face an actual shortage of atoms of the right elements. You're welcome to try the same calculations with any other element you choose and while you might come up with different time spans, the basic conclusion will be the same: we simply don't have a shortage of elements.

So, despite the silliness of this argument, to a first approximation we can say that no, we're not going to run out of metals. If I really, really, wanted some Te I could go out into my garden, dig up some soil and with enough effort I could get some Te. It would make more sense for me to go to the copper miner and ask him for his copper slimes (no, really, it's a good technical word) and process the Te out of those because the copper slimes have more Te in them than my garden does but it would still be possible, if expensive, to get it from the veg patch.

The same is also true of every other metal.

But of course what we really want to know is whether we will be able to get metals at the price we want to pay for them. To which the answer is a very differently reasoned "Of course, yes!". For this brings us to economics, not metallurgy or geology. If we want to use more metals than we can cheaply extract from the ores then the price will rise. A high enough price will mean that we don't want to use that metal anymore (we'll, for example, go and make our solar cells from silicon). So be definition we'll always have a supply of metals at the price we want to pay for them. They only become unavailable when the prices rises to where we don't want to use them.

And finally to the question that Pielke and The Economist are discussing: are metals going to continue declining in cost to us, even as the economy grows?

Yes, for two entirely unrelated reasons. The first is something I see in my day job (which is dealing with various weird and exotic metals): how much better we're getting, and how quickly we're doing so, at extracting metals from lower concentration ores. Over the past few months I've been working on a new supply of one metal and despite the way in which it doesn't really form ores, there's almost never a decent concentration of it, there are still several different ways of getting the amounts that people want to use. And those methods are getting ever better: quite serious people have been proposing genetic engineering of micro-organisms, sticking them into waste mine water (of which the world has no shortage at all) and getting them to concentrate out my desired metal. They claim to be able to do this with almost any metal as well.

One way of putting this is that we're getting better at mimicking the geological processes that led to the formation of ore bodies in the first place so to an extent we're creating our own economic concentrations rather than having to go prospecting for them.

The second point is that we now use hugely less of any specific metal to perform a specific task. Just in the last 40 years the gold plating on computer connectors has gone from 200 nm to 2 nm: we just need less gold to make computers now. Similarly, capacitors used to be 1 or 2 grammes of tantalum: they're now 20 or 30 milligrammes of the same material.

Now, the complex interactions of these technological trends on prices, no, I'm not willing to try and prognosticate in any great detail. Some metals prices will rise for some periods of time, others will fall. But as general outlines: we've no shortage of actual metals, just potential shortages of concentrations of them we are prepared to pay to dig up. And as we get better at the digging and use less to do any specific task anyway, my bet is that prices, over the long term, will continue to decline.

That isn't though, what we really care about. The "real" prices of metals just aren't important. What we really want to know is, what percentage of my income do I have to pay for the metals I use in my lifestyle? Another way of saying the same thing, how many hours do I have to work to get the metals I want?

And that's going to continue declining as it has ever since the very first stirrings of the Bronze Age because even if metals do get a little more expensive the general income is going to be going up much much more than those metals prices.