We Should Conserve and Recycle Metals

This subterranean salt deposit contains relatively pure metal-containing compounds. After the deposits are mined, the resulting caverns are very dry and thus make excellent archival storage sites for moisture-sensitive equipment or documents. 

Which compound of a metal is most prevalent in nature is related to the metal s position in the periodic table. 

I I Oxides O Sulfides O Most common as native metal 

Natural resources are unavailable to us when the energy required to collect them far exceeds the resource s inherent value. For example, most of the world s gold is found in the oceans, but this gold is too dilute for extraction to be worthwhile. 

An open-pit aluminum mine in Australia. Aluminum ore is no longer mined in the United States because the reserves have dwindled to the point where it is less expensive to import high-grade aluminum ore from other countries, including Australia. 

H Transforming tho metal-rontainir compound to a metal is less energy intensive 

---

We should conserve and recycle metals whenever possible because it is far cheaper to produce metals from recycled products than from ore. Environmentally sound exploration of new reserves is also required. Ore nodules discovered on the ocean floor, for example, contain as much as 24 percent manganese and 14 percent iron. Significant quantities of copper, nickel, and cobalt have also been found in this submarine terrain. Perhaps mining of the ocean floor may one day replace the mining we now do on land. And in the not too distant future, perhaps the mining of metal-rich asteroids in space will become a reality. 

---