In the United States alone, it takes more than 2 billion tons of minerals each year to maintain our way of life. That's about 10 tons of minerals for every man, woman, and child. From those minerals we get the products we need to live and those that make life more comfortable. Minerals are essential to the many activities involved in putting food on our tables. Fertilizers made from potash, phosphate rock, sulfur, and nitrogen help plants grow.
Farmers use metal tractors and combines to plant and harvest crops.
In addition, like all plants and animals, we need mineral nutrients to keep us alive and well. We find the products of pits, quarries, and mines from basement to attic, from parking garage to penthouse. Our houses, apartment buildings, offices, and factories have walls of brick, stone, concrete . . . Other minerals and mineral-based materials used in construction include cement, sand, clay, tile, lime, glass, aluminum, iron and steel, lead, and zinc. Manufacturing Many of the goods and products we use each day are made from minerals.