But we should never forget that it is economic conditions and technology that determine what is a resource. Because of this resources change over time and this makes it impossible to know what tomorrow's resources will be. Greens like Cumming are unable to see how reserves are expanded, new resources created and old ones abandoned because of a methodological fallacy which springs from static, unimaginative thinking that totally ignores market feedbacks that give us improved techniques, new technologies and substitutes. Thus there is nothing dynamic or original in their thinking. Even if there was no process of substitution, the situation would be far from grim.
Most key metals are to be found in the top mile of the earth's crust.
Enough to last at the present 'rate of depletion' for well over 100,000,000 years. Again, back to copper. Estimates for 1974, for example, put copper reserves at 340 years based on recoverable resources being equal to 0.1 per cent of materials in the top kilometre of the earth s crust. Increase recoverable resources to 100 per cent and reserves leap to a fantastic 242 million years. One gets equally fantastic results for other metals.