Mohave County miner., 1909-07-24
Exhaustion of Mineral Resources.

reckless manner in which our natural resources are being wasted finds an echo in a bulletin (No. 394) just issued by the United States Geological Sur vey, in which are reprinted the papers on mineral resources contributed by members of that Survey to the con- servation report. The data on which these papers are based were not ob- tained especially for the occasion, but were taken from the files of the Sur vey, where they had been accumulat- ing for years. Taken together they present state of affairs that may we'll awaken reflection.
 COAL.
 Coal is considered first. and it is shown that waste in mining loses for ever about one-half as much as is mar keted. This half is either left in the ground in thin beds or in the shape of pillars to support the roof. Coal has been extensively mined in the United States for not much more than half a century, but the consumption is in- creasing so enormously that if this in- crease should continue all the easily accessible coal would be exhausted by the year 2040 and all coal by the mid. dle of the twenty-first century. It will, of course, not continue at such rate, for the increasing scarcity will raise prices and check consumption. Water power, too, will undoubtedly largely take its place.
 PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS.
 With regard to petroleum the situ- ation is good deal more serious. Pe- troleum has been used for less than fifty years, and it is estimated that the supply will last only about twenty. five or thirty years longer. If produc- tion is curtailed and waste stopped it may last till the end of the century. The most important effects of it's dis appearance will be in the lack of lub- ricants and in the loss of illuminants. Animal and vegetable oils will not be- gin to supply it's place. This being the case, the reckless exploitation of oil fields and the consumption of oil for fuel should be checked.
 In natural gas the waste is enor- nous; l,O00,000, 900 cubic feet are esti- mated to be wasted into the air every "A hours. The gas supply will last about 20 years-about as long as it has already been utilized.
 IRON.
 Iron is very abundant in nature, but usually is found in ores so poor that it can not be extracted at any reasonable cost. The best ores are being rapidly worked and it is estimated that. within thirty years they will have been ex- hausted and that it will be necessary to resort to ores that can not now be worked at a profit. This, of course, means higher prices unless new and much cheaper processes shall have been invented.
 GOLD, SILVER, ETC.
 Gold, silver and zinc are all so abun- dant that the supply is likely to last for centuries. Copper is also abund- ant, but is largely in low grade ores which can not now be profitably worked. At increased prices, how ever, the supply will probably be abundant. For lead, however, the outlook is much less favorable. Its production in the United States is still increasing slightly, but is decreasing elsewhere in the world, and this de- spite marked increase in prices. Probably the worlds output has al- ready reached maximum and will hencefol tn decline.
 The phosphates, it is estimated, will be exhausted in about 25 years, and the farmer will then have to look elsewhere for fertilizers.
 Free supplies of all these materials may, of course, be found, but (except for gold) it seems unlikely that they will be great enough or valuable enough to materially affect the esti- mates.
 Avdronhohia reatmapf