Why Prospect for Minerals?

The successful exploitation of minerals to obtain useful metals is literally the basis for the development of any society. Throughout history, the success of a given society was based on its ability to transform minerals into useful substances. Most technological advances have occurred as a result of a change in the understanding of the uses of different minerals. In fact, epochs of human development are named after the economic transformations that resulted from a new understanding and application of a particular metal (which comes from minerals) - the Iron Age, the Bronze Age and even the Stone Age.

Without minerals any society will collapse back to its prehistoric social condition and in this weakness be taken over by another society. That is just the way it is. Think of a very limited list of the uses of metals which are derived from the minerals that are prospected;

Transportation: cars, busses, bicycles, airplanes, skis, trucks, trains... all are made with iron/steel, zinc, lead and copper, manganese and titanium components.

Housing: pipes, wire, chimneys, foundations, nails, windows, doors... all are made with copper, aluminum, silica and iron/steel

Communications: computers, telephones, television, radio... all are made with silica, iron/steel, gold, silver, copper, aluminum

Health: diagnostic machines, x-rays, pharmaceuticals, hospitals, potable water systems, sewage systems, ambulances... all are made with silica, iron/steel, gold, silver, copper, aluminum, lithium, boron, barium, magnesium etc.

Defense: guns, tanks, jets, bullets, radios, satellites... all are made with iron/steel, zinc, lead and copper, manganese and titanium components.

So the question is not “What are minerals used for?” but rather “What is there that doesn’t use minerals?” and the answer is very short - not very much. So if your lifestyle allows you the leisure and purchasing power to be reading this then you owe a great deal to minerals and those who search for them. 

If you think those who search for minerals to be ignoble and that the search be stopped then I have a quaint little hovel for you high in the Peruvian Andes - here you will learn the truth about minerals.