The Exergy Evolution of Mineral Wealth - Thanatia: The Destiny of the Earth's Mineral Resources - page 402

The natural exergy bonus lost on Earth since the beginning of the 20th century
B .
The velocity of the Earth's exergy degradation due to mineral extraction ( B )
throughout the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, and for comparative
purposes between 1996 and 2008.
The depletion degree of the reserves (% R. loss), calculated as B =(R 2010 +
B )
The years until depletion of the commodities (R/P).
The theoretical year where the peak of production is reached.

Table 13.3 shows a summary of the results obtained for the 54 mineral com-
modities 13 .

Table 13.3: The worldwide depletion of the exergy reservoir of the main mineral
commodities

B ,
ktoe/yr
(1900-
2008)

B ,
ktoe/yr
(1996-
2008)

B ,
ktoe
(1900-
2008)

Substance
reported
by USGS

Mineral
ore

P,
tonnes
(1900-
2008)

% R
loss

R/P,
yrs

Aluminium
(Bauxite)

Gibbsite 4.93E+09 2.63E+07 2.41E+05 8.20E+05 15.4 132

Antimony Stibnite 6.00E+06 6.98E+04 6.41E+02 1.61E+03 74.1 11

Arsenic Arsenopyrite 3.67E+06 1.66E+04 1.52E+02 2.16E+02 75.0 23

Barium Barite 3.13E+08 N.A. N.A. N.A. 64.8 21

Beryllium Beryl 1.61E+04 5.19E+01 4.80E-01 6.05E-01 N.A. N.A.

Bismuth Bismuthinite 2.40E+05 3.44E+01 3.16E-01 7.30E-01 42.9 42

Boron Kernite 1.18E+08 N.A. N.A. N.A. 41.0 39

Cadmium Greenockite 1.03E+06 1.49E+05 1.36E+03 2.82E+03 63.5 30

Cesium Pollucite 8.53E+02 N.A. N.A. N.A. 1.2 N.A.

Chromium Chromite 1.76E+08 4.06E+04 3.72E+02 1.16E+03 42.4 34

Cobalt Linnaeite 1.88E+06 4.87E+05 4.47E+03 1.32E+04 22.1 87

Copper Chalcopyrite 5.26E+08 1.43E+06 1.31E+04 3.70E+04 49.4 35

Feldspar Orthoclase 3.23E+08 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A.

Fluorspar Fluorite 2.40E+08 1.08E+06 9.86E+03 2.19E+04 51.0 38

Gallium Ga in baux-

ite

1.00E+06 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A.

Germanium Ge in sulfide
ores

3.74E+03 N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A. N.A.

Gold Native gold 1.33E+05 1.91E+06 1.75E+04 3.52E+04 73.9 21

Graphite Graphite 4.08E+07 N.A. N.A. N.A. 36.5 63

Gypsum Gypsum 4.78E+09 1.81E+06 1.66E+04 4.77E+04 N.A. N.A.

Continued on next page :::

13 Uranium has been included in the non-fuel mineral classification, using the statistics published
by the World Nuclear Association (WNA, 2012) (see Table D.12). Uranium assured reserves were
estimated by the WNA at 5.5 Mtons in 2010. The average ore grade of U 3 O 8 assumed constitutes
0.33% or 0.28% of U (Table 6.9). The nuclear exergy of uranium, which is huge compared to its
chemical one (see Chap. 6), has not been taken into account.