novelonline Chapter 2364
Chapter 2364
Chapter 2364
Minerals on Earth make up most of what humans use to build, manufacture, and support themselves—including rocks and soil. Therefore, if we were to actually run out of minerals, we would all be vying for a place on Earth's shrinking surface. If you're only worried about a mineral vital to industry running out, you might be able to breathe a sigh of relief. Most minerals used extensively by humans are very abundant. For example, iron makes up about 32% of the Earth's crust, so before worrying about whether we can continue producing steel, you'd have to consider finding a place without iron deposits. In fact, a more accurate description of what it means to "run out" of a mineral is that as minerals are mined in large quantities, easily minable minerals decrease, and the mining process becomes too expensive, difficult, or harmful, hindering mining. Even so, with advancements in mining technology, previously unminable minerals will become available, and lower-yield ores will be processed more efficiently.
So, what are mineral resources? How much do we have on our planet?
Minerals are naturally occurring substances found underground, such as coal, quartz, and salt. Like everything else, they are made up of elements, which are fundamental substances that cannot be broken down into simpler substances. Some minerals are single elements, such as gold. Assessing the world's mineral reserves is far more complex than simply counting the finite resources consumed over time. World mineral reserves are constantly being revised based on estimated consumption and current production capacity. For example, in 1950, copper reserves were estimated at 1 million tons. But in the following 50 years, the world's copper producers mined 3.39 million tons of copper. By 1950 standards, we should have used up our copper three times over. For most minerals, supply actually increased in the 20th century, even though we consumed them faster than ever before.
Therefore, it's unlikely that Earth will run out of minerals. However, will people experience mineral shortages? Definitely.
In a sense, we have always faced mineral shortages. Shortages and declining production have spurred the mining of new mines, the innovation of new technologies, and the lowering of standards for high-quality ores. We also use a wider range of minerals. More than 60 different components are used to make a computer chip. Many of these are minerals that only began industrial applications 20 or 30 years ago, and their production is very small, making them more vulnerable to supply risks. We have also experienced situations where our ores were running out before. Cryolite was once part of the aluminum production process, but it no longer exists. Greenland once had one of the last remaining cryolite deposits, rich enough to be worth mining. But the mine closed in the 1980s when new processing technologies made us no longer dependent on it for aluminum production. However, even if you can't buy cryolite on the market, small veins still exist around the world. Therefore, it makes no sense to build an expensive mine to mine a mineral that nobody needs, just like building a factory that only produces VCD players. However, we cannot simply rely on technological updates to replace some ancient minerals. A Yale University study found that more than a dozen metals that are critical to manufacturing currently have no potential substitutes. Of course, this is more than enough, and we don't need to worry about running out anytime soon. For example, 90% of manganese is used in steelmaking. Manganese is irreplaceable, and depleting it would impact global steel production. However, manganese is also the 12th most abundant element on Earth, with estimated global ore reserves of 380 million tons. Lead is another irreplaceable mineral used in a wide variety of products, such as car batteries and organ pipes. But with global reserves of 90 million tons, we are far from running out. Some minerals that are more difficult to mine and in higher demand may pose some challenges for producers. Take rare earth elements like terbium, dysprosium, and neodymium, for example. Don't be fooled by their difficult-to-understand names; they are actually not hard to find. But like cryolite, there aren't many rich deposits that offer easy profits. Meanwhile, demand is rising as they become necessities in more and more products (iPhones, computer chips) and environmental technologies (wind turbines, electric vehicles). These minerals have become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Of course, this raises a problem. Extracting rare earth elements using "green" technologies is extremely "dirty." Radioactive minerals such as uranium and thorium are concentrated in the waste rock and sludge generated during the mining process. Then, processing these rare earth minerals causes even more severe damage to the land. Since the 1980s, China has undertaken 95% of the world's rare earth mining, meeting the needs of most countries.
Mining deep into the Earth's crust is undoubtedly far more expensive than mining shallow and surface minerals. However, this hasn't deterred our thirst for the unknown. The Earth's interior, especially the deep crust and upper mantle, holds abundant mineral resources, about which our understanding is currently very limited. Despite the high cost of deep-seated mineral extraction, the Earth's core, mantle, and other celestial bodies in the solar system still hold immense potential, awaiting further exploration and utilization.
In the field of mineral resources, scientists often say, "Minerals with scarce reserves and significantly rising prices are often replaced by other alternative resources, rather than truly depleted." Scientists emphasize that many rare minerals are not truly exhausted, but are replaced by alternative resources or sustained through enhanced recycling. However, the reality is often that people have already begun to strengthen recycling before prices rise sharply. Take helium as an example; its natural replenishment mainly relies on the decay of radioactive materials, a very slow process. Extracting helium from deep underground is costly, but with existing reserves and recycling technologies, helium supply is sufficient to last for a considerable period. Furthermore, in recent years, superconducting technology has made significant progress in low-temperature environments, with operations at temperatures such as liquid hydrogen and liquid nitrogen becoming commonplace. Additionally, cryolite—a mineral whose main component is sodium hexafluoroaluminate—can effectively lower the melting point of electrolytic aluminum, which has wide applications in industry. Synthetic cryolite is gradually replacing natural resources. Originally, natural cryolite was mainly sourced from the large Ivitut deposit off the west coast of Greenland. However, this deposit was largely depleted by 1987, and continued mining became prohibitively expensive. Therefore, for example, the use of helium relies on deep underground extraction and recovery technologies, while cryolite has been replaced by synthetic materials to meet industrial needs.
In fact, to put it bluntly.
Many rare minerals are precious, and some are even said to be facing depletion, simply because humans cannot extract the true minerals from the earth.
But now, an incredibly resource-rich surface mine has appeared on Earth!
Based on the current exploration results of the giant hand in the center of the Pacific Ocean by various countries, once that hand is fully mined, the prices of various metal ores around the world will plummet!
This is just ordinary metal ore; the heavy metal content is also incredibly terrifying!
Remember, this is just a palm, and this palm extends from the Earth's core to the surface!
Humans can absolutely continue digging deeper!
The wealth contained here is so great that it has attracted worldwide attention!
It can be said that any country that obtains it can make money effortlessly for the next hundred years!
Just like those small countries with abundant resources.
For example, Nauru!
Nauru is an island nation located in the central Pacific Ocean, about 42 kilometers south of the equator. Its land area is only 21.1 square kilometers, roughly half the size of Shanghai Pudong International Airport. In terms of land area, Nauru is indeed a tiny country. However, this small nation possesses a 320,000 square kilometer exclusive economic zone, 15238 times its land area. Nauru has a small population; in 2024, the total population was only 13,000, mostly of Micronesian descent, and English is the official language. Nauru is like a paradise, isolated from the outside world for many years. In 1798, a British ship named HMS Hunter arrived in Nauru, marking the first time the Nauruans had seen people from the outside world. The captain of the Hunter, John, toured the island and named it Happy Island. After surveying it, the British felt the island had little value for occupation, consisting mainly of tropical fruits, and the islanders lived in tribal communities, relying on fishing for a living, so they did not bring the island into their sphere of influence. Ninety years later, in 1888, the Germans arrived and designated Nauru as a protected area of the Marshall Islands, thus making it a German colony. At this time, the Germans were unaware of Nauru's value; they simply felt they had to take advantage of the situation, since other powers hadn't taken the land, they might as well. In 1900, a British explorer, Albert Fuller Ellis, found a stone on the island. After taking it to Sydney for testing, he was astonished. This was no ordinary stone, but a high-grade phosphate ore with a phosphorus content of over 37%. Westerners further discovered that 80% of the island was composed of phosphate deposits. What are phosphate deposits? They are important chemical materials, a major raw material for fertilizers, and also play a vital role in medicine, food, and defense. Westerners called it a mineral treasure. Generally, phosphate rock with a phosphorus content greater than 28% is considered high-grade, while the phosphate deposits on Nauru Island have a phosphorus content exceeding 37%. More importantly, most of the mines on Nauru are open-pit mines, offering advantages such as high resource utilization, low mining costs, and safer operations. Why is Nauru's phosphate deposit so abundant? Located in the equatorial region, Nauru is surrounded by vast oceans. For tens of thousands of years, seabirds on long-distance flights have used this area as a resting and roosting stop, leaving behind massive amounts of guano. Under the combined effects of high temperatures, rain, and sea breezes, this guano gradually transformed into phosphate deposits 6-10 meters thick. With guano everywhere on Nauru Island, it suddenly went from an obscure, isolated island to a highly sought-after prize in the eyes of Westerners, attracting waves of people to mine it. The British regretted not having seized the land earlier; now, they had no choice but to pay the Germans for mining rights. Meanwhile, the Germans happily collected their profits. When World War I broke out, while Britain was fighting the Germans in Europe, it allowed Australia to occupy Nauru. After the war, Nauru was placed under the trusteeship of Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, with Australia responsible for mining the island's phosphate mines. Australia and New Zealand were essentially Britain's allies, meaning the island was essentially under British control. Britain's peaceful life in Nauru didn't last long; the Japanese arrived. During World War II, the Japanese drove out the white settlers and occupied Nauru, subjecting the island's phosphate mines to rampant, predatory mining. Finally, after the war, Nauru fell back into the hands of white settlers. However, by this time, the Nauruans had awakened. Why should they give up such immense wealth? This phosphate mine was a treasure left to them by their ancestors. With the onset of the Cold War, various colonies began striving for independence, and Nauru was no exception. Finally, on January 31, 1968, Nauru successfully gained independence, reclaiming control of its phosphate mines. From that moment on, Nauru's development entered a fast track, or rather, supersonic.
The Nauruans established the Nauru Phosphate Mining Company to manage resource extraction, but they mined even more ruthlessly than the British and Germans. The Nauruans thought, "Bird guano is everywhere, why bother with it? Just dig as much as you want!" In the first year the Nauruan government took over, Nauru's phosphate mining output exceeded the total output of the Germans over 30 years. From 1970 to 1980, Nauru exported an average of about 200 million tons of phosphate ore annually, generating an annual revenue of 1.2 million Australian dollars. For this island nation with a population of just over 1, this was undoubtedly a huge fortune. In a short period, Nauru became one of the richest countries in the world. In 1975, Nauru's GDP per capita reached US$35700, 4.5 times that of the United States that year. Soon, Nauru declared itself the richest country in the world, earning the nickname "Kuwait of the Pacific." The Nauruans, suddenly wealthy, lived a life of luxury that everyone envied. Nauru has no taxes; the government covers all living expenses for its citizens. Housing is free, every household receives a large villa, utilities are free, and healthcare and education are all free. The government has brought in top doctors from Australia and Cuba to be stationed on the island year-round to provide medical care. If someone wants to seek medical treatment abroad, the government will even send them to Australia for free. Nauru Airlines has purchased several Boeing aircraft, facilitating travel for residents worldwide. Almost every family owns two cars, and luxury cars are a common sight on the streets. Nauruans basically don't work. Mining is too strenuous; "I'd never do that," they say, "it's all outsourced to foreign workers." Nauruans also don't like to study. Although education is free, Nauruans have no interest. Why study? "I live a life of luxury, I have more money than I could spend in several lifetimes. What good is studying? Can it feed me?" Nauruans have completely given up. They've stopped mining, and even their traditional fishing and coconut harvesting are gone. The only people still working on the island are the civil servants. However, the jobs of these 1000-plus civil servants were quite easy; they could come and go as they pleased, starting work whenever they wanted. The people of Nauru lived an extremely luxurious and hedonistic life. They indulged in everything that wealth brought them, their pursuit of luxury cars and goods reaching a fever pitch. It's said that a Nauruan once bought a Ferrari, but because he was too fat to fit inside, he simply left it there to gather dust. The Ferrari owner would probably be furious if he heard that. Some people even used $20 bills as toilet paper to flaunt their wealth; even the 7th President of the United States, Andrew Jackson, would have been turning in his grave, since his image was printed on the $20 bill.
That's right, this hand can do that!
There was no other way; in order to reconstruct their bodies, the Celestials forcibly extracted various elements from the Earth's core!
Metallic elements make up the majority of them!
These are all super-rich mines!
Once mined and processed, it becomes a useful metal!
If you just mine and smelt something from this giant hand, you'll have a fortune!
It's a kind of wealth that any country would be crazy about!
Especially given the current international situation, all countries hope to obtain this wealth!
And so the conflict arose!