What are the methods to conserve mineral resources ?
Measures to conserve minerals resources are as follows:
Use of minerals in a planned and sustainable manner, recycling of metals.
• Use of alternative renewable substitutes.
• Improvising the technology so that low-grade ores can be used profitably.
• By re-using, recuperating, and recycling methods, materials can be manufactured from minerals, and by replacing other materials as well. In many cases, the cost of recuperating and recycling is much higher than continuing to extract and process minerals. At hand is a lot of material available on which how metals can be recycled and why others aren’t.
• To find out new areas of minerals, one can always do innovative explorations for finding out the locations with the help of latest technology. In case of the India sea floor, explora¬tion and mining may yield good dividend.
• To reduce transport cost, processing plants should invariably be coated in mining areas. For weighty materials like coal, it is better to convert it into coking coal or in electricity near the pit heads.
• People can conserve mineral resources by utilizing renewable resources. For example, using hydroelectricity and solar power as sources of energy may conserve mineral resources such as coal.
• There is a great scope for the expansion of several mineral-based industries which open the new vista for economic development.
• Mineral resources may also be conserved through recycling. A good example is recycling of scrap metal.
• One should make use of new technological methods of mining. Training of miners can be very helpful in conserving mineral resources by ensuring minimal wastage during the mining. For e.g. minerals include iron, oil, copper, salt, gold and lead.
• Substitution, one of the important way to conserve some minerals. One can substitute plentiful resources for scarce ones. Mineral resources that require a small amount of power during refining, such as aluminium, should be recycled.
• We know that refining activities and mining always have negative effects on the environment. It includes the destruction of habitat land, air and water pollution. These negative impacts can be minimized through the conservation of mineral resources.
• International relations suffers between nations because of mineral resources. The nations, where mineral resources have been discovered, financial prudence have been improved expressively. For example, Africa and UAE are the oil-producing countries which are well-thought-out rich. The main reason is the revenues generated from oil and its products.