Minerals, metals and sustainability : meeting future material needs / W.J. Rankin.

"A Balkema Book."--Cover.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Materials and materials cycle : Natural resources ; Materials, goods and services ; The material groups ; The materials cycle ; The recyclability of materials ; Quantifying the materials cycle -- An introduction to Earth : The crust ; The hydrosphere and biosphere ; Some implications of the basic laws of science ; The biogeochemical cycles -- An introduction to sustainability : The environmental context ; A brief history of the idea of sustainability ; The concepts of sustainable development and sustainability ; Sustainability frameworks ; A model of sustainability -- Mineral resources : Formation of the earth ; The geological time scale ; Formation of the crust ; Minerals and rocks ; Mineral deposits ; Resources and reserves ; Extracting value from the crust -- The minerals industry : Mineral commodities ; How mineral commodities are traded ; The economic value of mineral commodities ; The mining project cycle ; The nature of the minerals industry ; The economic and social impacts of mining ; The minerals industry and sustainable development -- Producing ores and concentrates : Extracting rock from the crust ; Beneficiating mined material ; Examples of mineral beneficiation flowsheets -- Producing metals and manufactured mineral products : Theoretical considerations ; Metals ; Cement and concrete ; Class ; Mineral fertilisers ; Commodity ceramics -- Energy consumption in primary production : Direct and indirect energy and gross energy requirement ; Embodied energy ; Embodied energy and global warming potential ; The effect of declining ore grade and liberation size on energy consumption ; The lower limits of energy consumption ; Energy sustainability indicators and reporting -- The role of water in primary production : Global water resources ; Water in the minerals industry ; The embodied water content of metals ; Water sustainability indicators and reporting -- Wastes from primary production : Wastes and their origin ; Solid wastes ; Liquid wastes ; Gaseous wastes ; The impact of wastes on humans and the environment ; The international regulation of wastes.

Management of wastes from primary production : Management of solid wastes ; Management of liquid wastes ; Gaseous wastes ; Waste, effluent and emission sustainability indicators -- Secondary materials and recycling : Options for end-of-life products ; Drivers of recycling, reuse and remanufacturing ; The benefits and limitations of recycling ; Recycling terminology ; Recovery, recycling and return rates for common materials ; The energy required for recycling ; The effect of recycling on resource life ; Recycling materials from simple products ; Design for the environment -- The future availability of minerals and metals : The determinants of long-term supply ; Potential sources of minerals ; Crustal resources ; Resources in seawater ; Resources on the seabed -- The future demand for minerals and metals : The determinants of long-term demand ; Projections of the demand for mineral commodities ; Materials and technological substitution ; Dematerialisation ; The IPAT equation -- Towards zero waste : The waste hierarchy ; Reducing and eliminating wastes ; Cleaner production ; Wastes as raw materials ; Waste reduction through process re-engineering ; Industrial ecology ; Making it happen -- Towards sustainability : Closing the materials cycle ; Market- and policy-based approaches to transitioning to sustainability ; What does the future hold? -- Appendix I.A note on units and quantities : International system of units ; Scientific notation, significant figures and order of magnitude -- Appendix II. A review of some important scientific concepts : The nature of matter ; Conservation of matter ; Energy, heat and the law of thermodynamics ; Electromagnetic radiation ; Heat transfer -- Appendix III. GRI Sustainability Indicators -- Appendix IV. Processing routes for extraction of common metals from their ores -- The periodic table.

Examines the role of minerals in modern society and the implications of sustainable development for the minerals industry.