Stephen Kesler, professor emeritus in LSA's Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, is a co-author of the paper published in the journal's April 2017 issue. His team's research argues that resources can still be discovered and mined for thousands of years into the future. Their research opposes conventional wisdom, which says that the Earth's mineral supply may last only 30 more years. The authors contend that a large supply of important minerals remains on Earth, but those minerals are harder to find and extract due to their locations.

"The report challenges the widely held view that supplies of minerals to support our standard of living will last only 20 to 30 years," says Kesler. "Our contention is that the supply is likely to last thousands of years if we can find the deposits and mine them. This will depend not only on the abilities of geologists, but also the will of society to accept the challenge to mine safely and cleanly."

 

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