The mining industry is going to have to get better at explaining to the public how the world works, and the role that resources plays in it.
It seems to me that the ancient Greeks understood more about mining and its critical role in society than our modern, so-called informed society. Today, with greater access to information and knowledge, our ignorance on how the world works seems to grow exponentially.
The ancient Greeks understood the vital role minerals play in nourishing our soils to support sustainable crops to feed the 8 billion or so of us now on the planet. Minerals also provide the building blocks for the shelter and accommodation that keep most of us dry and warm, and allow the urban infrastructure needed to minimise our footprints and protect the complex biodiversity in which we live.
Minerals are the building blocks for transport of people and goods across the world, and they provide materials that we use to purify the air we breathe, the water we drink and use, and the modern medicines and tools we have developed to support human health.
Between intense human activity and agriculture, as a species we take up 55 per cent of the earth’s surface to support and sustain ourselves.
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