Primary Sources of Raw Materials

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Raw Materials and Circular Economy

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Primary Sources of Raw Materials

The minimum concentration of most raw materials that would make extraction profitable are typically several orders of magnitude higher than the average concentration within the Earth’s crust. Fortunately, geological processes in the mantle and crust can provide specific conditions that result in the enrichment of raw materials. Natural deposits of raw materials that are in large enough concentrations to be economically worthwhile to extract occur naturally throughout the Earth’s crust, but they are in discrete concentrations and must be found.

 

The processes that can concentrate materials include:

  • concentration within high temperature magmas and igneous intrusions
  • leaching of metals through hot hydrothermal-geothermal waters
  • advanced weathering in tropical climates
  • mechanical transport of materials resulting in separation of heavy minerals.