Turning Cities into Gold Mines

For the most part, cities are currently the biggest consumers of natural and processed resources. But what if they could be turned into the largest sources of such resources? Certain chemicals and minerals may now be found in ampler supplies in cities than in deposits located elsewhere.

Changing the way we think about resources in our modern society is paramount if we want to move forward. Our approach to exploiting Earth's natural riches is wrong and wasteful, experts agree.

Throughout the world, shortages are being felt, especially when it comes to rare-Earth elements (REE), a group of 17 chemicals that are currently used in every high-tech gadget and devices in the world.

China is the largest producer, covering nearly 95 percent of the global market, but it is currently using its dominance to impose its agenda over the United States and Japan, as well as the European Union.

A few months ago, it halted exports to these areas of the world, endangering stocks, as well as the production of everything from mobile phones to superconducting magnets.

Similarly, high demand for chemicals such as coltan led to merciless exploitation of civilians by the warlords of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). At the same time, Wikileaks revealed that the US was condoning such actions.

In the list of Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources the US considered absolutely necessary, these African mines and their battery-grade minerals are paramount, even at the price of blood.

But this is where the new view comes in. Most of the devices and equipments containing REE, as well as a vast proportion of all other important resources make their way into cities.

In this sense, the largest metropolises are also the largest and most accessible mines. They are located above the surface, and are tremendously rich in copper, gold and platinum.

Usually, most of these resources end up in the waste dump after a life span of only a few years. A new field of exploitation, called urban mining, has already appeared to recover these chemicals and minerals.

However, this quest is currently conducted under the drive of an ecological, not economical imperative. A switch in this focus might see our dependency on new resources dropping, Our World reports.

In turn, this would enable the introduction of more sustainable exploitation practices in mines and quarries around the world.