3 ms·

According to that, we should be just about out of antimony by now. Yet somehow the market for drugs and batteries still seems to be humming along. 2/10 fear por

• xyzzyz 7y ago
  Even better is only 80 years for aluminum, the third most common mineral in Earth's crust, constituting 8% of its weight. What an absurd alarmism.
  • Mirioron 7y ago
    Even if we can't get more. It's not like we're using it in a nuclear reaction that turns aluminium into something else. The aluminium is still there.
  • velosol 7y ago
    Not to mention how incredibly recyclable it is. In the US alone aluminum is made from scrap >30% percent of the time [1]. [1]: https://www.usgs.gov/centers/nmic/aluminum-statistics-and-information https://www.usgs.gov/centers/nmic/aluminum-statistics-and-in... (click on an annual PDF).
    • dredmorbius 7y ago
      And after 4 generations, less than 1% of the original material remains. percent remaining = 100 * (r^generations)) Where r is expressed as a decimal 0 <= r <=1. Even at 90% recovery, over 90% of the original material is lost after 22 generations. The highest recycling rate of any material in the US is lead (mostly from auto batteries). The USGS reports that rate as ~70%, though this may be the amount of recycled material in new production.