Questions IV, Introduction
1. What is a geologic resource, according to the discussion in Geologic Resources?
2. Name one renewable and one non-renewable geologic resource.
Renewable examples: water, carbonate sand, salts in the ocean, volcanic rock, soil,
3. If you knew the current rate of production of a mineral resource from a mine, what
additional information would you need to determine the remaining lifetime of the mine
(number of years until it is exhausted)?
Simply put, the remaining lifetime = reserves (tons) / rate (tons per year) = time (years). In
4. According to Brobst and Pratt (Figure IV.1), what is the difference(s) between
hypothetical and speculative mineral resources?
5. Would a mining company be likely to extract conditional resources? Explain.
No. The resources are subeconomic and would not be profitable in the long run. The
6. If you owned a gold mine that could produce gold at a profit only if the price were equal
to or greater than $800/ounce, what would happen to your reserves if the price went to $600
per ounce?
Some of your reserves would become conditional resources (subeconomic) and the mine
7. What are the five Cornucopian Premises, according to Preston Cloud?
1) cheap inexhaustible nuclear energy, 2) economics as the major factor in resource
8. Hubbert, in 1956, forecast the peak in U.S. oil production would occur in 1970 and it
did. Assuming the total world oil resource is 2,100 billion barrels, when should we peak
in world oil production, according to Hubbert (Figure IV.2)?
In Figure IV.2, the production rate is given in billion barrels per year. If we were
producing a steady 5 billion barrels per year, how much would we use in 25 years?
10. Using the literature or other sources, determine the current daily and annual rates of
oil production for the world.
Answer will depend on the current date, source, and production vs. consumption data. In
11. What impact will “peak oil” have on the U.S.?
Individual answers will depend on references cited, creativity, and the current state of
understanding of the role of geologic resources in sustainability. Peak oil is the stage in
