Mineral depletion, 2003

This map shows the fall in the financial value of a territory’s mineral resources due to current extraction rates. Included here are gold, lead, zinc, iron, copper, nickel, silver, bauxite, and phosphate.

Data represent the year 2005.

Territories with the highest mineral depletion are Australia, Brazil, Chile and China. Australia is the largest producer of bauxite, Brazil of industrial diamonds, China of tungsten, and South Africa of platinum and gold.

Mineral extraction often causes environmental damage, itself a form of depletion. Territories that are small on this map may lack minerals or have used those worth extracting.