Mineral depletion, 2003

Source of the photo
http://www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=313
Author of the description
Gruiz Katalin

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.

 

 

Rank

Country

Value of ore

USD/capita/year

1

Australia

313

2

Chile

260

3

Mauritania

74

4

Papua New Guinea

41

5

Jamaica

33

6

Peru

33

7

Brazil

30

8

Sweden

29

9

Ireland

28

22

Rep. of  South Africa

25