Mineral Resources Library
Sustainable mineral use is shaped less by absolute scarcity than by the choices society makes: how we govern access, foster technological innovation, expand recycling, and limit dispersion over time. We are not about to run out.
Every generation re-learns this. From Ricardo’s theory of value and rent through Hotelling’s rule on optimal extraction, thinking on natural resources regularly rediscovers what makes mineral economics distinctive.
The evolution of Life Cycle Assessment from estimates of global depletion to metrics of stocks, access, and dissipative losses is a recent example. This Library is intended to centralise key references behind that important, ongoing shift.
Year | Paper |
1817 | Ricardo D (1817) On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation : https://www.econlib.org/library/Ricardo/ricP.html |
1914 | Gray, L. C. (1914). Rent under the assumption of exhaustibility. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 28(3), 466–489. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1884984?seq=1 |
1931 | Hotelling H (1931) The Economics of Exhaustible Resources. Journal of Political Economy 39:137–175: |
1974 | Solow, R. M. (1974). The economics of resources or the resources of economics. The American Economic Review, 64(2), 1–14: https://www.uvm.edu/~jfarley/237/solow%20e%20of%20r.pdf |
2001 | Tilton, J. E. (2001). Depletion and the long-run availability of mineral commodities (MMSD Report No. 14). International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). https://www.iied.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/migrate/G01035.pdf |
2002 | International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). Breaking New Ground: The Report of the Mining, Minerals, and Sustainable Development Project; Earthscan Publications Ltd.: London, UK, 2002 : https://www.iied.org/9084iied |
2002 | Van Oers L, de Koning A, Guinee J, Huppes G (2002) Abiotic Resource Depletion in LCA. Amsterdam : https://web.universiteitleiden.nl/cml/ssp/projects/lca2/report_abiotic_depletion_web.pdf |
2009 | Rosenau-Tornow D, Buchholz P, Riemann A, Wagner M (2009) Assessing the long-term supply risks for mineral raw materials—a combined evaluation of past and future trends. Resources Policy 34:161–175. |
2011 | Berger, M., Finkbeiner, M. Correlation analysis of life cycle impact assessment indicators measuring resource use. Int J Life Cycle Assess 16, 74–81 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-010-0237-7 |
2011 | Buijs, B., & Sievers, H. (2011). Resource security risks in perspective: Complexity and nuance (CIEP–BGR Briefing Paper). Clingendael International Energy Programme. https://ciep.energy/media/pdf/uploads/Resource_security_risks.pdf |
2011 | Crowson, P.C.F. Mineral reserves and future minerals availability. Miner Econ 24, 1–6 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13563-011-0002-9 |
2011 | Graedel, T. E., Barr, R., Cordier, D., Enriquez, M., Hagelüken, C., Hammond, N. Q., Kesler, S., Mudd, G., Nassar, N., Peacey, J., Reck, B. K., Robb, L., Skinner, B., Turnbull, I., Ventura Santos, R., & Wall, F. (2011). Estimating long‑run geological stocks of metals (Working Paper, April 6, 2011). UNEP International Panel on Sustainable Resource Management, Working Group on Geological Stocks of Metals. https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/10910602/estimating-long-run-geological-stocks-of-metals-unep |
2011 | West, J. Decreasing metal ore grades: Are They Really Being Driven by the Depletion of High-Grade Deposits? J. Ind. Ecol. 2011, 15, 165–168 : https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1530-9290.2011.00334.x |
2013 | European Commission. (2013). L. Mancini, C. De Camillis, & D. Pennington (Eds.), Security of supply and scarcity of raw materials: Towards a methodological framework for sustainability assessment. Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability. Publications Office of the European Union. https://eplca.jrc.ec.europa.eu/uploads/RawMat-scarcity-of-raw-materials.pdf |
2013 | Humphreys, D. Long-run availability of mineral commodities. Miner Econ 26, 1–11 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13563-013-0033-5 |
2013 | Johnson KM, Hammarstrom JM, Zientek ML, Dicken CL (2013), Estimate of undiscovered copper resources of the world, 2013: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2014–3004, 3 p |
2016 | Kesler, S. E., & Simon, A. C. (2016). Mineral resources, economics and the environment (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. : https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/192747 |
2016 | Drielsma, J. A., Russell-Vaccari, A. J., Drnek, ... & Perez Simbor, L. (2016). Mineral resources in life cycle impact assessment—defining the path forward. International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 21(1), 85–105. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-015-0991-7 |
2016 | Drielsma, J. A., Allington, R., Brady, … & Weihed, P. (2016). Abiotic raw-materials in life cycle impact assessments: An emerging consensus across disciplines. Resources, 5(1), 12. https://doi.org/10.3390/resources5010012 |
2016 | Van Oers, L., & Guinée, J. (2016). The abiotic depletion potential: Background, updates, and future. Resources, 5(1), 16. https://doi.org/10.3390/resources5010016 |
2017 | Sonderegger, T., Dewulf, J., Fantke, P. et al. Towards harmonizing natural resources as an area of protection in life cycle impact assessment. Int J Life Cycle Assess 22, 1912–1927 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-017-1297-8 |
2017 | Northey, S. A., Mudd, G. M., & Werner, T. T. (2017). Unresolved complexity in assessments of mineral resource depletion and availability. Natural Resources Research, 27(2), 241–255. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11053-017-9352-5 |
2018 | Schulze, R., Guinée, J., Dewulf, J., Alvarenga, R., & Drielsma, J. (2018). SUPRIM workshop report (Deliverable D2.13): Metal and mineral resources in LCIA—“What’s the problem?” Leiden University. https://old.eitrawmaterials.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/SUPRIM-workshop-report-D2.13.pdf |
2019 | Alvarenga, R. A. F., Dewulf, J., Guinée, J., Schulze, R., Weihed, P., et al. (2019). Towards product‑oriented sustainability in the (primary) metal supply sector. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 145, 40–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.02.018 |
2019 | Ericsson, M., Drielsma, J., Humphreys, … & Weihed, P. (2019). Why current assessments of ‘future efforts’ are no basis for establishing policies on material use—a response to research on ore grades. Mineral Economics, 32(1), 111–121. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13563-019-00175-6 |
2019 | Schmidt, M. (2019). Scarcity and Environmental Impact of Mineral Resources—An Old and Never-Ending Discussion. Resources, 8(1), 2. https://doi.org/10.3390/resources8010002 |
2020 | van Oers, L., Guinée, J.B. & Heijungs, R. Abiotic resource depletion potentials (ADPs) for elements revisited—updating ultimate reserve estimates and introducing time series for production data. Int J Life Cycle Assess 25, 294–308 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-019-01683-x |
2020 | Schulze, R., Guinée, J., van Oers, L., Alvarenga, R., & Dewulf, J. (2020). Abiotic resource use in life cycle impact assessment—Part I: Towards a common perspective. Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 154, 104596. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.104596 |
2020 | Schulze, R., Guinée, J. B., van Oers, L., Alvarenga, R. A. F., & Dewulf, J. (2020). Abiotic resource use in life cycle impact assessment—Part II: Linking perspectives and modelling concepts. Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 155, 104595. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.104595 |
2020 | Sonderegger, T., Berger, M., Alvarenga, … & Young, S. B. (2020). Mineral resources in life cycle impact assessment—Part I: A critical review of existing methods. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 25(4), 784–797. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-020-01736-6 |
2020 | Berger, M., Sonderegger, T., Alvarenga, R. et al. Mineral resources in life cycle impact assessment: |
2020 | van Oers, L. F. C. M., Guinée, J. B., Heijungs, R., Schulze, R. K., Alvarenga, R. A. F., Dewulf, J., Drielsma, J., Sanjuan‑Delmás, D., Kampmann, T. C., Bark, G., … Escobar Torres, J. M. E. (2020). Top‑down characterization of resource use in LCA: From problem definition of resource use to operational characterization factors for dissipation of elements to the environment. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 25(11), 2255–2273. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-020-01819-4 |
2020 | Beylot, A., Ardente, F., Sala, S., & Zampori, L. (2020). Accounting for the dissipation of abiotic resources in LCA: Status, key challenges and potential way forward. Resources, Conservation & Recycling, 157, 104748. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.104748 |
2021 | Arvidsson, R., Ljunggren Söderman, M., Sandén, B. A., Nordelöf, A., André, H., & Tillman, A.-M. (2020). A crustal scarcity indicator for long-term global elemental resource assessment in LCA. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 25(9), 1805–1817. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-020-01781-1 |
2021 | Beylot, A., Ardente, F., Sala, S., & Zampori, L. (2021). Mineral resource dissipation in life cycle inventories. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 26, 497–510. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-021-01875-4 |
2021 | Scholz, R. W., & Wellmer, F. W. (2021). Endangering the integrity of science by misusing unvalidated models and untested assumptions as facts: General considerations and the mineral and phosphorus scarcity fallacy. Sustainability Science, 16(6), 2069–2086. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-021-01006-w |
2022 | Sanjuan‑Delmás, D., Alvarenga, R. A. F., Lindblom, M., Kampmann, T. C., van Oers, L., Guinée, J. B., & Dewulf, J. (2022). Environmental assessment of copper production in Europe: An LCA case study from Sweden conducted using two conventional software‑database setups. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 27, 255–266. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-021-02018-5 |
2022 | Owsianiak M, van Oers L, Drielsma J, Laurent A, Hauschild MZ. Identification of dissipative emissions for improved assessment of metal resources in life cycle assessment. J Ind Ecol. 2022; 26: 406–420. https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.13209 |
2024 | Simoni, M. U., Drielsma, J. A., Ericsson, M., Gunn, A. G., Heiberg, S., Heldal, T. A., Nassar, N. T., Petavratzi, E., & Müller, D. B. (2024). Mass-Balance-Consistent Geological Stock Accounting: A New Approach toward Sustainable Management of Mineral Resources. Environmental Science & Technology, 58(2), 971–990. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c03088 |
2024 | Berger, M. Dissipation-based life cycle impact assessment of mineral resource use—a review, case study, and implications for the product environmental footprint. Int J Life Cycle Assess 29, 1177–1189 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-024-02318-6 |
2024 | van Oers, L. F. C. M., Guinée, J. B., Heijungs, R., Schulze, R., Alvarenga, R. A. F., Dewulf, J., & Drielsma, J. (2024). Top‑down characterization of resource use in LCA: From problem definition of resource use to operational characterization factors for resource inaccessibility of elements in a short‑term time perspective. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 29(7), 1315–1338. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11367-024-02297-8 |
2025 | Raymond, K. E., O’Kane, M., Logsdon, M., Gopalapillai, Y., Hewitt, K., Drielsma, J., & Meili, D. (2025). Basis for |
2025 | Dudka, K. M., Hauschild, M. Z., & Owsianiak, M. (2025). Evaluating mineral resource boundaries for application in absolute environmental sustainability assessment. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 219, 108247. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2025.108247 |
logo by edgedesign-studio.com
