Geol 1045 3/29/07 Stewarding Mineral Resources In Class • Stewarding Earth’s Resources Lecture • Browse Mineral Resource Websites Minerals Information Institute - http://www.mii.org USGS Minerals Information - http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/ Homework Objective: An important element in promoting stewardship of our earth resources is to become familiar with what earth resources are used to make everyday things. We will use manufacturing of a lightbulb to illustrate this point. Part I : Finding the Raw Materials Exercise: You are a environmentally conscientious entrepreneur who want to build a lightbulb factory in Minnesota. One of the most important decisions is to figure out what materials you need and where to get them. Cost is a function of distance and the country supplying the material. Third world countries provide cheaper prices, but are notorious for poor environmental standards in mining and low wages. (6 pts.) 1. Use the MII website to determine at least 12 earth materials that you will need to manufacture your lightbulb. Follow the links: “For Teachers” - “Dig a Little Deeper Series – Everyday Uses of Minerals” - “How many minerals does it take to make a lightbulb” 2. From the US Mineral Resource handouts and information on the MII and USGS websites, find 3 states &/or countries that can supply the material 3. Circle one of the suppliers you would choose and then and give your reason for choosing them. Things to consider are distance, labor costs, and environmental standards of the country. Raw Materials Potential Suppliers Reason 1. ______________ ________ ________ ________ _____________________________ 2. ______________ ________ ________ ________ _____________________________ 3. ______________ ________ ________ ________ _____________________________ 4. ______________ ________ ________ ________ _____________________________ 5. ______________ ________ ________ ________ _____________________________ 6. ______________ ________ ________ ________ _____________________________ 7. ______________ ________ ________ ________ _____________________________ 8. ______________ ________ ________ ________ _____________________________ 9. ______________ ________ ________ ________ _____________________________ 10. ______________ ________ ________ ________ _____________________________ 11. ______________ ________ ________ ________ _____________________________ 12. ______________ ________ ________ ________ _____________________________Part II: Digging Deeper Choose one of the raw materials listed above. Using the USGS and MII websites and the attached handouts, research the following information on this commodity. (4 pts) Commodity - ___________________________ Light Bulb Component - _____________________________________ Properties - ____________________________________________________________________ Common Uses - _________________________________________________________________ Geologic Occurrence - ___________________________________________________________ U.S. Suppliers (States) - __________________________________________________________ Principal Global Suppliers - _______________________________________________________ Imports (% of U.S. use) ________________________________________________________ Alternative Materials ____________________________________________________________ Other Interesting Information ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________