For all our fears about running out of certain substances, the list of materials humankind has actually exhausted is surprisingly small - or at least, I think so. So I'm trying to draw up that list.
You mention the haber-Bosch process but what I always found fascinating is “in the 1920s, Haber searched exhaustively for a method to extract gold from sea water, and published a number of scientific papers on the subject. After years of research, he concluded that the concentration of gold dissolved in sea water was much lower than that reported by earlier researchers, and that gold extraction from sea water was uneconomic.”- Wikipedia
Also I read an article in the New Yorker about project goldfinger: “in the 1960s the USA government ran a secret project to look for gold in the oddest places: seawater, meteorites, plants, even deer antlers.”
Slight variation on the topic but this concept could extend to types of plants or animals being gathered/hunted to extinction. I was thinking of silphium (which I understand the Romans used for birth control) which has disappeared, as well as whales which came very close to extinction in the late 19th century. Admittedly not minerals in either case, but certainly material.
I think the Romans mined all the available purple porphyry from the one source in Egypt
thank you - will look into it
A material I can't find is called "politicians with integrity". Can you help with that?
You mention the haber-Bosch process but what I always found fascinating is “in the 1920s, Haber searched exhaustively for a method to extract gold from sea water, and published a number of scientific papers on the subject. After years of research, he concluded that the concentration of gold dissolved in sea water was much lower than that reported by earlier researchers, and that gold extraction from sea water was uneconomic.”- Wikipedia
Also I read an article in the New Yorker about project goldfinger: “in the 1960s the USA government ran a secret project to look for gold in the oddest places: seawater, meteorites, plants, even deer antlers.”
There is a mineral known as Blue John mined near Castleton in Derbyshire. I believe the supply is now exhausted.
Interesting thank you
Would low-background steel count? Not exhausted, but certainly a limited supply.
Thanks - good point. I actually did a post on low background steel a while back.
Pre-1945 steel is great because it spawned a black market of people dredging up old sunken ships just to grab hunks of iron.
What I don't know is whether they can melt the stuff again, or if they have to mill target shapes directly out of the sunken blocks?
Slight variation on the topic but this concept could extend to types of plants or animals being gathered/hunted to extinction. I was thinking of silphium (which I understand the Romans used for birth control) which has disappeared, as well as whales which came very close to extinction in the late 19th century. Admittedly not minerals in either case, but certainly material.
Good idea - thanks
Yeah, guano and whale oil were industries that went to hell when the supply ran low.
It’s entirely possible your earlier post is what made me think of it!