How many pounds of minerals are required by the average person in a year?
To maintain our standard of living, each person in the United States requires over 40,630 pounds of minerals each year:
- 10, 765 pounds of stone
- 7,254 pounds of sand and gravel
- 685 pounds of cement
- 148 pounds of clays
- 383 pounds of salt
- 275 pounds of iron ore
- 168 pounds of phosphate rock
- 35 pounds of soda ash
- 34 pounds of aluminum
- 12 pounds of copper
- 11 pounds of lead
- 6 pounds of zinc
- 5 pounds of manganese
- 25 pounds of other metals
- 584 pounds of other non-metals
PLUS:
- 956 gallons of petroleum
- 3,593 pounds of coal
- 101,338 cubic feet of natural gas
- 0.12 pounds of uranium
Source: Minerals Education Coalition, 2021
Learn more: Mineral Resources: Out of the ground...into our daily lives
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