(i) Minerals are important for the development of a country. Various substances manufactured from minerals industry and agriculture depend on them.
(ii) Minerals are already in short supply and their consumption is so fast. We must keep it in mind that the total volume of workable mineral deposits is an insignificant fraction, i.e. one per cent of the earth’s crust.
(iii) Minerals require millions of years to be created and concentrated. The geological processes of mineral formation are so slow that the rates of replenishment are infinitely small in comparison to present rates of consumption.
(iv) Mineral resources are finite and non-renewable continued extraction of ores leads to increasing costs as mineral extraction comes from greater depths along with the decrease in quality.
It has therefore, become essential to conserve minerals.
