Draft:Mining

Not to be confused with Bitcoin mining.

Extracting minerals from the Earth has an environmental footprint. This footprint has to be put in perspective - to be compared with basics like food and energy.^{[RESEARCH needed]}

Relevant facts

• Switching from fossil fuels to other energy sources might require greater amounts of rare minerals than ever used before. Other wikipages have more specific info on this.
• When you mine for rare metals, you have to dig up a lot more earth/rocks than you do for the same amount of oil. The metals are only a small fraction of the weight of the ore, whereas with oil it's just oil as-is.^{[citation needed]}

Research needed

• How much land does mining use?
• How much labor is involved in mining?
• How much energy does mining use?

These questions might seem too general, but they are key to putting mining's environmental-and-human footprint into perspective. Specifics can be expanded upon as needed.