Minerals/table
< Minerals
Mineral | Labor intensity (hours/tonne) |
Energy intensity (GJ/tonne) |
Global production (tonnes/year) |
Global reserves (tonnes) |
Global resources (tonnes) |
Note |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aluminium (Al) | ||||||
Cement | ||||||
Cobalt (Co) | ||||||
Copper (Cu) | ||||||
Graphite (C) | ||||||
Iron (Fe) | ||||||
Lithium (Li) | ||||||
Nickel (Ni) | ||||||
PGMs Platinum-group metals (Pt, Pd, Rh, Ir, Ru, Os) | ||||||
Sand | ||||||
Silver (Ag) | ||||||
Thorium (Th) | ||||||
Uranium (U) | The energy density of uranium is much higher, at 574699 GJ/tonne for conventional nuclear reactors, and 82099829 GJ/tonne as a theoretical maximum for breeder reactors. Uranium occurs in nature as a mix of two isotopes: U235 (0.7%) and U238 (99.3%). Conventional nuclear reactors can only make use of the U235 component. |