21세기 광물자원과 우리의 환경

As in the past, we are concerned today with the magnitudes of mineral resources and the adequacy of these resources to meet future needs. In looking at global resource issues, we should consider the need for the resource, its supply, and the environmental consequences of using it. The need for a resource can become a resource dependency, specially as the global population expands and each of us becomes Increasingly dependent upon hundreds of natural materials. Therefore, our great mineral consumption makes the human population a true “Geologic Force”, which will be even more significant in the future when the global population is projected to reach alarming proportions. Although our supplies of mineral resources probably will be sufficient for the 21st century, the uneven distribution of minerals in the Earth's crust almost certainly will continue to be a major problem. The most likely result will be major shifts in both prices and sources of supply of many mineral resources. As for energy resources, we must avoid an obsessive dependency on one fuel and expand instead to other energy resources. Finally, because the use of resources affects the environment, we need to focus on resource exploitation and global pollution, particularly in regard to ground water and arable land. We must manage our resources so as to be in balance with our environment. And the accelerated industrialization of South Korean economy over the last three decades has resulted in the mass consumption of mineral commodities. South Korea has around 50 useful mineral commodities for the mineral industry, among 330 kinds of minerals described. The component ratio of the mining industry sector of the gross national production(GNP) in South Korea dropped from 1.2% in 1971 to 0.34% in 1997 due to the rapid growth of other industries in the country. During the period from 1971 to 1997, the average growth rate of mineral consumption in South Korea was 9.13% yearly and that of GMP per capita was 14.97%. The mineral consumptions per capita showed a continual increase during the last 30 years as follows(parenthesis: GW per capita); 0.99 metric tons in 1997($289), 3.83 metric tons in 1989($5, 210), 6.11 metric tons in 1995 ($10, 037), and 6.66 metric tons in 1997($9, 511). The total amount of mineral consumption in South Korea was 33 million tons of 32 mineral commodities in 1971, and 306 million metric tons of 47 mineral commodities in 1997.