Question

Question #1. Domestic mine production of copper in 2009 declined by about 9% to 1.2 million tons and its value fell to about $6.2 billion. The principal mining States, in descending order of production— Arizona, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, and Montana—accounted for more than 99% of domestic production; copper also was recovered at mines in Idaho and Missouri. Although copper was recovered at 29 mines operating in the United States, 20 mines accounted for about 99% of production. Recent assessments of copper resources indicated 550 million tons of copper remaining in identified and undiscovered resources in the United States8 and 1.3 billion tons of copper in discovered, mined, and undiscovered resources in the Andes Mountains of South America.9 A preliminary assessment indicates that global land-based resources exceed 3 billion tons. Deep-sea nodules were estimated to contain 700 million tons of copper.

Given: The reserve base as of 2009 was 3 billion Metric ton World’s population 7.5 billion Worldwide 10 % of copper is recycled

a) Compute the global sustainable limiting rate of copper consumption -50 year and for 100 years

b) The United States’ copper consumption in 2012 was 1,760,000 Metric tons for population of 314 million people.

Did the United States exceed its global allocation of copper per person?

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Answer 1

Below is the excel model with details on the solution.