Why do minerals need especially rational use?

Mineral resources belong to the category of exhaustible natural resources. Natural processes that lead to their formation proceed very slowly or are absent altogether in the modern era. Meanwhile, with an increase in the population, the extraction of minerals from the earth’s crust increases. As a result, many deposits were depleted. We have to develop mineral reserves located in areas with extreme natural conditions, in areas remote from the places where people live. Over time, when extracting ores, it will be necessary to use more and more poor ores, to process more waste rock. All this leads to an increase in the cost of extracting raw materials. In addition, environmental problems arise during the extraction of raw materials.