MINING RESOURCES THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
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Early weapons from metals |
Mineral resources can change the course of history.
When a resource is needed, a country will "stop" everything to
get that product. In wars, the invasion of neighboring countries is
usually to gain their resources. The steel industry during World War II
was converted totally to the war effort. Sometimes the impact of that commodity
is itself, the cause of wars and the beginning of conflicts that span
over centuries.
Gold is a mineral resource that shaped humans’ idea of wealth. The
Bronze Age began when they discovered that heating copper with tin
created a useful metal. Extraction of iron from different mineral ores
created a metal that could make vehicles, buildings, and weapons. Salt
is a mineral resource that caused major wars for the very rights to use
this simple, but important product.
The atomic bomb uses uranium, which is mined. Uranium only
became valuable since the explosion of the first atomic bomb in 1945,
during World War II. Today, most of the world's uranium is for peaceful
uses, especially to generate electricity in nuclear power stations. A
controlled atomic process produces heat, which converts water to steam
to drive the turbines which generate electricity.
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Uranium ore from Australia
Atomic Bomb in World War II
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