TMJC 2025 J1H2 C1 Lecture 7 Extractive Industries

1 WHAT IS A RESOURCE? A resource is anything that has a utility value. Natural resources refer to things with utility value that are derived from earth (atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere) and exist independently of human activities. WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT WAYS OF CLASSIFYING RESOURCES? Resources can be classified into 2 different categories (in this syllabus): Renewable Resources: Renewable resources are resources that are naturally renewed within a sufficiently short timespan to be of use to human society. 1. Refers to resources that can be depleted in the short run but can replace themselves in the long run e.g. water; fisheries; forestry 2. Some Renewable resources are more renewable than others and may always exist in relatively constant supply e.g. Solar; Wind; Tidal energy [These can also be seen as Renewable Energy Resources] Non-renewable resources Non-renewable resources are resources that have taken millions of years to form and so their availability is finite. There is no possibility of them being replenished on a timescale of relevance to human society. 3. Non-renewable resource (stock resource) • Refer to energy resources that exist in finite supply e.g. fossil fuels (Coal, Oil, Natural Gas) • Mineral resources that also exist in finite supply e.g. Gold, Silver, Lithium, Jade, Diamonds etc… Higher 2 (9173) Cluster 1: Development, Economy and Environment TMJC Cluster 1 Lecture 7 Natural Resources and Extractive Industries 2025

2 WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT WAYS OF CLASSIFYING RESOURCE AVAILABILITY? Reserves refer to the known and estimated amount of resources for future use. The concept of reserves is used most frequently for minerals or petroleum. Resource Availability (Rees, 1985) Types of resource Definition (must know) Example Proven Resource Deposits already discovered and known to be extractable under current demand, price and technological conditions. Extent is of a proven reserve is dynamic and dependent on: o Availability of the technology and skills to exploit the resource, o Level of demand, o Cost of production and processing, EG1: Oil is a proven resource which continues to be economically extractable at even greater depths. Today’s’ technology is able to recover resources ion geological and environmental conditions that were previously uneconomic. In the Deepwater Horizon drilling to a vertical depth of 10683m. EG2: Shale gas production, which relies on new technologies of drilling horizontal wells in shale rocks and hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) to release the natural gas trapped in shale deposits far below the ground at competitive cost. This has resulted in a dramatic surge in natural gas production in the U.S. Boundary between proven and conditional reserves is dynamic and bi- directional (meaning resources that change from conditional to proven reserves can, if conditions change, revert