There is growing concern about the decline of the ore grade in mines and the increased energy usage for processing and refining metals. In the limit, where no concentrated deposits exist, minerals must be obtained from bare rock. A method for quantitatively assessing the "free bonus" granted by...

The exergy assessment of the mineral capital on Earth has been usually calculated as the minimum and actual exergy required for replacing the minerals in composition, concentration and quantity from a completely degraded state where all resources have been extracted and dispersed to the...

The second law of thermodynamics and, specifically, exergy analysis have been traditionally used for the assessment and optimization of energy systems. Nevertheless, as shown in this paper, exergy could also constitute a powerful tool for the evaluation of mineral commodities. That said, new or...