Raw Materials and Metal Ages: Production to Scarcity

Material Sourcing and Location

Location of Raw Materials and Manufacturing

Most materials are produced in factories that transform raw materials, often located in industrialized nations. The specific locations of manufactured materials are typically documented in specialty catalogs.

Material Production and Extraction

The description of materials often depends on their origin. Materials obtained through mining are removed from the earth and separated from surrounding rock. The valuable part is called the ore, and the unwanted surplus material is known as gangue.

Two Stages of Mineral Processing:

1. Melting: The materials are heated until they reach their melting point.
2. Shaping and Solidification: The molten material is shaped and allowed to cool to solidify.

Global Consumption Trends

The primary challenge regarding consumption stems from the continued development and resource depletion in industrialized countries, coupled with the increasing demand from emerging nations. This trend leads to significantly increased consumption across all material types.

Control and Distribution of Natural Resources

Natural resources include oil, natural gas, fish stocks, and minerals obtained through mining. Raw materials are typically much less expensive than the technologically processed materials derived from them.

Resource distribution is highly uneven. A country might have abundant marble but lack oil, or possess copper but not silk. This disparity creates significant commodity distribution challenges.

Challenges of Resource Scarcity

The following factors contribute to resource scarcity:

• Rapid and steady population growth necessitates increased food production.
• Metals are obtained from minerals whose reserves are inherently finite.
• Wood resources require significant time for natural renewal.
• Freshwater is increasingly scarce due to heavy global demand.

Raw Materials Versus Processed Assets

Raw materials are substances found naturally. However, it is rarely possible to use these materials in their natural state.

In most cases, raw materials are processed into useful materials. The resulting processed materials are often referred to as fixed assets, such as a table manufactured from wood.

The Bronze Age: Copper and Tin Alloys

During the Bronze Age, copper ore was melted in contact with charcoal, producing pure copper metal. This led to the discovery of a new material—bronze—which is rarely found in pure form in nature.

Bronze could be shaped by hammering and was used to create tools like axes, swords, and arrowheads. While not as sharp as stone tools, bronze items were less fragile, could be produced larger, and took many different forms.

The properties of copper were later improved by adding tin. Key advantages of bronze include its lower melting temperature and superior tenacity compared to pure copper.

The Iron Age: Abundance and Tenacity

Iron is the most abundant metal on Earth. The transition to the Iron Age took time because early furnaces could not reach the high temperatures required to properly smelt iron ore.

The initial smelting process created an impure, spongy metal (known as bloom). This compound was repeatedly hammered while hot, forcing the impurities (slag) out through the pores, resulting in compacted iron.

Iron quickly surpassed bronze due to its greater abundance and superior tenacity.