Extraction and you

So why do you need the extractive industry?

Why is it important to you?

Facts – Did you know that…?

• Every year nearly four tonnes of aggregates are needed per head of the population in the UK
  
• Anything metal, composites (plastic and fibreglass), ceramics, and glass are products of the extractive industry
  
• Renewable energy relies on the extractive industry for steel to make wind turbines and concrete for their towers
  
• Almost all foods are grown and produced with industrial minerals,
  
• In an average year the UK’s extractive industry provides the materials for the building of 180,000 new homes
• It requires up to 40 different mineral elements to make a mobile phone handset
• Drinking water and beer and wine are purified and clarified by filtering through minerals (limestone, lime salt and fluorite and perlite or diatomite respectively)
• Almost every sheet of paper that we use today was made with industrial minerals such as talc and kaolin

Think! How much do we rely on the extractive industry in the UK, and across the world?

How many cars are there?
How many miles of road and pavements are there?
How many mobiles, computers and televisions are sold each year?
How much food is needed?
How much drinking water is needed?
How much aggregate is needed for roads, new and repairs?

What would your life be like without the extractive industry?

Imagine life without…

• Buildings – houses, hospitals, police stations, schools, universities, shops, pubs, airports
• Transport – Cars, trains, boats, aeroplanes, bicycles
• Computers
• Drinking water
• Mobile phones
• Paper, including newspapers and magazines
• Playstations
• Roads, pavements, bridges
• Televisions

Think!

What would you be living in?
How would you get to school or college with no roads, pavements, bridges, underpasses, bicycles, cars, buses or trains?
What would your school or college be constructed from?
How would you learn of news without televisions, newspapers, computers or radios?
How would you contact people far away from you without mobile phones, paper and computers?

The extractive industry is important to each and every one of us for our everyday existence. Find out more at

what’s yours is mined!

Remember – if you can’t grow it, it has to be mined or recycled!