The Minerals Education Coalition (MEC) of SME has released the iconic “Minerals Baby” for 2016 that reflects an increase of more than 15,000 pounds per capita usage when compared with the previous year’s statistics. Americans will need more than three million pounds of minerals in their lifetime.
The Minerals Baby emphasizes the dependence that every American has on the mining industry. Using information provided by USGS, the National Mining Association, the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the U.S. Census Bureau and other sources, MEC calculated the annual pounds of mined resources used per capita in 2015 as 39,660. With the average life expectancy of 78.8 years, the average American will need 3.125 million pounds of resources to provide the products and materials they will depend upon in their lifetime. Click here to download the graphic.
