ESCI 23000. NATURAL MINERAL RESOURCES Natural mineral resources make modern life possible. Global demand for metals, economic minerals, and other Earth materials is rising, leaving Earth scientists to play an essential role in locating mineral resources and ensuring that they are developed in a safe and just way. This course explores how natural mineral resources are related to geologic processes. Topics include the geographic distribution of mineral resources and the processes involved in their formation, use, and extraction. We also investigate environmental impacts, relative availability in space and time, and potential for sustainability. Emphasis on optical, petrographic, geochemical methods. [MNS]