Mineral resources, not synthetically producible in human time frames, are fixed in the earth. As each is mined, less supply remains, suggesting that cost and, thus, price must increase as production cumulates.
Yet, for virtually all minerals, the opposite seems to be true: As more is mined, more is discovered to be mined. Prices and costs do not inexorably rise. What was high-cost yesterday has become lower-cost, undercutting the perennial complaint that “the easy stuff has been found.” Overall, there seems to be little difference between minerals and general goods and services.
The mineral paradox is explainable if we recognize that human ingenuity in market settings is the ultimate resource, as Julian Simon stated. Entrepreneurial discovery is open-ended. Applied to minerals, resourceship can and does find supply that, before, no one knew existed—or that no one considered exploitable. But incentives and, thus, institutions can make all the difference between potential and plenty.
The Earth’s crust is really, really thick and we have barely scratched it. The resources the Earth holds are effectively, for us anyway, infinite. Just like water.
“Mineral resources, … are fixed in the earth.”
That is a pretty bold assumption and probably not defensible.
Our ultimate resource is creativity and ingenuity. And that is maximized in a free society where people are able to enjoy the maximum benefits from their discoveries and hard work. Wealth is not a zero-sum game and this is easy to prove.