What happens when all of Australia is dug up & shipped to China?

[roland]

I was just thinking about us digging up all our minerals, fossil fuels, precious metals and sending it all off to China. What are we going to have left?

Plastic toys, obsolete electronics, heavy metal pollutants etc?

I wonder if what we are importing as a replacement for our dirt is adding anything to our country, or depleting it.

Will we end up being a wasteland?

Will Australia end up being like a lunar landscape, or are we so blessed as being "resource central" that many lifetimes won't even notice?

Sometimes I wonder why such companies like BHP and others have the right to scar the Australian landscape and to ship so many tonnes of Australia to other places in the world.

Don't get me wrong, I invest in companies that do such things, so in a way I am promoting such behaviour - but sometimes wonder if it is the right thing to do.....

 

[cuttlefish]

What are we going to have left?

great great great great grandkids

 

[Nyden]

great great great great grandkids

If we ended up using all polluting fossil fuels, we'd have a planet of smog & unbearable heat!


Well, I guess - look at it this way. Prior to there even being fossils, the planet was fine? The landscape will of course heal, over time.

Our 'wasteland' will come in handy, for solar collectors, & as a world-nuclear waste dumping site :

 

[roland]

great great great great grandkids

very deep response, glad you thought about it cuttlefish

 

[roland]

If we ended up using all polluting fossil fuels, we'd have a planet of smog & unbearable heat!

seems like we are well on the way Nyden - won't all that crap eventually settle and break back down into their original chemical elements?

 

[So_Cynical]

I think we are so lucky to have all those resources...imagine what Australia would be without those jobs and the money.

Last time I flew over Australia it was pretty much a wasteland anyway, once u get 3 or 4 hundred clicks from the coast its very unproductive land.

 

[Tristo]

The enormity of Australia, the rehabilitation programs that mines are forced to implement at their closure, and future technology are all factors you'll need to consider. Recycling is another.

"Shipping parts of Australia away" drives sentiment, but in the end, it's all just dirt. If it's sitting out there in the various deserts, and if we want to continue our lives as is, then we need to get it dug up and shipped out.

 

[roland]

I think we are so lucky to have all those resources...imagine what Australia would be without those jobs and the money.

Last time I flew over Australia it was pretty much a wasteland anyway, once u get 3 or 4 hundred clicks from the coast its very unproductive land.

and just maybe, what we are doing will reduce that to 1 or 2 hundred clicks????

 

[roland]

The enormity of Australia, the rehabilitation programs that mines are forced to implement at their closure, and future technology are all factors you'll need to consider. Recycling is another.

"Shipping parts of Australia away" drives sentiment, but in the end, it's all just dirt. If it's sitting out there in the various deserts, and if we want to continue our lives as is, then we need to get it dug out and shipped out.

great post Tristo - I'll need some time to think about what you have said - I'm not really very bright

 

[Nyden]

and just maybe, what we are doing will reduce that to 1 or 2 hundred clicks????

Start investing in midland property guys, you'll have beachfront houses in 300 years! Woo ... knew I'd get there soon enough :


I'm waiting until they figure out how to use transmutation (economically!) to turn other elements into gold, & the likes.

As far as I know, gold actually can be created, but the energy required to make even minute amounts far outweighs the expense of the actual gold.

So, watch out all you gold bugs!


And to repeat, Australia has a future purpose. World Nuclear waste dumping site :

 

[roland]

It's the usual story though, as a primary producer the profit margins tend to be less than a secondary producer.

China and others buy our dirt to make stuff that we buy back in manufactured products - there is some problem, we really need to take better control of our valuable resources

 

[cuttlefish]

very deep response, glad you thought about it cuttlefish

lol sorry roland though it is friday night and the odd glass of wine has left the bottle.

I have put thought into what you say at times - there have been quite a few times I've looked at the photo of the prospective exploration ground in a junior miners prospectus/cap raising doc and thought - wow they're going to ruin that place - what are you doing investing in these companies!? But most juniors drill a few holes and move on. There are some explorers that I'd have a serious dillemma about if they actually progress to mining.

 

[roland]

Start investing in midland property guys, you'll have beachfront houses in 300 years! Woo ... knew I'd get there soon enough :


I'm waiting until they figure out how to use transmutation (economically!) to turn other elements into gold, & the likes.

As far as I know, gold actually can be created, but the energy required to make even minute amounts far outweighs the expense of the actual gold.

So, watch out all you gold bugs!


And to repeat, Australia has a future purpose. World Nuclear waste dumping site :

Even Merlin nor Newton were not able to transmute chemicals into gold - and they were pretty smart guys!

 

[Nyden]

Even Merlin nor Newton were not able to transmute chemicals into gold - and they were pretty smart guys!

Knew I read it somewhere :

Nuclear experiments have successfully transmuted lead into gold, but the expense far exceeds any gain[1]. It would be easier to convert gold into lead via neutron capture and beta decay by leaving gold in a nuclear reactor for a long period of time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_transmutation

 

[roland]

lol sorry roland though it is friday night and the odd glass of wine has left the bottle.

I have put thought into what you say at times - there have been quite a few times I've looked at the photo of the prospective exploration ground in a junior miners prospectus/cap raising doc and thought - wow they're going to ruin that place - what are you doing investing in these companies!? But most juniors drill a few holes and move on. There are some explorers that I'd have a serious dillemma about if they actually progress to mining.

cool dude, I've just about finished my 17 litres of self carbonising Heiniken beer keg and moved on to the Jim Beam !!

ever been to mine site after the fact????

sort of looks like a lunar landscape

 

[Nyden]

cool dude, I've just about finished my 17 litres of self carbonising Heiniken beer keg and moved on to the Jim Beam !!

ever been to mine site after the fact????

sort of looks like a lunar landscape

Tonight???

 

[roland]

Knew I read it somewhere :



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_transmutation

maybe Zinifex can work it out too - would make our lead mines more attractive, the we could say suck eggs to AGM

 

[roland]

Tonight???

mmmm, actually I've been at the keg for a week, and the wife helps. Birthday pressy from last week, really cool - 17 litres and fits in the fridge!

 

[Nyden]

mmmm, actually I've been at the keg for a week, and the wife helps. Birthday pressy from last week, really cool - 17 litres and fits in the fridge!

Oh, I was going to say; call the bleeding ambulance! If you had consumed 17 litres of beer!

Still, 17 litres in 1 week?
That's on average 2.5litres of beer per day? :
(Oh, & happy birthday!)

maybe Zinifex can work it out too - would make our lead mines more attractive, the we could say suck eggs to AGM

Ha, yes it would take that kind of miracle to save it :

 

[roland]

Oh, I was going to say; call the bleeding ambulance! If you had consumed 17 litres of beer!

Still, 17 litres in 1 week?
That's on average 2.5litres of beer per day? :
(Oh, & happy birthday!)




Ha, yes it would take that kind of miracle to save it :

I did say that the wife was helping ... didn't I??

Nyden, you are a card - hard not to like you (in a funny kind of way)