tin will disappear in 20 years

Tin is a chemical element, of group 14 in the periodic table, with symbol Sn (from the Latin stannum) and atomic number 50.

This metal is the ninth non-renewable resource set to disappear thanks to intensive exploitation by mankind.

Remaining workable deposits are estimated at 6.1 million tonnes.
Forget gold ,they will be making jewellery out of tin in a few years instead of solder due to scarcety .

June 2008: at current rates of production, 300,000 tonnes per year, deposits will last 20 years.

Extractable deposits of tin will therefore disappear for good in 2028.

This date is only a rough indication. Sources differ, and it could change with the evolution of our civilisation.

A third of all tin produced is used in welding and another third in the manufacture of tin-plate. It is also used in the chemicals industry and in various alloys.

Problems arising from its disappearance will start to make themselves felt well before this fateful date.

Of course, there will still be tin in the ground, but in extremely diluted form, rendering extraction impossible.

Even if, thanks to advances in technology, we find new deposits by digging deeper and deeper into the Earth’s crust, this will afford us only a few years’ reprieve and will not make a major impact on the situation.
Tin was created when a star exploded and the Sun and the Earth were formed from the debris, over five billion years ago.

You cannot produce it artificially and there is no substitute. The Moon and the asteroids do not contain the metal in an extractable form. And just imagine the energy it would take to bring some back from Mars or Venus!

There will still be recycling but demand, which will keep growing exponentially with the development of the emerging economies, will far outstrip supply.

China possesses 28% of known world reserves, Malaysia 17%, Indonesia 13%, Peru 12% and Brazil 9%.


To learn more about tin, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin



Translation Nicholas ROSE