What ores are considered to be non-renewable resources?

Question

What ores are considered to be non-renewable resources?

Answer 1

Every ore deposit is a non-renewable resource. Having said that it is the job of technology to make the price of a metal competitive, affordable. Initially when not much in demand the technology of mining it, extraction needs to pick up bringing its price down. Later demand may push up its price and the extra expenditure for adding to its supply may become unaffordable, making it appear non-renewable. A stage will come when a particular metal or more metals may have to be recycled as the quantum of it is fixed in nature.

Water as consumable is no exception. So far as Sun is renewing it by sucking it from oceans, forming clouds and precipitating it in the form of rains, man need not pay his attention there. He has immense quantity of unusable water of seas ("Water, water everywhere | not a drop to drink") as an alternative!.

in particular Aluminum recycling is picking up as the Electric power input, the most essential raw ingredient in its production is becoming scarce faster. Copper ore is becoming scarcer partly for same reason, against rising demand. Metals like Silicon and Calcium (even Iron) is widespread on Earth but are very difficult to extract, hence can be termed non-renewable. There are other metals not much in demand but might move in importance as alternatives to the ones that are getting priced out. Only technology separating it from reaching the market. Thorium as an alternative to Uranium is one such.

However, if we go by the definition of non-renewable resources to mean Coal and Oil which are consumed without trace and cannot be replaced, none of the metals are so in that narrow sense. Economics has a habit of bending 'semantics' to suit its purpose.

Answer 2

Short Answer: All of them