Book Review: Mineral Resources, Economics and the Environment, 2nd edition by Stephen E. Kesler and Adam C. Simon

Abstract

Book Review: Mineral Resources, Economics and the Environment, 2nd edition. By Stephen E. Kesler, Adam C. Simon. (2016) Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 9781107074910, 446 p. $89.99 (available as e-book). The second edition of Mineral Resources, Economics and the Environment by Stephen E. Kesler and Adam C. Simon is a welcome update and expansion of the 1994 (first) edition by S.E. Kesler. As a teacher and researcher of both environmental geochemistry and geochemistry of hydrothermal ore deposits, I used the first edition of this book as a resource in my graduate-level class called “Mineral Resources and the Environment.” Although the book is written at a level consistent with first to second year undergraduate science students in geology and mineralogy, it could and should have a broad appeal and uses for upper level undergrads and graduate students in other fields of science, engineering, business, law, and even liberal arts. Like all businesses, extractive mineral resource companies (e.g., mining and hydrocarbon extraction) need to be profitable to remain viable. Exploration for new mineral resources is an expensive proposition and the time between the discovery of a valuable deposit and its ultimate extraction is increasing worldwide, most notably in the U.S.A. As a result, and because “time is money,” the cost of finding and then producing new mineral resources is increasing. In addition to the expense of …