"Maintaining the American standard of living required 7.1 billion tons of rocks and minerials last year to make the things we use and depend upon every day", says Nelsen Fugate, president of the Denver-based Mineral Information Institute (MII) in a new report on nationwide mineral use.

"Every year, nearly 4800 pounds of new minerals must be provided for every person in the United States to make the products we buy and  the various things we use", Says Fugate, " and for 300 million people in the U.S. expecting to live comfortably and affordably, mining has to occur somewhere."  Each year, MII calculates the annual and lifetime consumption of mineral and energy resources from information provided by the U.S. Geological Survey and other sources to show the dependence that  American's have on the mining industry.

MII claims we use minerials in almost everything we do.  There are 125 Million houses in the U.S. that require heating, cooling and lighting, and two million new housing units are buit every year with each needing a quarter a million pounds of minerals and metals.

The luxury and necessity to travel to our jobs, to school and numerous other reasons means each of us uses a share of the four million miles of roads that need to be built and maintained along with the 237 million motor vehicles that travel on these roads and contribute to our consumption of oil that averages three gallons per capita per day. (4/03/07  NSSA)

On an annual basis every person in the U.S. requires at least:

• 6.32 tons of crushed stone (12,464 lbs.)
• 4.86 tons of sand and gravel (9,718 lbs.)
• 1/2 ton of cement (965 lbs)

Other intresting facts:

• During the past 60 years, per capita consumption of aggregates has increased from 3.5 tons per year to over 10 metric tons annually - that is just over 22,000 lbs. for every man, woman, and child in America each year.
• Production of aggregates in the U.S. went from about 351 million metric  tons in 1940 to nearly 3 billion metric tons in 2005 valued to 17.4 billion.
• Every state, virtually every Congressional District and 70% of the nation's counties are home to an aggregate operation.
• And estimated 38,000 tons of aggregates are necessary to construct one mile of lane of interstate highway.
• Constuction of an average modern home requires 400 tons of aggregate.
• Construction of an average size school or hospital requires 15,000 tons of aggregates.
• Aggregates make up 94% of asphalt and 80% of concrete.
• Within 50 miles of their place of extraction is where 90% of aggregates are used.