Resource extraction
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214644508
2008-05-24T15:41:43Z
Arx Fortis
1693972
fix date tag
{{Unreferenced|date=July 2007}}
The related terms '''resource extraction''' and '''resource extraction industry''' both refer to the practice of locating, acquiring and selling any resource, but typically a [[natural resource]].
Throughout most of the world it is an [[international]] and [[capitalism|capitalist]] operation, with the sources for the material being extracted being far away from the possible [[markets]].
Thus resources are often exploited in phases with regular periods of inactivity, as methods of resource extraction advance, the commodity becomes more valuable, or in the special case in which the resource is [[Renewable resource|renewable]]. This secondary extraction may take the form of a further exploitation of a previously unaccessible source (such as modern mining techniques that are allowing access to heavily [[Fault (geology)|faulted]] seams) or a reprocessing of previously discarded material such as [[Tailings|mine tailings]].
This phased exploitation is often criticized for the effect it has on the workforce in the surrounding area, providing much opportunity for skilled and unskilled labor, followed by long periods of heavy [[unemployment]], particularly with respect to logging in America's [[Pacific northwest|Pacific Northwest]].
The specifics of resource extraction depend on the resource being exploited; for instance, the exploitation of timber is called [[logging]], metal ore exploitation is called [[mining]].
In recent times, [[Environmentalism|environmental]] pressure groups have attempted to reduce the ecological impact of resource extraction, and there have been many successful redevelopment schemes such as [[reforestation]] of logging sites, and the large-scale successful conversion of [[Great Britain|British]] [[Gravel pit|gravel pits]] into nature reserves.
==See also==
*[[Logging]]
*[[Mining]]
*[[Wise Use Movement]]
[[Category:Resource extraction]]