It has been estimated that if all the 500 milion vehicles in use today were re-equipped with fuel cells,operating losses would mean that all worlds resources of platinum would be exhausted within 15 years.Unlike with oil or diamonds there is no synthetic alternative:platinum is a chemical element and once we have used it all there is no way on earth of getting any more.

Armin Reller, a materials chemist at the University of Ausburg in Germany estimates that we have at best ,10 years before we run out of indium.Its impending scarcity could already be reflected in price:in January 2003 the metal sold for around $60 per kilogram,by August 2006 the price shot up to over $1000 per kilogram.

Hafnium 1124 tonnes

Indium    6000 tonnes

Platinum/Rhodum 79840 tonnes

Phosporus 49750 million tonnes

Uranium 3.3 million tonnes

Figures refer to proportion of world reserves available for extraction given current technology,whether economic or not.

WHERE THE MINERALS ARE (Worlds total)

Antimony:China- 66%

Hafnium:Australia-53%

Indium:Canada 33%,China 22%,USA 10%

Phosphorus: Morroco,Western Sahara - 42%,China-26%

Platinum/Rhodium: South Africa-  88 %

Tantalum:Australia-52%

PROPORTION OF CONSUMPTION MET BY RECYCLED MATERIALS  (%)

Gold 43%

Silver 16%

Aluminium 49%

Uranium 0%

Phosporus 0%

Platinum 0%

Gallium 0%

Some key resources will be exhausted more quickly if predicted new technologies appear and the population grows.

Antimony 15-20 years

Silver 15-20 years

Uranium 30-40 years

IN AN AVERAGE LIFETIME (77.8 years)

Every american will consume

Antimony 7.13kg

Platinum 45g

Gold  48g

Silver 1.58kg

Uranium 5.95kg

Indium 32g

Phosporus 8322 tonnes

source:NewScientist