Chapter 8: The Nature of Resources

Resources - available assets, or sources of wealth, that benefit and fulfill the needs of a community.• Natural Resources: (ex. oil, iron ore)the

natural source material found in the environment.

• Capital Resources: (ex. money, equipment) used to establish an operation to extract and develop natural resources.

• Human Resources: (ex. Entrepreneurs) organize and oversee the operation of capital resources needed to develop natural resources.

For something to be considered a resource, it must meet all three of the following conditions:1. "Need or Want": A

culture must have a need or a want for the natural material itself or things requiring the natural material. For example people desire gold (a natural resource) itself for its aesthetic value. However, people don't desire tungsten but they desire the incandescent lights produced from tungsten.

Tungsten wedding band

Tungsten filament in a light bulb

2. "Technological Development": A culture must have technological capabilities to extract and develop the natural material. For example the oil off the coast of Newfoundland was not a resource until we developed the capability to extract it from the Jean d’Arc Basin; prior to that it was a potential resource.

3. "Profitability": A culture must be able to make a profit from the material. If the cost of extracting and producing is too high it is not profitable! If there is no desire for the natural material it will not sell and is not profitableex. There are lots of minerals under the Siberian Tundra in Northern Russia, but most of it is too remote and expensive to extract.

PetrEX Oil Land Rig Operation,

Siberia

Inorganic Resources: non-living and non-renewable• Ex. Iron ore, oil, natural gas

Organic Resources: living and are renewable.• Ex. Fish, trees, animals• Flora: resources from the plant community• Fauna: resources from the animal community