Agricultural Minerals
Most minerals are mined for industrial or construction purposes, to be burned, smelted, or combined. However, agriculture makes a claim on certain minerals, described briefly here. Plants need sunlight, carbon dioxide, and water to grow. But, they also need nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K), none so easily available. The abbreviation using their chemical symbols, NPK, is a rating found on bags of fertilizer that supply these minerals.
The importance of agricultural minerals can be seen as more and more people require more and more food each year:
Yet, the amount of cultivated land actually slowly diminishes:
This is only sustainable if farming productivity continuously increases. In particular, the value of agricultural minerals mined each year has gone up tremendously:
Nitrogen
Phosphates
Potash
Precious
Nitrogen
