2007-01-11 12:00:48 · 12 answers · asked by kegan l 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Earth Sciences & Geology
quantity, demand, and difficulty to obtain.
2007-01-11 12:02:59 · answer #1 · answered by FRANKFUSS 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There are many factors that determine this, but the first is demand.
Copper is very high demand, because it is used in many things, like wire.
The second thing is difficulty/expense of mining. If something is hard to find, difficult to mine, and only found in small quantities, it can be considered more valuable than something that you can find anywhere and mine cheaply.
Another thing is rarity. While part of expense of mining, if it is known that only a few tons exist on earth, it will be mroe valuable than many other things, because even if it is mostly useless, if a use is ever found for it, and demand shoots up, it will become extremely valuable.
Finally, difficulty in synthesis. Once mankind learned how to turn limestone/chalk into marble, marble became much cheaper. Once mankind learned how to make diamonds, diamonds became cheaper. Diamonds will soon fall greatly in price because new methods of "growing" diamonds are coming out....but gold will probably never drop much in price because making gold is ridiculously expensive (a few thousand dollars can make a few atoms of gold...an ounce of gold would take many millions to create.)
2007-01-11 20:16:02 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some have more use than others. So the more uses the more valuable.
2007-01-11 20:03:11 · answer #3 · answered by Sluggo 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some are more rare and some cost a lot to get out of the earth.
2007-01-11 20:03:23 · answer #4 · answered by CK1 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
because there are less of some minerals on the earth. copper is cheaper then gold because there is more copper on earth then gold.
2007-01-11 20:03:25 · answer #5 · answered by silentjealousy77 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some minerarls are harder to get to in the grown and they may b scarce in that area of land hope that helps...
2007-01-11 20:03:39 · answer #6 · answered by Da' Dolphin 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the minerals that are harder to find seem to be what everyone wants (gold)
2007-01-11 20:03:42 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because they are more rare/difficult to find, or they have more value in today's society and infrastructure.
2007-01-11 20:03:10 · answer #8 · answered by Daeris819 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Rarity and desirability.
It always boils down to that: supply and demand...
2007-01-11 20:04:31 · answer #9 · answered by Vincent G 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
because there is less of it in existence
2007-01-11 20:03:18 · answer #10 · answered by Mystee_Rain 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋