• What are we looking for?
• What do we find?

We very rarely find exactly what we are looking for. Valuable compounds are found mixed with worthless products. Minerals are generally found bound into compounds which must be broken down to get to the valuable products.

Resources are generally found only in specific parts of the state. Where they are found is generally a result of what strata are exposed where.

How and when was it deposited?

Resources are deposited in a wide variety of ways and from the very distant past to the present.

Uses of resouces are directly related to their properties. While the uses of some of Tennessee's resources, like iron, or copper are obvious, many other resources are used in surprising ways.

Some of Tennessee's have been used for 10,000 years, while others started to be used only in the 19th or 20th centuries.

More surprisingly, most of the natural resources used in the past are no longer being used. Why not?

Techniques for getting resources out of the ground (or out of the river) vary widely, depending on how and where the resource is deposited, and on the state of technology. Processing ore (separating what we need from what we don't) is based on the characteristics of the mineral in question, and can be extremely complicated. Both extraction and processing can have profound effects on the environment.

Mining, processing and use of natural resources can have harmful effects on the environment. What are these effects? Can the harmful effects be avoided? Do the benefits of using the resources outweigh the risks?