000056230 001__ 56230 000056230 005__ 20210121114500.0 000056230 0247_ $$2doi$$a10.3390/en8020821 000056230 0248_ $$2sideral$$a89841 000056230 037__ $$aART-2015-89841 000056230 041__ $$aeng 000056230 100__ $$0(orcid)0000-0003-0702-733X$$aValero, A.$$uUniversidad de Zaragoza 000056230 245__ $$aThermodynamic rarity and the loss of mineralwealth 000056230 260__ $$c2015 000056230 5060_ $$aAccess copy available to the general public$$fUnrestricted 000056230 5203_ $$aThe second law of thermodynamics and, specifically, exergy analysis have been traditionally used for the assessment and optimization of energy systems. Nevertheless, as shown in this paper, exergy could also constitute a powerful tool for the evaluation of mineral commodities. That said, new or re-defined exergy-based concepts need to be developed. This paper presents Thanatia as a baseline for evaluating the exergy of any mineral in the crust and opens the door to discuss the “thermodynamic rarity” concept as a basis for exergy analyses for mineral systems. Thermodynamic rarity is understood as the amount of exergy needed to obtain a given mineral from a completely degraded state, denoted as Thanatia. The rarer the mineral, the greater the associated exergy costs. It quantifies value, as it relates to concentration, chemical composition and cohesion, key aspects that determine whether a mine is exploitable. The theory further allows one to quantify the gradual loss of mineral capital on Earth as a consequence of “rarefaction processes” that occur at a mineral’s end-of-life, when a commodity is wasted, and at its beginning-of-life, where mining ore grades decline after extraction. 000056230 540__ $$9info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess$$aby$$uhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/ 000056230 590__ $$a2.077$$b2015 000056230 591__ $$aENERGY & FUELS$$b43 / 88 = 0.489$$c2015$$dQ2$$eT2 000056230 592__ $$a0.785$$b2015 000056230 593__ $$aEnergy (miscellaneous)$$c2015$$dQ1 000056230 593__ $$aEnergy Engineering and Power Technology$$c2015$$dQ1 000056230 593__ $$aElectrical and Electronic Engineering$$c2015$$dQ1 000056230 593__ $$aRenewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment$$c2015$$dQ2 000056230 593__ $$aControl and Optimization$$c2015$$dQ2 000056230 655_4 $$ainfo:eu-repo/semantics/article$$vinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 000056230 700__ $$0(orcid)0000-0003-3330-1793$$aValero, A.$$uUniversidad de Zaragoza 000056230 7102_ $$15004$$2590$$aUniversidad de Zaragoza$$bDpto. Ingeniería Mecánica$$cÁrea Máquinas y Motores Térmi. 000056230 773__ $$g8, 2 (2015), 821-836$$pENERGIES$$tEnergies$$x1996-1073 000056230 8564_ $$s1016274$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/56230/files/texto_completo.pdf$$yVersión publicada 000056230 8564_ $$s81477$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/56230/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon$$xicon$$yVersión publicada 000056230 909CO $$ooai:zaguan.unizar.es:56230$$particulos$$pdriver 000056230 951__ $$a2021-01-21-10:50:48 000056230 980__ $$aARTICLE