| Abstract: | Despite its close linkage with the resource base, extractive industry displays a pronounced tendency to be located in areas of raw-material consumption. Simple regression analysis suggests a higher correlation coefficient between the distribution of extractive industry and explored reserves than between the industry and total estimated reserves. This alone bears out the significance of economic factors since geological exploration tends to be more active in developed areas than in undeveloped regions. A four-group classification of resources is proposed in terms of the impact of the resource base on the location of extractive industry. The analysis suggests that economic factors are particularly significant in shaping the distributional pattern of widespread bulk resource extraction while the resource base becomes more significant in determining the location of extractive industry using less widespread, high-cost resources. |
