Three-quarters of the ore comes from the Lake Superior region of the Great Lakes. Although much of the high-grade ore has been used, there remains enough low-grade ore to last for centuries. Industry already has developed practical methods for getting iron from taconite a hard; ore-bearing rock found in virtually unlimited quantities in the Lake Superior region.

Coal is the second major natural resource found in large quanddes in the United States. There are suiBdent reserves to last hundreds of years. Most of the coal is used by steam plants to produce electricity, with about half of the nation’s electric power coining from such plants. Much coal also is used in chemical industries for the manu&cture of plastics，and other synthetics. Coal deposits are widely distributed in the country. Most of coal reserves are to be found in the Appalachians, the Central Plain, and the Rockies.

America has a large deposit of iron ore. The nation produces more than 80 million tons of iron a year. For many years, iron ore came primarily from the great Lake region of Minnesota and Michigan, but the mines were severely depleted during the two Worm Wars. The richer ores are exhausted, though large amounts of lower-grade materials remain and form the basis of a thriving industry. Iron ores arc also mined in Missouri, New York, Utah and Wyoming. Other basic metals and minerals mined on a large scale in America include zinc, coppcr, silver, and phosphate rock which is used for fertilizers.

America, very rich in oil, was once the largest oil producing country in the world. Oil wells in the United States produce more than 3, 200 million barrels of petroleum a year. The production, processing and marketing of such petroleum products as gasoline and oil make up one of America’s largest industries. Most domestic production of oil and natural gas comes from offshore areas of Louisiana and Texas, and from onshore areas of Texas, Oklahoma, and California. Althou^i the oil production in the U.S. is very large, her big consumption has made America insufficient in oil supply. The shortage of domestic supplies of energy was forcefully publicized by the Arab oil embargo of 1973-1974. Until this embargo most Americans did not realize that the United States does not have enou^i energy to meet its evergrowing needs.

Oil wells in the United States produce more than 3, 200 million barrels of petroleum a year. The production, processing and marketing of such petroleum products as gasoline and oil make up one of America’s largest industries. The Alaska pipeline, completed in 1977, stretches for 1，290 kilometers and pipes 1. 2 million barrels of petroleum a day from the northern oil fields to a port on the south coast.

Amcrica has also plenty of fertile soil. Farmlands in the United States make up about 12% of the arable lands in the world, and they are among the richest and most productive. Of the 2. 3 billion acres of land in the 50 states an estimated 300 million acres are planted annually. The country’s very large acreage of hi^ily productive farmlands could be expected to continue to supply the nation generously, with substantial surplus for export.

Natural and manufactured gas supplies more than 33 percent of the nation’s power. Natural gas is carried by huge pipelines thousands of kilometers from oil and gas fields to cities and towns to heat homes and buildings and to operate industrial plants.