Ore TMRs, which are the total amount of overburden and rock to obtain metal ore, were estimated as a fundamental data to estimate the value of TMR(Total Materials Requirement) of metals. Ore TMR of coal, iron, copper, zinc and tin are estimated 12.5, 5.1, 304, 34 and 95 representatively by statistic method based on hearing and investigation of practical mining sites. An approximation from the quality of crude ore and further approximation from the concentration of the metal in the crust were also proposed as (ore TMR)＝2.0/{100×(quality of crude ore )} and (ore TMR)＝2.0×(concentration in the crust [ppm])  2/3)

Forecasting are made regarding the consumption up to 2050 of following metals: Fe, Al, Cu, Mn, Zn, Cr, Pb, Ni, Si, Sn, rare earths, Mo, Li, Sb, W, Ag, Co, In, Au, Ga, Pt and Pd. The forecasts are based on the liniar decoupling model of the relation between per capita metal consumption and per capita GDP. The models of each metal are applied to the economic development model of BRICs and G6 countries. According these forecasts, the overall consumption of metals in 2050 will be five times greater than the current levels, and demand for metals, such as Au, Ag, Cu, Ni, Sn, Zn, Pb, and Sb, is expected to be several times greater than the amount of their respective reserves. Demand for iron and platinum, which is considered to be optimistic about the resource exhaustion, will also exceed the current reserves. Urgent measures are needed to find alternatives from common resources and to shift into materials circulation society.

A potential amount of urban mining in Japan is estimated. The potential amount includes the amount of in use stock, used stock and dissipated stock in Japan. The accumulation is estimated by considering the balance between import and export beyond the boundary of Japan after the World War II. The amount of material which was exported as parts of products is estimated by Input/Output Table Analysis with an assumption that material flow is in proportion to cash flow. A considerable amount of metal was estimated to be accumulated in Japan. The accumulation amount of gold and silver is 6,800 tons and 60,000 tons respectively. They are greater than the reserves of richest resource possessing country, South Africa for gold and Poland for silver. The accumulated amount of Al,

The decoupling statuses of the consumption of 22 kinds of metal with economic growth were analyzed. Metals were Fe, Al, Cu, Cr, Zn, Mn, Pb, Ni, Co, Sn, Sb, Si, Mo, W, Li, In, Ga, Ag, Au, Pt, Pd and rare earths. The relations of the annual consumption per capita of each metal to GDP per capita were approximated into two steps of liner formulas;, where y M is the annual consumption of the metal M per capita, X is GDP per capita. The metal which has only single relation of y M ＝a M, 1 X was judged to stay in the state of coupling. When a M, 1 ＞a M ,2 , the state was judged to be decoupling. Furthermore, it was judged to be the status of an absolute decoupling when a M, 2 ＜0. The metals which have attend to absolute decoupling are Au, Sn, Zn and W. Cu and Pb are at the border of the absolute decoupling. While Fe, Al, Ni, Mo, Sb, Ag, Pd are decoupling to GDP per capita, Si and Pt are still in the status of the coupling with economic growth. In the case of Co, Li, In, Ga and rare earth, new coupling relation with economic growth have developed in these several years.

The decoupling statuses of the consumption of 22 kinds of metals from economic growth were analyzed. Metals were Fe, Al, Cu, Cr, Zn, Mn, Pb, Ni, Co, Sn, Sb, Si, Mo, W, Li, In, Ga, Ag, Au, Pt, Pd and rare earths. The relations between the per capita annual consumption of each metal and per capita GDP were approximated by a two-steps linear formula of, where y M is the annual consumption of a metal M, and X is GDP per capita. Metals which had only a single relation of y M ¼ a M,1 X were judged to be in a state of coupling. When a M,1 > a M,2 , the state was judged to be decoupling. Furthermore, a metal was judged to be in a state of absolute decoupling when a M,2 < 0. The metals which tended to exhibit characteristics of absolute decoupling were Au, Sn, Zn and W, while Cu and Pb were borderline. While Fe, Al, Ni, Mo, Sb, Ag, Pd are decoupling from per capita GDP, Si and Pt are still coupled with economic growth. In the cases of Co, Li, In, Ga and rare earths, a new coupling relation with economic growth has developed over the past several years.