Material Chain
Earth to AI output — 80+ materials documented
01 — Screen (LCD / OLED)
The interface between the machine and the human eye. Liquid crystals or organic LEDs sandwiched between glass substrates coated with indium tin oxide — one of the rarest conductive materials on Earth.
| Material | Production | Producers | Cost | Connection |
|---|
| Indium (ITO) | ~990 t/yr | CNChina 70%, S. Korea 22% | $340/kg | Every LCD/OLED transparent electrode |
| Tin (ITO + solder) | ~290,000 t/yr | CNIDCDChina, Indonesia, Peru, DRC, Myanmar | $25,000/t | Solder in every circuit board |
| Silica Glass | ~190M t/yr industrial sand | Ubiquitous | — | Every display substrate + fiber optics |
| Iridium (OLED) | ~7-8 t/yr | ZAS. Africa >80% | Extreme | One of rarest elements on Earth |
| Gallium (IGZO) | Specialty | CNChina 99% | — | Advanced display backplanes |
Indium is a byproduct of zinc mining. Global reserves critically low (~15,000t). Rarer than silver.
02 — Battery (Lithium-ion)
Stores energy as electrochemical potential. Lithium ions migrate between cathode and anode through a toxic electrolyte. Every portable device, every electric vehicle, every backup system.
| Material | Production | Producers | Cost | Environmental Cost |
|---|
| Lithium | 240,000 t/yr (+18% YoY) | AUCLARAustralia 86K, Chile 49K, Argentina 18K | $14,000/t | 2.2M L water/tonne; 65% Atacama water gone |
| Cobalt | ~220,000 t/yr | CDIDDRC 76-84%, Indonesia 10% | $24,000/t | 73% global supply; artisanal sector $0.50-$2/day |
| Nickel | 3.6-3.7M t/yr | IDRUIndonesia ~55%, Philippines, Russia | $16,200/t | 170M t CO₂eq from smelting (97% coal) |
| Manganese | ~20M t ore/yr | ZAS. Africa 37%, Gabon, Australia | $1,800/t | Manganism (neurological disorder) |
| Graphite | ~1.6M t natural/yr | CNMGMZChina 78%, Madagascar, Mozambique | $1,200/t | Severe water/air pollution |
| Aluminum | 72M t primary/yr | CNINRUChina >55%, India, Russia | $2,400/t | 2-3t red mud waste/tonne; 15,000 kWh/t |
| Copper | 23M t/yr | CLCDPEChile 23%, DRC, Peru | $11,000+/t | Acid mine drainage; tailings dam failures |
| LiPF₆ salt | Specialty | CNChina >80% | — | Fluorine compounds extremely toxic; HF acid |
03 — Processor / Circuit Board
The computational organ. Billions of transistors etched into ultra-pure silicon using extreme ultraviolet light. One chip requires 300+ processing steps, 12+ hazardous chemicals, and materials from 6 continents.
| Material | Production | Producers | Cost | Critical Note |
|---|
| Silicon | 4.6M t/yr | CNBRChina 85%, Brazil, Norway | $2,480/t | 70-90% semiconductor quartz from Spruce Pine, NC |
| Gold | 3,661 t/yr (2024 record) | CNRUAUChina, Russia, Australia, Canada | $72,800/kg | 1 oz = 20+ tonnes waste rock; cyanide leaching |
| Silver | ~25,000 t/yr | MXCNPEMexico, China, Peru | $920/kg | 4 consecutive years of deficit |
| Palladium | ~210 t/yr | RUZARussia 40%, S. Africa 35% | $940/oz | Every circuit board capacitor |
| Platinum | ~190 t/yr | ZARUS. Africa 70%, Russia | $960/oz | Deep mining (2+ km); 70% South Africa |
| Tantalum | ~2,400 t/yr | CDRWAUDRC 41%, Rwanda, Australia | $198/kg | DRC 41%; $198/kg; Rubaya site $800K+/mo revenue |
| Tungsten | ~80,000 t/yr | CNVNChina 80%, Vietnam | $325/mtu | China 80%; restricted export; DRC region |
| Gallium | ~320 t high-purity/yr | CNChina 99% | $320/kg | China FULL export ban to USA Dec 2024 |
| Germanium | ~140 t/yr | CNFIRUChina 60%, Finland, Russia | $2,950/kg | Export controls since 2023; price doubled |
| Hafnium | ~70-75 t/yr | FRUSFrance 43%, USA 22% | $800+/kg | Every chip 3nm and below uses HfO₂ |
| Arsenic | Not tracked | CNMARUChina, Morocco, Russia | — | Carcinogen; GaAs wafers for 5G |
| Photoresists/PFAS | Specialty | JPJapan >90% of EUV resists | — | "Forever chemicals"; bioaccumulate |
CRITICAL: Spruce Pine, NC (35.92°N, 82.07°W) provides 70-90% of global semiconductor-grade quartz. Single point of failure for ALL chip production.
04 — Memory / Storage
Where data persists. NAND flash traps electrons in silicon dioxide cells. Each layer of a 200+ layer stack requires atomic-level precision and rare earth magnets.
| Material | Use | Source | Critical Note |
|---|
| Silicon (9N purity) | NAND flash, DRAM wafers | See processor | Ultra-pure 99.9999999% |
| Hafnium | FeRAM, high-k DRAM | See processor | 34% of HfO₂ for memory devices |
| Neodymium | HDD spindle magnets | CNMMChina 69%, Myanmar | ~36% of REE demand; radioactive waste |
| Ruthenium | Advanced DRAM, interconnects | ZAS. Africa ~90% | ~40 t/yr; potential Cu replacement <2nm |
Single NVIDIA H100 = multiple HBM stacks. AI training cluster = 10,000-25,000 GPUs.
05 — Casing / Structure
The skeleton. Aluminum smelted at 15,000 kWh per tonne, steel forged at 1.8 tonnes CO₂ per tonne, magnesium extracted with 35 tonnes of coal per tonne. The body that holds the body.
| Material | Production | Producers | Environmental Cost |
|---|
| Aluminum | 72M t/yr | CNChina >55% | 16.5t CO₂ per tonne |
| Steel | ~1.9 billion t/yr | CNINJPChina ~1B, India, Japan | 7-8% of global CO₂; 1.8t CO₂/t |
| Magnesium | ~1.1M t/yr | CNChina >80% | 35 tonnes coal per tonne Mg |
| Titanium | ~260,000 t sponge/yr | CNJPRUChina ~50%, Japan, Russia | Energy-intensive Kroll process |
| Plastics | Part of 400M+ t/yr | 99% petroleum-derived | <10% recycling rate globally |
06 — Cables / Connectors
The nervous system. Copper conductors, gold-plated contacts, germanium-doped silica glass. Every signal travels through extracted earth.
| Component | Material | Scale |
|---|
| Power/data conductor | Copper | DC: 12-33 t per MW installed |
| Fiber optic core | Ultra-pure SiO₂ + germanium | $20.4B market (2024) |
| Connector plating | Gold (0.2-1.5 μm layer) | Every USB, HDMI, PCIe contact |
| Insulation | PE, PVC, PTFE (petroleum) | Non-biodegradable |
07 — Submarine Cables
The global circulatory system. 600+ cables on the ocean floor carry 95-99% of intercontinental data. Owned by the same corporations that consume the data.
| Fact | Data |
|---|
| Active/planned cables | 600+ systems |
| Total length | ~1.2-1.5 million km |
| International traffic | 95-99% |
| Owners | Google, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon = 71% utilization |
| Longest | 2Africa: 45,000 km, 34 countries |
08 — Data Center Infrastructure
The organs of computation. Concrete, steel, copper, water, diesel, refrigerants. A hyperscale data center is a small city that produces nothing visible.
| Component | Scale | Environmental Cost |
|---|
| Concrete | 30B t/yr global (8% of CO₂) | 0.6t CO₂ per tonne cement |
| Steel | 10,000-200,000 t per hyperscale | 7-8% of global CO₂ |
| Copper wiring | Thousands of t per 100 MW DC | 25-30% shortfall by 2035 |
| Cooling water | 300,000 gal/day average | 80% evaporated; Texas: 49B gal 2025 |
| Refrigerants (HFCs) | R-134a: GWP 1,430× | R-410A: GWP 2,088× CO₂ |
| SF₆ (switchgear) | Most potent GHG known | GWP 23,500× CO₂; 3,200yr lifetime |
| Diesel (backup) | Days of reserves per facility | Every Tier III/IV data center |
| Lead (UPS) | ~4.5M t/yr | Neurotoxin; soil contamination |
| Servers | ~100 million worldwide | All of the above combined |
Texas projection: Data centers could use 399 billion gallons of water by 2030.
09 — Power Generation
The metabolism. Every computation requires electricity. Every electron has a source — gas, coal, uranium, sun, wind. The grid does not distinguish between a poem and a missile guidance system.
| Source | DC Share | Key Cost |
|---|
| Natural Gas | ~26% global DC, >40% USA | Methane GWP 80× CO₂ (20yr); fracking |
| Coal | ~30% global DC, ~70% China | Highest CO₂/kWh; US coal +15% H1 2025 from DC demand |
| Nuclear | ~15% global DC, ~20% USA | 60,000 t uranium/yr; Kazakhstan 39% |
| Solar PV | Growing via PPAs | Silver: 6,577t in 2024 = 19% of demand |
| Wind | Growing via PPAs | ~200 kg NdFeB magnets/MW; 3-5t Cu/MW |
DC electricity: 415 TWh (2024) → 945-1,700 TWh by 2030-2035 = Japan-scale demand.
10 — Extraction Sites
SOURCES: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2024/2025 · IEA 2025 · World Gold Council · Silver Institute · Cobalt Institute · Amnesty International · TIME · U.S. DOL · UNICEF · World Vision
Monument Site
Salar del Hombre Muerto · -25.42°S, -67.07°W · Catamarca, Argentina
The Salt Flat of the Dead Man. Named for the mummified remains found by early explorers. One of the richest lithium deposits on Earth.
-23.50°S -68.25°W
SALAR DE ATACAMA · CHILE · BÉNARD CONVECTION POLYGONS
Salar de Atacama · Chile · Lithium extraction territory
-23.50°S -68.25°W
SALAR DE ATACAMA · CHILE · LITHIUM EVAPORATION PONDS
ISS Expedition 22 · Lithium brine evaporation · December 2009
Man is an invention of recent date. And one perhaps nearing its end. If some event were to cause the arrangements of knowledge to crumble, one can certainly wager that man would be erased, like a face drawn in sand at the edge of the sea.
— Michel Foucault, The Order of Things, 1966
-25.42°S -67.07°W
RECONNAISSANCE · EXTRACTION TOPOLOGY
Terrain reconnaissance · Monument site region · -25.42° -67.07°
