Man is an opportunistic creature. However, the increasing trend is to create your own opportunity (and by whatever means possible).

Increasing population coupled with increasing materialism and waste (rather than less), is depleting, and destroying OUR PLANET @ THE SAME TIME!

THE CAREFUL PLACEMENT OF VARIOUS RESOURCES SUCH AS PRECIOUS METALS, WHICH ARE NOW BEING CONSUMED @ AN EVER-INCREASING RATE WILL EVENTUALLY THROW-OFF, OR RATHER OFFSET OUR PLANET!

Tell me they don’t have by now a means of x-raying our planet to find the remaining precious metals of the world?

Sidenote: Do not toil over a missed opportunity – there are always more where that came from. Besides, you seem to be doing just fine having missed out on all the others you know nothing of.