This is a working paper in a continuing project "Mineral Scarcity and Economic Change", partially supported at IIASA by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. 

In the present paper evidence is given on trends in relative cost to obtain minerals, for selected regions and countries. On this basis the question of increasing economic scarcity of minerals is addressed, and attention is given to the underlying forces that affect mineral cost trends. 

The data that are used are from an IIASA data base that covers about 50 mineral price series and economic variables on 45 countries. 

However, in this paper we focus primarily on Western European countries for the period 1950-1979. Since the data effort finished in summer 1980, the second oil price boom is not fully reflected.