# Have any raw materials gone "extinct"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 4, 2009, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-raw-materials-gone-extinct/508865 "2009-09-04T14:47:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![landroid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@landroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/landroid)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-raw-materials-gone-extinct/508865/21 "2009-09-05T18:07:19Z")
Ají de Gallina wrote: “As to Guano, although not “extinct”, it went from mining it 10 meters high in the islands all year round to maybe a couple of months every 7 years” What is/was guano used for? Which particular animal’s/ species’ guano was Ají de Gallina refering to that was piled 10 meters high? On which islands? … C’mon Aji, don’t be stingy with the info. Share, share! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-raw-materials-gone-extinct/508865/22 "2009-09-05T18:33:14Z")
> [@landroid](#): > > Ají de Gallina wrote: “As to Guano, although not “extinct”, it went from mining it 10 meters high in the islands all year round to maybe a couple of months every 7 years” > > What is/was guano used for? Which particular animal’s/ species’ guano was Ají de Gallina refering to that was piled 10 meters high? On which islands? … C’mon Aji, don’t be stingy with the info. Share, share! 🙂 I assume that the reference here is to the various islands off the coast of Peru, which were a major source of guano for many decades in the late 19th century. Guano was used as fertiliser, and also as a source of nitrates for several industrial processes, including the manufacture of explosives. The primary source of this guano was seabirds, mostly cormorants, IIRC. > **[Guano](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guano)** > > Guano (Spanish from Quechua: wanu) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. Guano is a highly effective fertiliser due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. Guano was also, to a lesser extent, sought for the production of gunpowder and other explosive materials. > The 19th-century seabird guano trade played a pivotal role in the development of modern input-intensive farming. The demand for guano spurred the human coloni... ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-raw-materials-gone-extinct/508865/23 "2009-09-05T18:42:18Z")
> [@landroid](#): > > Ají de Gallina wrote: “As to Guano, although not “extinct”, it went from mining it 10 meters high in the islands all year round to maybe a couple of months every 7 years” > > What is/was guano used for? Which particular animal’s/ species’ guano was Ají de Gallina refering to that was piled 10 meters high? On which islands? … C’mon Aji, don’t be stingy with the info. Share, share! 🙂 depends on the animal (sea birds or bats) it was a source of sodium or potassium nitrate. either could be made by other methods but this source was easy and cheap. these nitrates could be used eventually in fertilizer or gunpowder. i guess i had that tab open for a bit and got behind another answer. ---
**Author:** ![landroid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@landroid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/landroid)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-raw-materials-gone-extinct/508865/24 "2009-09-05T19:02:27Z")
Thanks Dervorin and Johnpost for ur quick responses. Quercus mentioned “urine”: Is s/he referring to good old-fashioned pee? It’s hard to fathom pee being in short supply either. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-raw-materials-gone-extinct/508865/25 "2009-09-05T19:14:37Z")
Ailsite, a type of very hard granite used for curling stones, is very difficult to find now. The island where the granite came from, Ailsa Craig, is off-limits to mineral extraction; only loose rock can be removed Curling stones are now made of granite from Wales, which many curlers feel is inferior to those made from ailsite. Because of the hardness of the stone, though, there are still many ailsite curling stones in common use, and ailsite from loose rock is often used for bottom inserts to curling stones. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-raw-materials-gone-extinct/508865/26 "2009-09-05T19:24:54Z")
[Liederkranz cheese](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liederkranz_cheese) is no more. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-raw-materials-gone-extinct/508865/27 "2009-09-06T01:38:32Z")
I understand some forms of ancient wool are not longer available as the breeding stock has degraded. But again, that is animal-based. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-raw-materials-gone-extinct/508865/28 "2009-09-06T03:03:52Z")
[Tantalum](http://www.ttiinc.com/object/me_zogbi_20080630.html) is apparently in short supply. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-raw-materials-gone-extinct/508865/29 "2009-09-06T03:29:57Z")
Some specific subtypes of coal are becoming quite economically rare (cannel coal, some metallurgical anthracites, some _extremely_ low-sulfur and high-heat content eastern US coal), but not many people care since there are easy and cheap substitutes (in almost all cases). Blue John is getting rarely IIRC; I know it was quite dear when I last visited the only 2 or 3 mines where it’s found. And how much woolly mammoth ivory can be left…? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2009, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-raw-materials-gone-extinct/508865/30 "2009-09-06T05:40:35Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > And how much woolly mammoth ivory can be left…? While it’s not inexhaustible, there’s a hell of a lot of permafrost in Siberia, and more tusks are thawed out every year. Forty tons were harvested in 2007. [This NY Times article](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/25/world/europe/25iht-mammoth.4.11415717.html) suggests that the remains of 150 million mammoths exist in the upper layers of the permafrost. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-raw-materials-gone-extinct/508865.md?page=1)