Bart, you obviously don't drive a car, ride a bicycle or bus, use a computer, have electricity in your home,  use any hand tools ... (the list could go on for hours).  The single prospector could never produce the amount and variety of minerals mined to meet even your personal demand, let alone world demand. So you would rather have someone with no capital resources to obtain proper equipment  and no expertise or time to invest in proper environmental controls out there running amuck?  Like most people, you seem to have no concept of what is needed to create the simple items that are staples of 21st century life. You also have no concept of the world mining industry except what people like the Wilderness Society and Northern Alaska Center for the Environment tell you.  Good luck relying on single prospectors to meet your needs.