Reports of economic crises, investor anxiety and the impact of climate change all help paint a gloomy picture of the future. More optimistic predictions may be met with scorn and accused of lack of 'reality.' Nonetheless, one of the many lessons of history is that accurate factual data provides by far the best basis for discussion of future alternative paths of development, optimistic or otherwise (Raw Materials Database 2012). The objectives of this paper are to show: (1) that positive future trends related to mining and metals are evident (Ericsson and Hodge 2012); and (2) that a number of gloom-laden myths should be refuted.