All mineral deposits are finite. Their exhaustion may happen within a relatively short period of time, or over an extended period, even of centuries. In this narrow sense, of the ultimate exhaustion of individual mines, no mining activity is sustainable. That is, however, a very restrictive definition of sustainability. Mining as an economic activity should be considered more broadly. This article is taken from a much longer paper prepared for the International Council on Metals and the Environment (ICME). Its purpose was to provoke discussion within ICME about the measurement of sustainable development in the minerals industry, and to suggest possible indicators.