Many raw materials are extracted from the ground.
Natural raw materials are all resources found in nature that will be used to make manufactured products. There are many different types of raw materials that are regularly used in this way, including rocks and minerals, plants, oil, natural gas, and animal products. After collecting these materials and before processing them, they are considered natural raw materials.
Crude oil is a kind of natural raw material.
Some of the most common natural raw materials are used as fuel. Crude oil and natural gas are extracted from the ground, where they have naturally formed over thousands or even millions of years. Once crude oil is extracted, it is refined into a number of energy sources, including gasoline.
Other natural raw materials are also extracted from the ground. Minerals such as gold and silver and stones such as alabaster, marble and slate are raw materials that can be used for a variety of purposes. In many cases these types of materials can be removed from the ground intact, although some require special processing to remove them from the other stones in which they are embedded. Gemstones and even simple rocks that can be used as gravel are also natural raw materials mined from the earth.
Hemp plants can be grown and used to make fabric.
The plants and trees that produce paper are also natural raw materials. Trees can be used as lumber or mulch to use as bark or paper, and plants such as papyrus can also be used to create paper products. These materials are in their raw state before they are processed into products, although raw wood sheets or bags of garden straw can still be considered raw materials. Some plant and animal products can also be used to make textiles. Wool, which is the shaved hair of a sheep, cotton, hemp, and other textile plants can be grown and used to make cloth.
Any material that comes from the earth and can be processed into a usable product is a natural raw material, but many people use the term natural to designate a product that does not harm the environment. This could mean that the material was sustainably harvested or that it was collected without harming the ecosystem. It is also possible that the term natural has the opposite meaning, referring to raw materials that come from natural environments, such as old-growth forests, that cannot be harvested sustainably.