From spaceships to mobile phones, metals are an integral part of the objects that make up the world around us and that we use in everyday life. The metal industry is a major component of the world economy, and the mining takes place all over the world. Yet their extraction and refinement is still an arduous and dangerous process, not only for the workers but for the surrounding environment.

This 3 part series dedicates one episode respectively, to the most used metals in the modern world of industry and technology. We travel to the jeopardous copper mines in Chile, the open nickel mines in New Caledonia and document the iron and steel production in China.

Each episode follows the journey of the metal, from the ground it is mined from to the plants where the hard work continues as the raw metals are refined and processed. We also examine the environmental and social effects the metal industry has, from the global economy to the Shanghai fisherman whose new catch is scrap metal which he angles for with a magnet and hopes to sell on. The series offers the viewer a window into the reality behind the production and makeup up of the everyday objects we so easily take for granted.