It’s safe to say that short of killing other humans few things have driven as much of our technical evolution than the extraction of rare minerals. For that reason alone you’ll find an endless list of interesting reading on both subjects.

The coal book is what got me started down that rabbit hole. From there you can choose your own adventure. My recommendations are: For engineers- Energy and Civilization by Smil

For normal people- Energy for future presidents (and it’s predecessor Physics for Future presidents) by Muller.