User blog comment:Gundam Legilis/Environmental Issues in RWBY/@comment-9090085-20150403210308/@comment-24891101-20150404191534

I'd suggest that there are ways to initiate the Dust reaction without recourse to Aura. Certainly all the use in ammunition suggests that it can be used without Aura. It's psychoreactive, but that's just a very convenient way to use it; there's got to be other ways to make use of it on an industrial scale.

I was going to further object to the idea that the SDC has only one mine, but I ran the numbers and it's actually perfectly possible, if Dust has a higher energy density. It's actually amazing the output of single mines. My objections now would originate from a business standpoint, as all the companies I looked at had multiple mines. It's hard to believe they wouldn't expand operations.