After minerals are exhausted, the best alternative for a mining community is:

1. Once the minerals are gone, no change to extraction method can bring them back. 2. The community needs a different economic activity to live on. 3. Reclaiming the mined land for agriculture restores the ground and gives a lasting livelihood. 4. Tourism and fishing serve the same purpose where conditions allow. 5. Reducing the population removes people rather than raising living standards, which is not what the question asks for. _Source: NECTA CSEE 2021 Geography 013, Question 1: Multiple Choice Items, item (ix)_