As humanity struggles to end over-exploitation of the planet’s resources, the possibility of urban mining as an alternative—or at least a complement—to the extraction of minerals, metals and building materials from nature has gained traction. The core idea for most proponents of urban mining is ‘green growth’ and the greening of industry, representing the notion that economic growth can continue through the transition into a sustainable future. In this context, a particular resource becomes to a less something to be consumed, but rather something to be re-used or recycled. However, studies show that the natural-resource needs of continued global economic growth similar to business-as-usual far exceed even the most optimistic of assessments of the recycled-material potential. Therefore, it could be argued that urban mining initiatives are at best only a partial solution to future resource needs, and that urban mining must be combined with initiatives to downscale the overall use of minerals and metals. In this chapter, I first explore the concept of extractivism and how it could—or should—be replaced by a post-extractivist strategy. I then review the relationship between traditional mining and its contribution to (continued) economic growth, and the current and (potential) future contributions from urban mining, and I suggest how one might apply a post-extractivist logic to the management of mineral and metal resources in the future.