Most of the world's supply of uranium currently comes from mines. It is possible to extract uranium from seawater, but the cost of doing so is greater than the price that uranium fetches on the world market. Therefore, until the cost of extracting uranium from seawater can somehow be reduced, this method of obtaining uranium is unlikely to be commercially viable.

Which of the following would it be most useful to determine in evaluating the argument?

• AWhether the uranium in deposits on land is rapidly being depleted  
• BWhether most uranium is used near where it is mined  
• CWhether there are any technological advances that show promise of reducing the cost of extracting uranium from seawater  
• DWhether the total amount of uranium in seawater is significantly greater than the total amount of uranium on land  
• EWhether uranium can be extracted from freshwater at a cost similar to the cost of extracting it from seawater