<p>Metals embedded in anthropogenic stocks represent a potential source of resources in a circular economy. However, realizing this potential is challenged by dissipation, which renders metals inaccessible and thereby prevents making use of their functions within the technosphere. Recent advances in metal resource footprinting emphasize the importance of considering dissipation as a constraint, identifying time as an important factor, but they do not systematically evaluate which metals from which anthropogenic stocks may become accessible over time. We argue that this evaluation must consider extraction economics. Here, we determine potential dissipation of metals in anthropogenic stocks based on the relative profitability of extracting metals from the anthropogenic stocks versus from the most abundant, plentiful stocks being the accessibility reference (such as ores in the Earth’s crust). We apply this approach to gold (Au), copper (Cu), and iron (Fe) embedded in mine tailings, landfills, and hoarded stock. Our results show that the propensity for dissipation varies depending on the type of anthropogenic stock (with metals in tailings generally being more accessible), the time horizon considered (with accessibility increasing with time), and the metal itself (with Au generally being more accessible than Cu or Fe). For some metal-stock combinations, the classification changes when potential economic learning effects are taken into account. This stresses the importance of accounting for dissipation variability when evaluating resource use impacts in environmental footprinting and life cycle assessment.</p>