How do natural resources affect the economic development of a country?

The more Natural Resources a country has, the faster it will grow, all other things held equal (that is, assuming that the country does not have an abnormal situation with morale or labor or transportation that would interfere with the country's growth).

This is due to two big reasons, and several small ones I won't go into. I'll start with the most practical: The country in question can consume the resources as it works toward its own advancement, especially if the technology they are using is already known or freely shared from another source.

there is not necessarily any real correlation some of the country's of the world where a great deal of wealth is extracted from the earth the people live in abject poverty. South Africa is a good example. In many other places that produce various minerals and oil the country and its people are the beneficiary's of the pollution and the leaders usually propped up by wealthy Western country's reap the wealth.