system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[LoTR] While it's clear the One Ring can only be destroyed at Mount Doom wouldn't it be possible to seal it inside a large block of solid Mithril or similar material to significantly limit it as a threat in the meantime?
gpt
Anything and everything you could do to shut the ring out of the enemy's hand was considered at Rivendell. Burying it, putting it in truly safe hands, casting it into the ocean, etc. And it was always met with the same conclusion:

Sauron may not have regained full power himself, but Mordor was already FAR beyond the capabilities of the other kingdoms. He had enough armies to utterly crush the west via conventional strategy alone. Even if all the men, dwarves, elves, and whatever natural forces could be convinced to help joined together in a desperate alliance, it would not have been enough. The Last Alliance of the previous age wasn't enough to completely destroy Sauron, and it DWARFED what little remained of free people's strength in the third age. The War of the Ring was a doomed attempt at keeping the shadow at bay JUST long enough for the secret mission to be completed. Without Frodo and the completely ludicrous idea of destroying the ring, there truly was no hope of victory. 

So yes, the ring could have been hidden and sealed in a way that functionally kept it out of Sauron's hand for quite a long time. Then his armies would have slaughtered most of the people in Middle Earth while his servants scoured the land for it. And it wouldn't matter how long it would take, because the enemy is immortal and has unnatural patience. It would eventually be found and it would *eventually* be released from whatever prison someone tried to put the ring into. And once that happened, Sauron's dominion would be unstoppable save by literal divine intervention.