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MINERAL RESOURCES

MINERAL RESOURCES. Mineral Resources. Mineral Value. Direct value Raw, recycles Import, export Indirect value Processes Value added E.g., agriculture. Common Use of Mineral Products. NON-METALLIC. METALLIC. HYDROCARBON. Mineral Resources and Reserves. Defining factors

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MINERAL RESOURCES

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  1. MINERAL RESOURCES

  2. Mineral Resources

  3. Mineral Value • Direct value • Raw, recycles • Import, export • Indirect value • Processes • Value added • E.g., agriculture

  4. Common Use of Mineral Products NON-METALLIC METALLIC HYDROCARBON

  5. Mineral Resources and Reserves • Defining factors • Geology, technology, economy, and legality Resource = Usable economic commodity extracted from naturally formed material (elements, compounds, minerals, or rocks) Reserve = Portion of a resource that is identified and currently available to be extracted legally and profitably

  6. Resources and Reserves • Political football (e.g., Montana coal) • Consider the effects on US R&R of the recent fall in crude oil price: • Reserves fall, resource falls • Reserves fall, resource constant • Reserves constant, resource falls • Reserves rise, resource falls • Reserves rise, resource constant

  7. Mineral Resources Problems • Nonrenewable resources • Finite amount of mineral resources and growing demands for the resources • Supply shortage due to global industrialization • More developed countries consuming disproportionate share of mineral resources • Erratic distribution of the resources and uneven consumption of the resources. • Highly developed countries use most of the resources; supply varies

  8. Major Import Sources (Table 14.2) • Friends • Canada: Metals • United Kingdom: platinum, rare earths • Other • China: graphite, tin, tungsten… • South Africa : platinum, fluorspar • Chile: arsenic, iodine

  9. Responses to Limited Availability • Find more sources • Find a substitute • Recycle • Use less and make more efficient use of what is available • Do without

  10. Geology of Mineral Resources • Metallic ore – Useful metallic minerals that can be mined for a profit • Technology, economics, and politics • Concentration factor • Concentration necessary for profitable mining, e.g., for gold is about 5000 • Variable with types of metals • Variable over time

  11. Genesis of Mineral Resources

  12. Plate Tectonics and Mineral Resources • Plate boundaries • related to the origins of many ore deposits • Plate tectonic processes • high temperature & pressure • partial melting • promote release and enrichment of metals along plate boundaries • Common metal ores at plate boundaries • Fe, Au, Cu, and Hg, etc.

  13. Example: Mid-ocean ridge • Circulation of sea water • Salty and metallic • Heated, then cooled • Precipitates ores • Can we mine MOR deposits? • What happens at subduction zones?

  14. What explains Urals, S. Africa?

  15. Intrusive Igneous Deposits (Silverton) • Major source of metals and mineral wealth

  16. Mineral Resources and Environmental Impact • Environmental impact • From mineral exploration and testing • From mineral mining • From mineral resources refining • From mining waste disposal

  17. Environment Impact of Mineral Development • The impact depends upon many factors: • Mining procedures • Hydrologic conditions • Climate factors • Types of rocks and soils • Topography • Also population: NIMBY

  18. Impact of Mineral Exploration and Testing • Mineral exploration and testing • Surface mapping, geochemical, geophysical, and remote-sensing data collection • Test drilling • Impact • Generally minimal impact • More planning and care needed for sensitive areas (arid, wetlands, and permafrost areas)

  19. Impact of Mineral Extractionand Processing (1)

  20. Impact of Mineral Extraction& Processing • Impact from mining operations • Land disturbances • Waste from mines: 40% of the mining area for waste disposal, mining waste 40% of all solid wastes • Special mining, e.g., chemical leaching from gold mining • Mining acid drainage, during mining and post-mining

  21. Impact of Mineral Extractionand Processing (4) • Water pollution • Trace elements leach into water • Cd, Co, Cu, Pb, Mo, Zn • Flooding of abandoned mines • oxidation of sulfide ores = sulfuric acid • Acid mine drainage from tailings

  22. Minimizing the Impact of Mining (1) • Knowledge and technology transfer • developed countries  developing countries • Environmental Regulations • Forbid bad mining practices • Clean Air Act • on- and offsite treatment of wastes • Land reclamation • ~50% of land used in mining industry reclaimed • Use of new biotechnology in mining • Bio-oxidation, bioleaching, bio-absorption, genetic engineering

  23. Minimizing the Impact of Mining (2)

  24. Recycling Mineral Resources (1) • Why recycle? Consider the impact of the wastes • Toxic to humans • Dangerous to natural ecosystems • Degradation of air, water, and soil • Use of land for disposal • Aesthetically undesirable

  25. Recycling Mineral Resources (2)

  26. Recycling Mineral Resources (3) • Most-recycled metals • Iron and steel, 90% by weight • Producing steel from recycled scrap • 1/3 as much energy needed to as from original ore • More than $40 billion produced from recycled metals in 1998 • Other recycled metals • Lead (63%) • Aluminum (38%) • Copper (36%)

  27. Minerals and Sustainability • Sustainability: long-term strategy for consuming the resources • Find an alternative material for the metal • glass fiber cable for copper wires • Use raw materials more efficiently • More Research & Development • Innovative substitutes • Ways to maintain the Resource:Consumption • A solution to the depletion of nonrenewable resources

  28. Questions… • Considering the fact that mineral resources are nonrenewable: • Do you believe that technology will eventually help to meet the growing demand for mineral resources? • If yes, explain. • Biotechnology shows the potential for cleaner minerals extraction and waste disposal. • Could biotechnology bring about any environmental problems? • What types of environmental impact would occur ifwe increasingly extract more mineral resources from the seafloor?

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