MINERAL RESOURCES

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
METALLIC
HYDROCARBON
NON-METALLIC
5
Mineral Resources and Reserves

• Mineral resources 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
• Defining factors Geologic, technological,
  economic, and legal factors

6
Resources and Reserves

• Political football (e.g., Montana coal)
• Consider the effects on US RR 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
Responses to Limited Availability
11
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

12
Genesis of Mineral Resources
13
Plate Tectonics and Mineral Resources

• Plate boundaries are related to the origins of
  many ore deposits
• Plate tectonic processes (high temperature, high
  pressure, and partial melting) promote release
  and enrichment of metals along plate boundaries
• Common metal ores along plate boundaries are Fe,
  Au, Cu, and Hg, etc.

14
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?

15
What explains Urals, S. Africa?
16
Intrusive igneous deposits (e.g., Butte)

• Major source of metals and mineral wealth

17
Mineral Resources and Environmental Impact

• Environmental impact
• From mineral exploration and testing
• From mineral mining
• From mineral resources refining
• From mining waste disposal

18
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

19
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)

20
Impact of Mineral Extractionand Processing (1)
21
Impact of Mineral Extractionand Processing (2)

• Impact from mining operations
• Land disturbances e.g.,
• Waste from mines 40 of the mining area for
  waste disposal, mining waste 40 of all solid
  wastes e.g.,
  ,
• Special mining, e.g., chemical leaching from gold
  mining e.g.,
• Mining acid drainage, during mining and
  post-mining e.g., New World district

22
(No Transcript)
23
Impact of Mineral Extractionand Processing (4)

• Water pollution
• Trace elements leaching out into water, such as
  Cd, Co, Cu, Pb, Mo, Zn
• Flooding of abandoned mines, oxidation of sulfide
  ores sulfuric acid
• Acid mine drainage from tailings

24
Minimizing the Impact of Mining (1)

• Knowledge and technology transfer developed
  countries to developing countries
• Environmental Regulations Forbid bad mining
  practices, Clean Air Act, and on- and offsite
  treatment of wastes
• Land reclamation About 50 of land used in
  mining industry reclaimed
• Use of new biotechnology in mining
  Bio-oxidation, bioleaching, biosorption, genetic
  engineering

25
Minimizing the Impact of Mining (2)
26
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

27
Recycling Mineral Resources (2)
28
Recycling Mineral Resources (3)
29
Minerals and Sustainability
30
Applied and Critical Thinking Topics