mineral deposits how, where, when, and why here
DESCRIPTION
MINERAL DEPOSITS HOW, WHERE, WHEN, AND WHY HERE . Jim Miller, University of Minnesota Duluth. MINERAL DEPOSIT IQ TEST. 1) What is the main use for Nickel? Stainless Steel. MINERAL DEPOSIT IQ TEST. 2) What is the main use quartz (silica) sand? Glass-making. MINERAL DEPOSIT IQ TEST. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
MINERAL DEPOSITS HOW, WHERE, WHEN, AND WHY HERE
Jim Miller, University of Minnesota Duluth
MINERAL DEPOSIT IQ TEST
1) What is the main use for Nickel?
Stainless Steel
MINERAL DEPOSIT IQ TEST
2) What is the main use quartz (silica) sand?
Glass-making
MINERAL DEPOSIT IQ TEST
3) What is the main use for palladium?
Catalytic Converters
MINERAL DEPOSIT IQ TEST
4) What country is referred to as the “Jewelbox of the World”?
South Africa
MINERAL DEPOSIT IQ TEST
5) What is the principal commodity needed to make Rayon, Polyester and other synthetic fabrics?
Petroleum
MINERAL DEPOSIT IQ TEST
6) What is the only thing in this room that is not grown on or mined from the Earth?
Sunlight
MINERAL DEPOSIT IQ TEST
7) How much copper is in a medium-sized wind turbine? A) 15,000 lbs B) 9,000 lbs C) 6,500 lbs D) 2,000 lbs E) 400 lbs
MINERAL DEPOSIT IQ TEST
8) Chile produces the most (1/3rd) of the world’s copper; which country is the second largest producer of copper at 8%?
United States
MINERAL DEPOSIT IQ TEST
9) What is the average percentage of platinum in the Merensky Reef deposit of South Africa ? A) 10% B) 1% C) 0.1% D) 0.01% E) 0.0001%
MINERAL DEPOSIT IQ TEST
10) What percentage of mineral deposit prospects become mines? A) 50% B) 10% C) 5% D) 1% E) 0.1%
Terminology and Definitions
Biological Resources• renewable• recycleable• reuseable
Mineral Resources• non-renewable• recycleable• reuseable
Water Resources• unlimited• recycleable• reuseable
Wind and Solar• unlimited
“Sustainable Development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generations to meet their own needs” (1984, United Nations Commission)
Stewardship - “administration, management, control, including responsible use of resources” (Oxford English Dictionary Online)
Natural Resources – materials, and energy that occur naturally within the Earth’s spheres. Many are essential for our survival, while others are used for
satisfying our wants.
Stuff
Mineral Deposit TerminologyOre – rock whose value of metals exceeds the cost of extracting
them by mining and processingGrade – percentage of a particular metal in ore rockProspect – a mineral occurrence that preliminary investigations
indicate a possibility of a significant resourceResource – tonnage of ore in such form, quality and quantity that
there are reasonable prospects for eventual economic extractionInferred Resource is that part of a mineral resource for which tonnage, grade and mineral content can be estimated with a low level of confidence.
Indicated Resources are economic mineral occurrences that have been sampled to a point where reasonably confident estimate can be made of their contained metal, grade, tonnage, shape and physical characteristics
Reserves - are resources known to be economically feasible for extraction.
How? Most rocks on earth contain some amount of metals, but
metal concentrations are so low (parts per billion - ppb), as to not be considered ORE.
Ore deposits form in under special geological circumstances and processes whereby metals are concentrated to economic grades.
Economic concentrations of metals are created by primary processes (those related to the rock in which they occur) and secondary processes (those unrelated to the origin of the host rock).
In most ore deposits, sulfur &/or oxygen are the main anions (-charged ions) that concentrate metal cations; other metal-bonding anions include As, Bi, Te, CO3, Cl, …
How?
ChalcopyriteCuFeS2 Bornite
Cu5FeS4
CobaltiteCoAsS
SphaleriteZnS
GalenaPbS
ChalcociteCu2S
MolybdeniteMoS2
Pentlandite(Fe,Ni)9S8
CinnabarHgS
How?Most Base Metals are concentrated by Sulfur
HOW?Formation of PGE deposits by sulfide liquation
HOW?Sulfur Contamination creating the Cu-Ni-PGE Sulfide
Deposits of the Duluth ComplexS
Cu Ni Co Pd + Pt + Au
S
HOW?New Processing Technology for Sulfide Ores
OLD – Smelting/Roasting
NEW – Hydrometallurgy with High Pressure Autoclaves
HOW?The Challenge – Acid Rock Drainage
2FeS2(s) + 7O2(g) + 2H2O(l) →
2Fe2+(aq) + 4SO42-(aq) + 4H+(aq)
Where?
Buried too Deep
Just Buried
Where/When?
When?Archean Komatiite Flows with Ni-sulfide
MineralizationEvidence of an Early Hot Mantle
Inconvenient Truth #3When?
Archean Paleo-placer U deposits
Evidence of an Anoxic Atmosphere
Inconvenient Truth #3When?
Porphyry Cu Depositspreserved in young mountain
belts
Peat
Anthracite
Bituminous Coal
AnthraciteCoal
When?Land plants take root on land about 350 Ma COAL!
Inconvenient Truth #3When?
Porphyry Cu Depositspreserved in young mountain
belts
gone
Inconvenient Truth #3Why Here?
Inconvenient Truth #3Why Here?
BECAUSE MOTHER EARTH SAID SO!
Why Here?
Mineral Resource Information US Geological Survey Commodity Information
http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/ US Geological Survey Mineral Resource Database
http://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ Minerals Education Coalition
http://www.mineralseducationcoalition.org/ Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME)
http://www.smenet.org/ Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada
(PDAC) – Mining Matters Educational Initiativehttp://www.pdac.ca/mining-matters
Lesson Plan Ideas for Mineral DepositsHow to make a lightbulb?
Objective: An important element in promoting stewardship of our earth resources is to educate students about what earth resources are involved in the making of everyday things. We will use manufacturing of a lightbulb to illustrate this point. Exercise: You are an environmentally conscientious entrepreneur who want to build a compact fluorescent lightbulb factory in Minnesota. One of the most important decisions is to figure out what materials you need and where to get them. Cost is a function of distance and the country supplying the material. Third world countries provide cheaper prices, but are notorious for poor environmental standards in mining and low wages. Procedure: You will be assigned an earth resource that is needed to manufacture a CFL light bulb. Using the USGS and MII websites, research the following information on your assigned resource. Geologic occurrence (host rock, geological environment) Enrichment process (primary or secondary?) Age of occurrence Imports (% of US consumption)• Alternative Materials • Other interesting Information