MINERAL DEPOSITS HOW, WHERE, WHEN, AND WHY HERE Jim Miller,
University of Minnesota Duluth
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MINERAL DEPOSIT IQ TEST 1) What is the main use for Nickel?
Stainless Steel
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MINERAL DEPOSIT IQ TEST 2) What is the main use quartz (silica)
sand? Glass-making
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MINERAL DEPOSIT IQ TEST 3) What is the main use for palladium?
Catalytic Converters
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MINERAL DEPOSIT IQ TEST 4) What country is referred to as the
Jewelbox of the World? South Africa
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MINERAL DEPOSIT IQ TEST 5) What is the principal commodity
needed to make Rayon, Polyester and other synthetic fabrics?
Petroleum
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MINERAL DEPOSIT IQ TEST 6) What is the only thing in this room
that is not grown on or mined from the Earth? Sunlight
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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
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MINERAL DEPOSIT IQ TEST 8) Chile produces the most (1/3 rd ) of
the worlds copper; which country is the second largest producer of
copper at 8%? United States
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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%
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MINERAL DEPOSIT IQ TEST 10) What percentage of mineral deposit
prospects become mines? A) 50% B) 10% C) 5% D) 1% E) 0.1%
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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 Earths spheres. Many are essential for our
survival, while others are used for satisfying our wants.
Stuff
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Mineral Deposit Terminology Ore rock whose value of metals
exceeds the cost of extracting them by mining and processing Grade
percentage of a particular metal in ore rock Prospect a mineral
occurrence that preliminary investigations indicate a possibility
of a significant resource Resource tonnage of ore in such form,
quality and quantity that there are reasonable prospects for
eventual economic extraction Inferred 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.
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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, CO 3,
Cl,
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How?
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Chalcopyrite CuFeS 2 Bornite Cu 5 FeS 4 Cobaltite CoAsS
Sphalerite ZnS Galena PbS Chalcocite Cu 2 S Molybdenite MoS 2
Pentlandite (Fe,Ni) 9 S 8 Cinnabar HgS How? Most Base Metals are
concentrated by Sulfur
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HOW? Formation of PGE deposits by sulfide liquation
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HOW? Sulfur Contamination creating the Cu-Ni-PGE Sulfide
Deposits of the Duluth Complex S Cu Ni Co Pd + Pt + Au S
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HOW? New Processing Technology for Sulfide Ores OLD Smelting/
Roasting NEW Hydrometallurgy with High Pressure Autoclaves
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HOW? The Challenge Acid Rock Drainage 2FeS 2 (s) + 7O 2 (g) +
2H 2 O(l) 2Fe 2+ (aq) + 4SO 4 2- (aq) + 4H + (aq)
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Where?
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Buried too Deep Just Buried Where/When?
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When? Archean Komatiite Flows with Ni-sulfide Mineralization
Evidence of an Early Hot Mantle
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Inconvenient Truth #3 When? Archean Paleo-placer U deposits
Evidence of an Anoxic Atmosphere
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Inconvenient Truth #3 When? Porphyry Cu Deposits preserved in
young mountain belts
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Peat Anthracite Bituminous Coal Anthracite Coal When? Land
plants take root on land about 350 Ma COAL!
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Inconvenient Truth #3 When? Porphyry Cu Deposits preserved in
young mountain belts gone
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Inconvenient Truth #3 Why Here?
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Inconvenient Truth #3 Why Here?
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BECAUSE MOTHER EARTH SAID SO! Why Here?
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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 Initiative http://www.pdac.ca/mining-matters
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Lesson Plan Ideas for Mineral Deposits How 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