MINING WEBQUEST ON EARTH SCIENCE

MINING WEBQUEST ON EARTH SCIENCEPropose by:Economist: Louise Lourfe P. MalazarteGeologist: John Levi MeccaIndustrialist: Bianca T. Enerio I- AmethystProposed to:Mr. Businessman

A businessman would like to increase his earnings through mining. Learning about his interest in the field, three companies immediately came up with projects proposals for three different mineral reserves. Company A propose for manganese, Company B recommended phosphates ; Company envisioned coal mining industry. However, the businessman, seeing the project to involve him a huge amount of money, thought of hiring your expertise a team MINERAL EXPERTS to help him decide where to invest.

Proposal

On

Phosphates

Phosphate A phosphate, an inorganic chemical, is a salt of phosphoric acid. In organic chemistry, a phosphate, or organophosphate, is an ester of phosphoric acid. Organic phosphates are important in biochemistry and biogeochemistry or ecology. Inorganic phosphates are mined to obtain phosphorus for use in agriculture and industry. At elevated temperatures in the solid state, phosphates can condense to form pyrophosphates.

A. Market Value Of The Mineral

The demand for phosphate is increasing. In Netherlands and in the majority countries of Europe, they use phosphate in the pharmaceuticals sectors and industrial and household cleaning. There are some quarry in Thailand selling Phosphates around US$ 0.75 per kilo (2.2 pound) . We can sell Phosphate at a very high price but limited.

B. Cost Of Mini ng

In 2003, nine U.S. firms in four states mined phosphate rock ore, compared to 20 firms in 1997. In 2003 mines produced an estimated 33.3 million metric tons of phosphate rock, with a value of $895 million from the mine. The United States is the world's leading producer and consumer of phosphate rock. The largest phosphorite or rock phosphate deposits in North America lie in the Bone Valley region of central Florida, United States, the Soda Springs region of Idaho, and the coast of North Carolina. Smaller deposits are located in Montana, Tennessee, Georgia and South Carolina near Charleston along Ashley Phosphate road. The small island nation of Nauru and its neighbor Banaba Island, which used to have massive phosphate deposits of the best quality,

been mined excessively. Rock phosphate can also be found in Egypt, Israel, Morocco, Navassa Island, Tunisia, Togo and Jordan, countries that have large phosphate mining industries.Phosphorite mines are primarily found in:North America: United States of America, especially North Carolina, with lesser deposits in Florida, Idaho and Tennessee.Africa: Morocco, mainly near Khouribga and Youssoufia; Senegal, Togo, Tunisia and Western Sahara.Middle East: Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, at the town of Akashat, near to the Jordanian borders.Oceania: Australia, Makatea, Nauru, Ocean Island.

M ine LifeEnvironmental and Social Impact

In ecological terms, because of its important role in biological systems, phosphate is a highly sought after resource. Once used, it is often a limiting nutrient in environments, and its availability may govern the rate of growth of organisms. This is generally true of freshwater environments, whereas nitrogen is more often the limiting nutrient in marine (seawater) environments. Addition of high levels of phosphate to environments and to micro-environments in which it is typically rare can have significant ecological consequences. For example, blooms in the

populations of some organisms at the expense of others, and the collapse of populations deprived of resources such as oxygen (see eutrophication) can occur. In the context of pollution, phosphates are one component of total dissolved solids, a major indicator of water quality. Calcium hydroxyapatite and calcite precipitates can be found around bacteria in alluvial topsoil.[7] As clay minerals promote biomineralization, the presence of bacteria and clay minerals resulted in calcium hydroxyapatite and calcite precipitates. Phosphate deposits can contain significant amounts of

naturally occurring heavy metals. Mining operations processing phosphate rock can leave tailings piles containing elevated levels of cadmium, lead, nickel, copper, chromium, and uranium. Unless carefully managed, these waste products can leach heavy metals into groundwater or nearby estuaries. Uptake of these substances by plants and marine life can lead to concentration of toxic heavy metals in food products.

Phosphates.

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