Mineral Resources and Mining
Mineral Resources and Mining
Mineral Resources and Mining
•WHERE DO WE LOOK?
A review from your Geology 1200 Course
MOTHER LODE
Assimilation
Fractionation
Granitic melt genesis
Metal-rich waters may originate from the magma or groundwater
Au, Ag
Heated
groundwater
dissolves metals
Two mechanisms for metals emplacement near granitic intrusions (both occur)
Ore mineral Gold Au
Gold Ore
Decompression melting
Cu, Fe Black Smokers
Example:
Sterling Hill
http://collections.ic.gc.ca/geoscience
Circulation of hot water in cracks at mid-ocean ridge dissolves metals in Basalt, (Copper, Iron, Zinc, Lead,
Barium) which are re-precipitated as various ores, often Sulfides. Accumulate in ocean sediments.
Magma formation 3: Plumes
Diamond exploration
C (diamond)
Subduction zones pull carbon down to depths necessary for Diamond
formation. Plumes rise from depths far below diamond formation depths. A
plume cutting across subduction zone will lift diamonds to the surface
Diamond exploration
Seamount Trails point to the Kimberlite
Example: Alcoa’s
Sierra de Bahoruco
Aluminum mining
in D.R. Southern
Peninsula until 1985
Economics of strip mining depend on stripping ratio
Mining terms
Modern safety standards mean that most modern mines, at least those
constructed by large corporations, are engineering marvels. They are
expensive, and are not constructed unless the commodity sought is known
to be present in profitable quantities and is recoverable.
4. Beneficiation
Ball Mill
Floatation
Dewatering and Impoundment
5. Refining
Smelting
Removes the metal from the ore mineral by
heating the ore with a flux, reducing the
metal ion to its elemental form
Heap Leaching
Removes metal from the ore by reaction with
a solution, often using cyanide CN- ion
Smelt refining:
extract pure
commodity from ore
mineral.
• Iron, from an iron oxide
(Fe2O3, hematite) rich ore (such
as a banded-iron formation,
which also contains quartz).
• coke (carbon from coal), ore,
air, and limestone mixed in blast
furnace.
• iron melt and silicate melt are immiscible, with the iron being
denser.
• The iron is drawn off from the bottom of the furnace ("pig
iron").
• The silicate melt is drawn off the top ("slag").
Ex. 1: Iron reactions in Smelter
Above 800 °C, CO is the predominant
carbon combustion product:
O2 + 2 C → 2 CO
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidd_Mine
Sulfides cont’d
Electroplating
– Used where rock contains Cu but in too little
amounts to be recovered by classical methods
Newcrest Ltd Cadia Operations, image shows the result of collapse of the Ridgeway
underground mine after removal of stope material.
Discussion: Lake Baikal Galena PbS and Sphalerite ZnS
Acidified water
Acid Mine Drainage
–Sulfide deposits react with
groundwater to make acid
–Acidic streams can pick up heavy
elements and transport them.
POISON
Problems with open pits
Very large holes
Pit slopes steep and not stable. Cannot be
maintained
May fill with water
Strip coal mines – loss of top soil in past
– Modern fix - Now filled, smoothed out and top
soil added
More problematic for
Disposal of Waste Rock
open pit than
underground
Waste rock piles have
steep angle of repose
and thus may not be
stable
Bingham in its hay
day produced
400,000 tons of waste
rock per DAY. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bingham_Canyon_Mine
Tailings pond: problems and solutions
From concentrating usually have high pH
(alkaline = basic)
So modern Fix:
– At Bingham acid waters mixed with alkaline
tailings water to neutralize
Different metals have different problems
Tailings Pond: any collection of wastewater separated out during the processing
of mineral ores.
8. Cost of production.
• Costs that scale with grade of ore. The lower the grade,
• the more ore must be mined.
• the more ore must be shipped to the mill.
• the more ore must be milled.
• the more tailings must be disposed of.
• Fixed costs.
• building a transportation infrastructure.
• refining ore minerals, once it has been milled.
9. Cost trends in the future
The price of mineral commodities passes through three
stages that depend on changes in costs:
1st: Technical improvements in mining and/or metallurgy
2nd: These improvements become balanced by effects of
decreasing ore grades
3rd: cost rises because improvements in technology can
not keep up with increasing scarcity.
All metals are now in stages 1 (aluminum) or 2 (copper
and iron).
When reserves are too costly to exploit, an “Economic
Barrier” exists and production is stopped.
10. Mine Safety
Surface Mining was always safe; underground mining reached comparable safety in 1980
End of Mineral Resources and
Mining Lecture
Photos courtesy of Lundin