Mineral Resources

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Mineral Resources

• Mr. Clark
• BHS

2
Mineral Resources

• Types of mineral resources

• Finding and extracting mineral resources

3
Mineral Resources

• Metallic

• Non-metallic

• Energy resources

• Ores

4
Categories of Mineral Resources

• Identified Resources

• Undiscovered Resources

• Reserves

• Other

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Locating Mineral Resources

• Satellite and air imagery

• Radiation detectors

• Magnetometers

• Gravity differences

• Seismic surveys

• Chemical analyses

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Extracting Mineral Resources Surface Mining

• Open-pit mining

• Dredging

• Area strip mining

• Contour strip mining

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Extracting Mineral Resources Underground Mining

• Underground mining or subsurface mining

• Room-and-pillar mining

• Longwall mining

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Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act

• Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act was
  established 1977

• Mine lands must be restored to pre-mining
  conditions

• Taxes on mining companies to restore pre-1977
  sites

• Limited success

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Environmental Effects of Mining Mineral Resources

• Disruption of land surface

• Subsidence

• Erosion of solid mining waste

• Acid mine drainage (AMD)

• Air pollution

• Storage and leakage of liquid mining waste

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Environmental Effects of Mining Mineral Resources
Fig. 16-14 p. 344
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Environmental Impacts of Mining Mineral Resources
Surface mining
Subsurface mining

• Overburden

• Room and pillar

• Spoil

• Longwall

• Open-pit

• Dredging

Refer to Figs. 15-4 and 15-5, p. 341 and 342

• Strip mining

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Processing Mineral Resources

• Ore mineral

• Gangue

• Tailings

• Smelting

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Smelting
Separation of ore from gangue
Melting metal
Conversion to product
Metal ore
Recycling
Discarding of product
Surface mining
Scattered in environment
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Supplies of Mineral Resources

• Economic depletion

• Depletion time

• Foreign sources

• Environmental concerns

• Economics

• New technologies

• Mining the ocean

• Finding substitutes

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Open Pit Mine
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Dredging
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Area Strip Mining
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Contour Strip Mining
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Ventilation shaft
Main shaft
Lift cage
Shaft
Coal seams
Pumps
Underground Coal Mine
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Room-and-pillar
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Longwall Mining of Coal
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Transition from Peat to Lignite to Bituminous to
Anthracite
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U. S. Coal Deposits
Yellow Anthracite Blue Sub Bituminous
Orange Bituminous Green Low Volatile
Bituminous Purple Lignite
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Major Coal fields in USA
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Canadian Coal Deposits
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Strip Mining for Coal
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Open Pit and Spoil Bank
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Strip Mine and Reclaimed Land
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Coal Drag Line
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Worlds Largest Open Pit Copper Mine- Bingham
Mine, Utah
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Open Pit Gold Mine - Nevada
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Bingham Canyon Mine and Tailings, Utah
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Bingham Canyon Open Pit Copper Mine
Shovel and Truck
Trucks at Crusher
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Shovel and Truck
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Ore Being Delivered to Crusher for Transport to
Smelter 5 Miles Away
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Tailings Piles Bingham Mine
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Mine Tailings
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Underground Coal Mine
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Sterling Hill Zinc Mine, Franklin, New Jersey
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Knox Mine Before Disaster
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Room and Pillar Mine
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Sink Hole Cargill, Kansas
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Sink Hole
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Cross Section of Sink Hole
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Smelting
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Blast Furnace
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Charcoal Blast Furnace
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Slag Being Dumped
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Slag the Next day
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Gold and Silver Mine Tailings Central City,
Colorado
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Clayton Silver Mine, Idaho
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Acid Mine Drainage Eastern Pennsylvania
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Acid Mine Drainage in Colorado
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Acid Mine Drainage Chemistry
Chemical reactions that represent the chemistry
of pyrite weathering to form Acid Mine Drainage
(AMD). An overall summary reaction is as follows
4 FeS2 15 O2 14 H2O à 4 Fe(OH)3 8 H2SO4
Pyrite Oxygen Water à "Yellowboy" Sulfuric
Acid
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Acid Mine Drainage Chemistry
Weathering of pyrite includes the oxidation of
pyrite by oxygen. Sulfur is oxidized to sulfate
and ferrous iron is released. This reaction
generates two moles of acidity for each mole of
pyrite oxidized. 2 FeS2 7 O2 2 H2O à 2
Fe2 4 SO42- 4 H Pyrite Oxygen Water à
Ferrous Iron Sulfate Acidity
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Acid Mine Drainage Chemistry
The conversion of ferrous iron to ferric iron
consumes one mole of acidity. Certain bacteria
increase the rate of oxidation from ferrous to
ferric iron.
4 Fe2 O2 4 H à 4 Fe3 2 H2O Ferrous Iron
Oxygen Acidity à Ferric Iron Water
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Centralia Fires Rt. 61 into Centralia, Pa.
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Centralia Fires Still Burning Underground
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Copper Basin, Tennessee
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Copper Basin, Tennessee
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Copper Basin, Tennessee Copper Mine
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Abandoned Mine Entrance - Alaska
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Before
After
Reclamation