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MINERAL RESOURCES The earth’s crust is the storehouse of all materials that we can use “If you can’t grow it, you gotta mine it” Mineral Resource • Mineral Resource – earth’s storehouse of useful minerals that can be extracted • Basically, all the minerals in the crust that can be realistically dug up for human use Mineral Reserves • Reserve – the already identified mineral deposits that can be recovered profitably • How is this different from mineral resources? • They are still in the ground, but have not been dug up because they don’t need to be extracted at this time • (the market may already be flooded with these elements or there may be other deposits that are easier to get to at this time) Did you say Oar or Ore? • Ores – useful metallic minerals that can be mined for a profit • Metals include things such as Iron, Magnesium, Cobalt, Nickel, Titanium, Manganese, Zinc, etc… $$$ Chah-Ching $$$ • How do we know if a mineral resource is going to be profitable for a mining company to dig it out of the ground? • It must be found in concentrations above its average crustal abundance • The value of the mineral must outweigh the cost of digging it up Example for the CEOs • If the average crustal abundance of cinnabar is 0.93% and you discover a chunk of rock which contains 2.5% cinnabar, should you mine it? • Absolutely!!! • ps – cinnabar is a mineral that contains the liquid metal mercury (HgS) Is it worth it? • Digging it up is more complicated than all that though… • First you have to find the deposits • Then you have to extract them • Then you have to transport them • Then, isolate the elements you want • And then you have to pay everyone involved • Finally, you can then sell the elements for profit And one more thing to consider • Not only does the crustal % of the deposit play into the equation of a profit • But, also economic demand (do we all of a sudden need more of a particular mineral) • Extracting technology (are we waiting for new tools to get at harder to reach places) How do we mine resources? • Surface Mining – Above ground mines that are nothing more than a big hole in the ground…sometimes called open-pit mines • Underground mines – exactly that; mines where the surface is not touched and all the mined material comes up via railways, shafts, and elevators Some BIG Toys of Open-Pit Mines Huge Earth Mover World’s Largest Dump Truck Some more BIG Toys World’s Largest Dragline The Bucket of the Dragline Large CATS at Work An Open-Pit Mine OK, Let’s go Underground Remote controlled continuous miner Longwall Mining Machine Diagram of an Underground Mine Do they just leave a hole there? STEP 1: Mining in progress STEP 2: Empty Mine with rain water in it STEP 3: Reclaiming begins STEP 4: Reclaiming complete Mining & Reclaiming Together Mining & Reclaiming Together Gems • Gemstones - Minerals that are beautiful, rare, valuable, polished, and cut into specific reflecting shapes • Gems are nothing more than pretty, pure minerals Rough Sapphire Stones Cut & Polished Sapphires To Review: • Know the difference between a resource, a reserve, and an ore • Several factors go into determining whether or not a mineral will be profitable to mine: location, technology, supply/demand, size and percentage of deposit • Gemstones are minerals that are rare, pretty, polished, and cut