Frederick Irving L. Rico Jane Marie Apelado Ms. Charity Mulig

GEOLOGIST Tasks ECONOMIST INDUSTRIALIST

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

PROPOSALS: Data on Mineral Reserves

Proposal from COMPANY A: MANGANESE MINING

Company A- MANGANESE MINING Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature (often in combination with iron), and in many minerals. As a free element, manganese is a metal with important industrial metal alloy uses, particularly in stainless steels.

Market Value and Mine LifeCost of Mining  Manganese ore containing 35% or more manganese was not produced domestically in Manganese ore was consumed mainly by eight firms with plants principally in the East and Midwest.  Australia's Consolidated Minerals has established a 10-year mine life.  Australia is the third largest producer of manganese ore in the world, producing 2.55 Mt in 2003, 12% of global production.  In 2003, Australian exports of manganese ore totaled 2.14 Mt valued at A$312 million.

Environmental Effects  Manganese compounds exist naturally in the environment as solids in the soils and small particles in the water.  Manganese particles in air are present in dust particles. These usually settle to earth within a few days.  Humans enhance manganese concentrations in the air by industrial activities and through burning fossil fuels.  Manganese that derives from human sources can also enter surface water, groundwater and sewage water. Through the application of manganese pesticides, manganese will enter soils.

Health Effects  The human body contains approximately ten milligrams of manganese, most of which is found in the liver, bones, and kidneys. This trace element is a cofactor for a number of important enzymes, including arginase, cholinesterase, phosphoglucomutase, pyruvate carboxylase, mitochondrial superoxide dismutase and several phosphates, peptidases and glycosyltransferases.  Manganese functions with vitamin K in the formation of prothrombin.

Health Effects  Manganese is an essential element for human health shortages. But it can also cause health effects. These are the following effects:  Skin problems  Birth defects  Fatness  Changes of hair color  Lowered cholesterol levels

Proposal from COMPANY B: PHOSPHATE MINING

Company B- PHOSPHATE MINING 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.

Market Value and Mine LifeCost of Mining  The mine has an estimated life of 27 years. The project is expected to produce 3.9 mta of phosphate concentrate with a minimum grade of 29% of phosphorus pentoxide, which is mostly used in fertilizers. Vale will invest $479M in the project, which is scheduled to start production in  In 2003, nine U.S. firms in four states mined phosphate rock ore, compared to 20 firms in In 2003 mines produced an estimated 33.3 million metric tons of phosphate rock, with a value of $895 million f.o.b. mine.  The United States is the world's leading producer and consumer of phosphate rock, over 90 percent of which is used to produce chemical fertilizers and animal feed supplements.

Environmental Effects  Phosphate will stimulate the growth of plankton and aquatic plants which provide food for larger organisms, including: zooplankton, fish, humans, and other mammals. Initially, this increased productivity will cause an increase in the fish population and overall biological diversity of the system. But as the phosphate loading continues and there is a build-up of phosphate in the lake or surface water ecosystem, the aging process of lake or surface water ecosystem will be accelerated.

Environmental Effects  Eutrophication (from the Greek - meaning "well nourished") is enhanced production of primary producers resulting in reduced stability of the ecosystem. Excessive nutrient inputs, usually nitrogen and phosphate, have been shown to be the main cause of eutrophication over the past 30 years. This aging process can result in large fluctuations in the lake water quality and trophic status and in some cases periodic blooms of cyanobacteria.

Health Effects  Phosphate rock is also radioactive.  There are two key areas of concern for impacts to public health. The first is whether the radioactive elements can get into water supplies, be released to the air, absorbed into the skin or accumulated in fish or animals. The second concern is what happens when the radioactive particles, such as radium and thorium, are concentrated in the clay settling ponds.

Proposal from COMPANY C: COAL MINING

Company C- COAL MINING Coal is a readily combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock normally occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure. Coal is composed primarily of carbon along with variable quantities of other elements, chiefly sulfur, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen.

Market Value and Mine LifeCost of Mining  Arch Coal is the second largest coal producer in the United States, providing 6% of the coal needed to generate electricity. With a market capitalization of over $4.3 billion, Arch Coal generates almost $1.8 billion in sales.  Each one of approximately 150 proposed coal plants would impose high costs not only on the health of our communities and environment, but will also make it even more difficult to address global warming. Additionally, there is a high likelihood that because of the choices utilities make today, coal generated electricity may cost customers more in the future than utilities claim.

Environmental Effects  Coal mining causes a number of harmful effects. When coal surfaces are exposed, pyrite (iron sulfide), also known as "fool's gold", comes in contact with water and air and forms sulfuric acid.  As water drains from the mine, the acid moves into the waterways, and as long as rain falls on the mine tailings the sulfuric acid production continues, whether the mine is still operating or not. This process is known as acid rock drainage (ARD) or acid mine drainage (AMD).

Environmental Effects  If the coal is strip mined, the entire exposed seam leaches sulfuric acid, leaving the subsoil infertile on the surface and begins to pollute streams by acidifying and killing fish, plants, and aquatic animals which are sensitive to drastic pH shifts.

Health Effects  The coal industry would like us all to think “coal is clean.” But it’s not. Burning coal to make electricity can affect us starting at birth with the mercury-contaminated breast milk and blood we get from our mothers, to the increased risk of heart, lung and liver diseases we might die from later in life.

OUR CHOICE

Our Choice Coal Mining proposed by Company C is our choice because it has the highest sales price among the three elements mentioned. It is the largest source of energy for electricity generation worldwide. Although it has diverse effects to the environment and health, its effects can be mitigated by rehabilitation and reclamation.

Sources  cts/impacts/the-costs-of-coal.html  