1. Nonrenewable Natural Resources
Mineral Resources
Nonrenewable Natural Resources

2. Minerals Are……
Mineral Resource: concentration of naturally occurring material from earth’s crust that can be extracted and processed into new material
Examples of minerals include copper, iron ore, gold, silver, aluminum, etc

3. Metallic & Nonmetallic Minerals
Copper ore from lower wall of Grand Canyon
Big gold vein in Oregon
Granite mine in Barre, Vermont
Metallic minerals: metals such as Aluminum, gold, & silver
Nonmetallic minerals: nonmetals such as sand, gravel, and limestone

4. Uneven Distribution of Minerals
1. Movement of tectonic plates, rock cycle, and soil formation and erosion all influence distribution of rocks and minerals in Earth’s crust.
2. Mineral resource exist in finite quantities
3. When cooled, heavier elements sank to core and lighter elements rose towards the crust
Elemental Composition of Earths Crust
What is the most abundant element in Earth’s crust?
Oxygen

5. Uses of Important Minerals
1. Aluminum: packaging & beverage cans, structural material for cars, aircraft, & buildings
2. Iron: make steel (for building materials)
3. Uranium: energy source for nuclear energy
4. Manganese, Cobalt, & Chromium added to iron in steel production
5. Copper: used for electrical & communications wiring
6. Gold: used in electrical equipment, tooth filings, jewelry, coins, medical implants
7. Tungsten: used as electrodes in electronic devices, rocket engine nozzles, & steel alloys in turbine blades
** China has 57% of world’s tungsten reserves
8. Sand: make glass, bricks, and concrete
9. Gravel: roadbeds & make concrete
10. Limestone: used to make concrete and cement
11. Phosphate salts: make inorganic fertilizers & added to detergents

6. Mineral Reserves
** France has the largest proven reserves of strategic metals such as manganese, chromium, and platinum
Mineral reserve: published estimates of how much can be extracted profitably at current prices

7. Life cycle of A Mineral

8. Natural Capital Depletion
1. Each of the depletion curves for a nonrenewable resource (aluminum or copper) is based on a different set of assumptions
2. Dashed vertical lines represent the times at which 80% depletion occur
Graph A: depletes the fastest – no recycling
Graph B depletes the slower – recycling occurs
Graph C: depletes the slowest – recycling occurs, but also reduced consumption and reuse of the resource

9. Environmental Impact of Mining
Forest cleared for mining; soil erosion occurs & water runs off instead of recharging ground water
Mining uses a lot of fossil fuel energy
Requires a lot of fossil fuel energy
Uses a lot of water
Disturbs land & causes soil erosion
Produces solid waste
Contributes to greenhouse gases

10. Vocabulary
1. Overburden: soil & rock that lies on top of the mined material
2. Spoils: piles of waste material of overburden
Some of the overburden will contain a small amount of the mined material
3. Tailings: unused waste from dredged materials left on land
Nickel tailings in Ontario

11. Surface Mining
1. Used to remove mineral or ore deposits close to Earth’s surface
2. Used to extract 90% of nonmetal mineral resources and 60% of coal in US
3. Types of surface mining include:
Strip mining
Contour strip mining
Open Pit mining
Mountaintop removal
Placer mining

12. Strip Mining
1. Strip mining: used to remove mineral deposits that lie in horizontal beds near the surface
2. Often done after subsurface mining to remove what was left on top
Scars & disrupts land surface
Leaves spoils banks which undergo chemical weathering & erosion by wind & water
Re-growth if vegetation is slow; no top soil

13. Contour Strip Mining
1. Used mostly to remove coal on hilly or mountainous terrain
2. Power shovels cut terraces (steps) into side of hill (or mountain)
Contour strip mine near Middlesboro, Kentucky

14. Open Pit Mining
1. The creation of a large pit or hole in the ground that is visible from Earth’s surface
2. Source is near Earth’s surface, but extends beneath surface horizontally and vertically
3. Copper mines are usually open pit mines
Abandoned Casa Grande open pit copper mine in Arizona.

15. Mountaintop Removal
1. Miners remove entire top of mountain with explosives
2. Large earth moving equipment remove resource and deposits tailings in lower-elevation regions nearby, often in rivers and streams
Coal companies have forever buried over 1,200 miles of biologically crucial Appalachian headwaters streams with overburden
Destroys forests, mountain streams & increases flood potential
Coal dust in air—air pollution
Disrupts groundwater streams & wells

16. Placer Mining
1. Looking for precious stones and metals in river sediments
2. Mines use river water to remove heavier items such as diamonds, tantalum, and gold from lighter items such as sand and mud
3. Prospectors in California gold rush were placer miners
Placer miners working material through a sluice box

17. Subsurface Mining
1. Used when desired resources (coal, silver, gold, diamonds, etc) are more than 100m below Earth’s surface
2. Begins with a horizontal tunnel dug in side of mountain
Vertical shafts are drilled
Elevators used to bring miners to resource & back to surface
Deepest mines are up to 3.5km (2.2 miles) deep

18. Environmental Impact of Surface Mining
Effects on Air: significant dust from earth moving equipment
Effects on Water: contamination of water that percolates through tailings
Effects on Soil: most soil removed from site; may be replaced if reclamation occurs
Effects on Biodiversity: Habitat alteration and destruction over the surface areas that are mined
Effects on Humans: minimal in the mining process, but air and water quality cn be adversely affected near mining operation

19. Environmental Impact of Subsurface Mining
Effects on Air: minimal dust at the site, but emissions from fossil fuels used to power mining equipment can be significant
Effects on Water: Acid mine drainage as well as contamination of water that percolates through tailings
Effects on Soil: none
Effects on Biodiversity: Road construction to mines fragments habitats
Effects on Humans: occupational hazards in mine (mine collapse); possibility of death or chronic respiratory disease such as black lung disease with coal mining

20. Mining in Fragile Environments
1. Antarctica's harsh environment and its remoteness has meant that land exploration by humans is quite recent, most of it being accomplished in the last 100 years.
2. Because of extremely cold temperatures, any disturbance to Antarctica would hurt its ecosystem.
Very slow rate of rejuvenation
Antarctica: no one country owns it

21. The General Mining Law of 1872
1. First signed by Ulysses S. Grant.
2. Enacted to promote mineral exploration and development in the western United States
3. Guarantees free access to individuals & corporations, both domestic and foreign-owned, to prospect on public lands and lay claim and develop the minerals without taxpayer compensation.
4. Claimant may buy the property at prices set in the original law, which run from $2.50 to $5.00 per acre.
In the past few years, there has been a little noticed rush has led to almost a 50 percent increase in claims for uranium, gold and other metals on public land, according to the Bureau of Land Management.
Most claims have been by foreign companies
Does not apply to land classified as wilderness areas