1. Stewardship and Sustainability of Earth Resources
Earth History GEOL 2110
Stewardship and Sustainability of
Earth Resources

2. Terminology and Definitions
Natural Resources – materials, and energy that occur naturally within the Earth’s spheres. Many are essential for our survival, while others are used for satisfying our wants.
Biological Resources
renewable
recycleable
reuseable
Water Resources
unlimited
recycleable
reuseable
Stuff
Mineral Resources
non-renewable
recycleable
reuseable
Wind and Solar
unlimited
“Sustainable Development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (1984, United Nations Commission)
Stewardship - “administration, management, control, including responsible use of resources” (Oxford English Dictionary Online)

3. Stewardship of Earth Resources
STEWARDSHIP: the individual’s responsibility to manage his life and property with proper regard to the rights of others
Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (1987)
Responsible stewardship of mineral resources demands that we make sensible and fair choices of where, how, and when to acquire critical resources we need for today and for the future.
Making these choices also requires that we face some other inconvenient truths about the earth and our interaction with it.

4. Inconvenient Truth #1 We Use the Earth

5. Mineral Resources are Necessary
in our Modern Lives
Computers
26 different elements
66 different minerals
Smart Phones
National Mining Institute, 2005
From the Minerals Education Coalition

6. Inconvenient Truth #2 If it wasn’t grown, it had to be mined

7. Inconvenient Truth #3 Everything comes from something, but something isn’t everywhere
Porphyry Cu deposits in young mountain belts
gone

8. Porphyry Cu Mine, Bagdad, AZ
Sulfide Flotation Cells
Sulfide Floating
Electroplating Copper

9. Buried too Deep
Just Buried

10. Inconvenient Truth #4 Most of the world’s base metal comes from sulfide minerals
Chalcopyrite
CuFeS2
Bornite
Cu5FeS4
Chalcocite
Cu2S
Pentlandite
(Fe,Ni)9S8
Sphalerite
ZnS
Cinnabar
HgS
Molybdenite
MoS2
Cobaltite
CoAsS
Galena
PbS

11. Separating Metal from Sulfur
March 15, 2013
Separating Metal from Sulfur
Traditional
Roasting/Smelting
Sudbury, Ontario
Monchegorsk, Russia
New Tech
Hydrometallurgy
J. Miller

12. 2FeS2(s) + 7O2(g) + 2H2O(l) → 2Fe2+(aq) + 4SO42-(aq) + 4H+(aq)
The Environmental Challenge Preventing Acid Rock Drainage (ARD) and Metals Release
March 15, 2013
2FeS2(s) + 7O2(g) + 2H2O(l) → 2Fe2+(aq) + 4SO42-(aq) + 4H+(aq)
J. Miller

13. The western world consumes the most,
Inconvenient Truth #5
The western world consumes the most,
but mines the least amount of mineral resources

14. 32% from Recycled Cu Data from USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries
March 15, 2013
Data from USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries
32% from Recycled Cu
J. Miller

15. Cu in a Standard Car with Combustion Engine
COPPER
An Important Metal in a Green Economy
NW Mining Association, 2009
Cu in a Standard Car with Combustion Engine
43-55 lbs
Cu in a Prius - 80 lbs
Cu in a Volt lbs

16. Inconvenient Truth #6 If we don’t mine it here, it will be mined somewhere else....Often BADLY
PGE – Platinum Group Elements
Pt – Platinum
Pd – Palladium
Os – Osmium
Ru – Ruthenium
Rh – Rhodium
Ir - Iridium

17. Supplying the 70% of the World’s Platinum
Bushveld Complex
South Africa
Supplying the 70% of the World’s Platinum
Merensky Reef, Amplats Mine, Rustenburg, SA
Merensky Reef, Eastern Bushveld Complex

18. “The Environmental Metal”
Palladium:
“The Environmental Metal” Pd
Uses

19. The Stillwater Mine (Montana)
Only Precious Metals Mine in the U.S. (recently owned by Noril’sk Nickel)

20. Noril’sk, Russia Cu-Ni-PGE Deposits
Supplies 60% of the World’s Palladium
Sulfide Smelter in Monchegorsk, Russia
In 1998, responsible for 50% of SO2
in the northern hemisphere

21. A Looming Stewardship Question for Minnesotans:
When should we develop this immense copper-nickel-precious metal mineral resource?

22. Sulfur Contamination creating the Cu-Ni-PGE Sulfide Deposits of the Duluth Complex
Pd + Pt + Au S S

23. Cu-Ni-PGE Sulfide Deposits
of the Duluth Complex
Current Exploration
Polymet – Northmet
Teck American – Mesaba
Twin Metals MN – Maturi, Dunka Pit, Birch Lake, Spruce Rd
Encampment – South Filson Cr, Serpentine

24. World Class Ores of the Duluth Complex
March 15, 2013
World Class Ores of the Duluth Complex
Compared to other Magmatic Sulfide Deposits, the Duluth Complex is:
#1 or 2 in contained Copper
#4 in contained PGE
#3 in contained Nickel
Only the Bushveld, Great Dyke, and Noril’sk contain more PGE
From Peterson, 2010
J. Miller

25. World Scale of the Maturi Deposit
March 15, 2013
World Scale of the Maturi Deposit
Nokomis
Maturi
Maturi
Maturi
From Peterson, 2010 and DM press release 12/2012
J. Miller

26. The Largest UNDEVELOPED Cu-Ni Deposit on Earth
March 15, 2013
The Largest UNDEVELOPED Cu-Ni Deposit on Earth
Duluth deposits are perceived as low grade. But compared to the source of most of the world’s copper - Porphyry Copper Deposits...
…the Duluth Complex ores are HIGHER GRADE with MORE CONTAINED METAL than nearly all porphyry systems.
The largest copper ore deposits in the USA are on this diagram, and the Duluth Complex ores are much larger then all of them.
From Peterson, 2010
J. Miller

27. March 15, 2013
CONCLUSION:
The base and precious metal deposits of the Duluth Complex are a World Class Resource that will be mined …. SOMEDAY
J. Miller

28. Next Wednesday Course Review Prepping for the Final Return Old Quizzes and Exams FINAL EXAM – Wednesday, 5/ AM, Cina 308