1. The Costs & Benefits of
MINERAL RESOURCES

2. Mineral Resources Backbone of modern societies
Availability = a measure of a society’s wealth
Important in people’s daily life as well as in overall economy
Processed materials from minerals account for 5% of the U.S. GDP
Mineral resources are nonrenewable

3. Mineral Value Direct value Indirect value Value added Raw, recycles
Import, export
Indirect value
Processes
Value added
E.g., agriculture

4. Common Use of Mineral Products
NON-METALLIC
METALLIC
HYDROCARBON

5. Mineral Resources and Reserves
Resource = Usable economic commodity extracted from naturally formed material (elements, compounds, minerals, or rocks)
Reserve = Portion of a resource that is identified and currently available to be extracted legally and profitably
Defining factors
Geology, technology, economy, and legality

6. Resources and Reserves
Political football (e.g., Montana coal)
Consider the effects on US R&R of the recent fall in crude oil price:
Reserves fall, resource falls
Reserves fall, resource constant
Reserves constant, resource falls
Reserves rise, resource falls
Reserves rise, resource constant

7. Mineral Resources Problems
Nonrenewable resources
Finite amount of mineral resources and growing demands for the resources
Supply shortage due to global industrialization
More developed countries consuming disproportionate share of mineral resources
Erratic distribution of the resources and uneven consumption of the resources.
Highly developed countries use most of the resources; supply varies

8. Major Import Sources (Table 14.2)
Friends
Canada: Metals
United Kingdom: platinum, rare earths
Other
China: graphite, tin, tungsten…
South Africa : platinum, fluorspar
Chile: arsenic, iodine

9. Responses to Limited Availability
Find more sources
Find a substitute
Recycle
Use less and make more efficient use of what is available
Do without

10. Geology of Mineral Resources
Metallic ore – Useful metallic minerals that can be mined for a profit
Technology, economics, and politics
Concentration factor
Concentration necessary for profitable mining, e.g., for gold is about 5000
Variable with types of metals
Variable over time

11. Genesis of Mineral Resources

12. Plate Tectonics and Mineral Resources
Plate boundaries
related to the origins of many ore deposits
Plate tectonic processes
high temperature & pressure
partial melting
promote release and enrichment of metals along plate boundaries
Common metal ores at plate boundaries
Fe, Au, Cu, and Hg, etc.

13. Example: Mid-ocean ridge
Circulation of sea water
Salty and metallic
Heated, then cooled
Precipitates ores
Can we mine MOR deposits?
What happens at subduction zones?

14. What explains Urals, S. Africa?

15. Intrusive Igneous Deposits (Silverton)
Major source of metals and mineral wealth

16. Mineral Resources and Environmental Impact
From mineral exploration and testing
From mineral mining
From mineral resources refining
From mining waste disposal

17. Environment Impact of Mineral Development
The impact depends upon many factors:
Mining procedures
Hydrologic conditions
Climate factors
Types of rocks and soils
Topography
Also population: NIMBY

18. Impact of Mineral Exploration and Testing
Surface mapping, geochemical, geophysical, and remote-sensing data collection
Test drilling
Impact
Generally minimal impact
More planning and care needed for sensitive areas (arid, wetlands, and permafrost areas)

19. Impact of Mineral Extraction and Processing (1)
General impact
Direct impact on land, water, air, and biological environment
Indirect impact on the environment: Topographic effect, transportation of materials, etc.
Impact on social environment: Increased demands for housing and services

20. Impact of Mineral Extraction & Processing
Impact from mining operations
Land disturbances
Waste from mines: 40% of the mining area for waste disposal, mining waste 40% of all solid wastes
Special mining, e.g., chemical leaching from gold mining
Mining acid drainage, during mining and post-mining

22. Impact of Mineral Extraction and Processing (4)
Water pollution
Trace elements leach into water
Cd, Co, Cu, Pb, Mo, Zn
Flooding of abandoned mines
oxidation of sulfide ores = sulfuric acid
Acid mine drainage from tailings

23. Minimizing the Impact of Mining (1)
Knowledge and technology transfer
developed countries  developing countries
Environmental Regulations
Forbid bad mining practices
Clean Air Act
on- and offsite treatment of wastes
Land reclamation
~50% of land used in mining industry reclaimed
Use of new biotechnology in mining
Bio-oxidation, bioleaching, bio-absorption, genetic engineering

24. Minimizing the Impact of Mining (2)

25. Recycling Mineral Resources (1)
Why recycle? Consider the impact of the wastes
Toxic to humans
Dangerous to natural ecosystems
Degradation of air, water, and soil
Use of land for disposal
Aesthetically undesirable

26. Recycling Mineral Resources (2)
Waste contains recyclable materials
Saves energy, money, land, raw mineral resources from more mining
Saves energy and money when recycling instead of refining raw ore materials
Recycling has been proven to be profitable and workable

27. Recycling Mineral Resources (3)
Most-recycled metals
Iron and steel, 90% by weight
Producing steel from recycled scrap
1/3 as much energy needed to as from original ore
More than $40 billion produced from recycled metals in 1998
Other recycled metals
Lead (63%)
Aluminum (38%)
Copper (36%)

28. Minerals and Sustainability
Sustainability: long-term strategy for consuming the resources
Find an alternative material for the metal
glass fiber cable for copper wires
Use raw materials more efficiently
More Research & Development
Innovative substitutes
Ways to maintain the Resource:Consumption
A solution to the depletion of nonrenewable resources

29. Questions…
Considering the fact that mineral resources are nonrenewable:
Do you believe that technology will eventually help to meet the growing demand for mineral resources?
If yes, explain.
Biotechnology shows the potential for cleaner minerals extraction and waste disposal.
Could biotechnology bring about any environmental problems?
What types of environmental impact would occur if we increasingly extract more mineral resources from the seafloor?