1 mineral resources

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1. Mineral Resources

Environmental Studies - Unit 2

Lesson 1


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Objectives

To know the structure of the Earth

To be able to list minerals that can beextracted from the Earths Crust.

To recap the rock cycle


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The Earth


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Rock Cycle


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Sedimentary Processes


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Alluvial /Placer Deposit


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Evaporites


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Biological Deposits

Chalks and limestoneare formed from theCalcium carbonate

shells of organims Fossil fuels are formed

from the build up oforganic matter,compressed in anerobicconditions.


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Chemical Precipitation

Manganese Nodule

Formed by the precipitation of thesubstance from sea water. This is avery slow process taking millions of

years.


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Metamorphic Rock


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2. Mineral Resources

Environmental Studies Unit 2Lesson 2


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What do you know about thefollowing???

Oil Iron

Aluminium Diamond


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Gold Prices


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Other Metals


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B H P S h a r e P r i c e


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Resources and Reserves Resources include all the material which is theoretically

available for exploitation. This includes deposits that cannot be exploited now. eg too deep,

low grade, unusable chemical form, prohibitive land use conflict

Reserves include that portion of the resource which can beexploited now, economically, using existing technology.

The size of a resource is finite but the quantity included in thereserves can change.

eg the reserves will increase if there is an increase in market price or if newextraction technologies are developed. If market prices drop then reserves maydecrease.


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Sources and Demand

Factors affecting the viability of exploiting mineral deposits

1. Extraction costs Affected by depth, overburden quality, drainage problems, size of deposit.

2. Processing costs The cost of extracting a metal depends upon the other elements with

which it is combined. eg aluminium is most abundant in clay but can only be economically

extracted from bauxite

3. Purity4. The financial cost , energy required and quantity of ore-

bearing rock extracted all increase rapidly as ore puritydecreases.


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Factors affecting the viability of exploitingmineral deposits

5. Land conflictsCompeting land uses may be consideredmore important or valuable than mining.E.g. urban areas, conservation of

landscape or wildlife.

6. Transport costs These are affected by the distance tomarket, the ease of bulk transport and thepresence of a suitable existing transportinfrastructure.


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Mineral Resources

Environmental Studies Unit 2

Lesson 3


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The Environmental Impact ofMineral Exploitation

Exploration, extraction and processing all causesignificant environmental damage. A range of methodsmay be used to reduce these.

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Land take

Minerals can only be exploited where they are

found. This makes land use conflicts more likelyas there is a limited choice of locations that canbe exploited.

Extraction maycause conflicts withexisting land uses.


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Habitat loss The loss of the species where the mineral is to be extracted is

unavoidable.

Removing the wildlife by capturing the animals andtransplanting the plants to move them to unthreatened

habitats has been attempted but is rarely completelysuccessful.

Habitat restoration when mining has ended is often carried

out.


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Loss of Amenity

Mining may cause aesthetic problems for localcommunities.

This may bereduced by

landscaping andtree planting.


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Air Pollution

Dust, reduced by watersprays.

Noise, reduced by bafflemounds and restrictedtimes for blasting.


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Water Pollution

Turbid drainagewater, reduced bysedimentation

lagoons and filtration.

Toxic leachate,reduced by chemicaltreatment.


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Spoil Disposal

Spoil instabilitycan causelandslides or

erosion.

It can bereduced bydrainage,compaction andlandscaping.


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Transport nuisance Mineral transportation can produce noise, fumes, dust and

cause traffic accidents. These can be reduced by water sprays and careful route

choices.


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Subsidence

This is caused by poor spoil compaction orundermining.

It can be reduced by compaction of spoil andleaving support pillars in deep mines


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Turbid Drainage Water

Drainage water from mines or ore processingcan smother aquatic plants and silt up rivers .

This can be reduced by building sedimentationlagoons.


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Toxic Leachate

Water draining from spoil heaps may containtoxic metals.

This may be reduced by collection andchemical treatment.


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Better Exploratory techniques

Remote sensing eg Satellite surveys allow rapid aerial photography of large areas of

land Geophysical techniques

seismic surveys

echoes of surface vibrations provide information ondepth, angle, density and thickness of rock strata.

Gravimetry the strength of gravity provides information on thedensity of rocks. Igneous rocks are usually more dense than

sedimentary rocks.

Magnetometry the strength of magnetism helps to detect magneticrocks, eg iron ores.

B tt M h i d Mi i g


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Better Mechanised MiningTechniques

Better/more mechanised mining techniques eg larger excavators which can dig deeper into

the ground


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Use of low-grade ores

Electrolysis of spoil heap leachate to removecopper; bacterial recovery from disused minespoil


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Recycling

to make used materials intoa new resource.

eg melting of scrap metalsand glass;

crushing of used concrete


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