DUSEL S-1 Themes• Evolution of the Biosphere

• Resources: Origin, Discovery and Exploitation

• Humans and the Environment

• Problems

• Problems

• Problems

• Questions?

• Questions?

• Questions?

A resource is a naturally occurring solid, liquid orgas that occurs in a form and amount such thateconomic extraction of a commodity is currentlyor potentially feasible (Craig, Vaughn & Skinner).

Gold, silver, copper,diamonds, sand, gravel,water, air (nitrogen),petroleum, natural gas,coal, cotton, corn areall considered resourcesaccording to CVS Money, plastic, paper

are not resources. Iron is a resource, steel is not!

Resources: Origin, Discovery and Exploitation

Simulation of ore-forming processes

Question: What role do temperature, pressure, fluid composition, fluid mixing, boiling, pH, fO2, lithology, biology, fracture density, fracture aperture play in metal transport and deposition in Mississippi Valley Type deposits?

Methodology• Isolate volume of rock (106 - 109 m3)

• Characterize rock mass (composition, fractures, etc.)

• Introduce fluids of different T, X, along different flow paths (acid metal chloride, hydrocarbon, sulfate-bearing, etc.)

• Collect fluids to monitor global changes

• Instrument the rock mass (T, P, strain, etc.)

• Continuous geophysical monitoring

• At completion of experiment mine-back the rock mass to examine the ore deposit

Disciplines/techniques

• Mining engineering

• Rock mechanics

• Geochemistry

• Hydrogeology

• Geophysics

• Structural geology

• Geobiology

• Others?