Geology and Nonrenewable Minerals - The General Mining Law of 1872

1. Chapter 1212.1-12.2 Geology and nonrenewable minerals Matt Healy

2. Case Study: The General Mining Law of 1872 • Designed to encourage mineral exploration and the mining of hard rock minerals (gold, silver, zinc, etc) on US public lands and help to develop the then sparsely populated West. • A person can file a mining claim on any US public land excluding parks and wilderness. • To file a claim, you say that you think the land has valuable minerals, and promise to spend $500 to improve it for minerals development. • Then you pay $100 per hectare (20 acres) a year. • You can use it for any purpose • A mining operation does not have to be in place

3. Geology • Geology- The study of dynamic processes occurring on the earth’s surface and in its interior. • The planet we live on is constantly changing as a result of processes taking place on and below its surface. • Energy from the earth’s interior, along with the power of flowing water, have created continents, mountains, valleys, plains, and ocean basins.

4. Earth’s Structure • The earth’s three major zones are the crust, mantle, and core. • Crust- the outermost and thinnest zone of the earth. • Mantle- A thick zone that surrounds the core. • Core- Earth’s innermost zone.

5. Plate Tectonics • The flows of energy and heated material in the mantle convection cells cause about 15 huge rigid plates, called tectonic plates, to move extremely slowly across the earth’s surface. • The thick plates are composed of the continental and oceanic crust, and the outermost part of the mantle, which is all called the lithosphere. • The plates move extremely slowly– Rate at which fingernails grow. • As the plates collide, break apart, and slide by each other, they create mountains on land, trenches on the ocean floor. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryrXAGY1dmE

6. Types of boundaries between the Earth’s Plates • Three types of lithosphere boundaries. • Divergent boundaries- plates move apart in opposite directions. • Convergent plate boundary- Plates are pushed together by internal forces. • Transform Fault- plates slide and grind past one another along a fracture in the lithosphere.

7. Geological Processes on the Earth’s Surface • Erosion- The process by which material is dissolved, loosened, or worn away from one part of the earth’s surface and deposited elsewhere. • Weathering- The physical, chemical, and biological processes that break down rocks and minerals into smaller particles that can then be eroded.

8. CHAPTER 1212.3-12.4 By: Blake Groesbeck

9. Earth’s Crust • The earths crust consists of solid inorganic elements and compounds called minerals. • Masses consist of one or more minerals called a rock. • Earth consists of two crusts- The continental crust and the oceanic crust. • Oceanic crust is 3-6 miles thick consisting of basalt, diabase, and gabbro. • Continental crust is 20-30 miles thick consisting of rocks like granite that are much less dense then those of the oceanic crust.

10. Minerals • Mineral- is an inorganic compound that occurs naturally and is solid with a regular internal crystalline structure. • A few minerals consist of a single element (Gold, Silver, and Sulfur) • Inorganic compounds are various combinations of elements like (Salt, Mica, and Quartz)

11. Rocks • Rock is a solid combination of one or more minerals that is part of the earths crust • Limestone (Calcium carbonate-CaCO3) • Quartzite (Silicon dioxid-SiO2) • These two only contain one mineral, but most contain two or more. • The earths crust contains three main rock forms (Igneous, Sedimentary, and Metamorphic)

12. Igneous Rock • Forms bellow or on the earths surface when molten rock wells up from the earths mantle or deep crust, cools, and hardens. • Forms the bulk of the earths crust and are the main source of many nonfuel mineral resources

13. Sedimentary Rock • Forms from sediments produced when existing rocks are weathered and eroded into small pieces. Then transported by water, wind, or gravity to down stream, downwind, or down hill sites. • Sediments are deposited in layers that accumulate over time and increase weight and pressure on underlying layers

14. Metamorphic Rock • Forms when pre-existing rocks are subjected to high temperatures, high pressures, chemically active fluids, or a combination of these agents. • Forces may transform rock by reshaping its internal crystalline structure and it’s physical properties/appearance. (Anthracite, Slate, Marble)

15. Rock Cycle • The interaction of physical and chemical processes that changes rocks from one type to another. It recycles the earths three types of rocks over millions of years and is the slowest of the earths cyclic processes.

17. Mineral Resources • Are nonrenewable materials that we can extract from the earths crust. • A nonrenewable mineral resource is a concentration of naturally occurring materials in or on the earth’s crust that can be extracted and processed into useful materials at an affordable cost. • Metallic mineral resources (Iron, Copper, Aluminum) • Nonmetallic mineral resources (Salt, Clay, Sand, Phosphates, and Soil) • Energy resources (Coal, Oil, Natural gases, Uranium)

18. Resource Classification • Identified resources: deposit of a nonrenewable mineral resource with a known location, quantity, and quality. • Undiscovered resources: potential supplies of a nonrenewable mineral resource assumed to exist on the basis of geologic knowledge. • Preserves: identified resources from which a usable nonrenewable mineral can be extracted profitable at current price. • Other resources: undiscovered resources and identified resources not classified as preserves

19. Mining Companies Technology • Companies have several methods to find promising mineral deposits (Aerial photos, Satellite images) • Mining companies look for a rock containing enough of one or more metallic minerals to be mined profitably. • Planes can be equipped with radiation –measuring equipment to detect deposits of radioactive minerals. (Uranium) • Magnetometer to measure changes in the earths magnetic field caused by magnetic minerals. (Iron ore)

20. Technologies continued.. • Gravimeter measures the difference in gravity produced by differences in density between an ore deposit and surrounding rock. • Sysmic surveys on land and at sea by detonating explosive charges and analyzing the resulting shock wave to identify the makeup of buried rock layers. • Chemical analysis of water and plants to detect deposits of underground minerals.

21. Shallow/Deep Deposits • Shallow deposits of mineral deposits are removed by surface mining • Deep deposits are removed by subsurface mining

22. Surface Mining • Equipment strips away the overburden of soil and rock • Discards waste material called spoils • It extracts about 90% of nonfuel minerals and rock resources • 60% of the coal (by weight) extracted are used in the United States

23. Surface Mining Continued.. • Open-pit mining • Area strip mining • Contour strip mining • Mountaintop removal mining

24. Subsurface Mining • Removes coal and metal ores that are too deep to be extracted by surface mining. • Dig deep vertical shaft, blast subsurface tunnels and chambers to reach deposit with the use of machines to remove coal or ore to surface. • This technique disrupts one-tenth as much land as surface mining and usually produces less waste material. • However, it leaves much of the resources in the ground, is more expensive and dangerous than surface mining .

25. CHAPTER 12 12.5-12.6 Jack Quinn

26. Environmental impacts of Nonrenewable Mineral Resources Environmental impacts of Nonrenewable Mineral Resources • Extracting, processing, and using mineral resources can disturb the land, kill miners, erode soils, produce large amounts of solid waste, and pollute the air, water, and soil • Takes enormous amounts of energy and often cause land disturbance, soil erosion, and air and water pollution • Extracting, processing, and using mineral resources can disturb the land, kill miners, erode soils, produce large amounts of solid waste, and pollute the air, water, and soil • Takes enormous amounts of energy and often cause land disturbance, soil erosion, and air and water pollution

27. Environmental impacts of Nonrenewable Mineral Resources Mining effects on the environment: • Scarring and disruption of the land surface: Cleanup cost estimates are in the tens of billions of dollars • Collapse of land above underground mines: subsidence can cause houses to tilt, crack sewer lines, break gas mains, and disrupt groundwater systems • Toxin: laced mining wastes: able to be blown or deposited elsewhere by wind or water erosion • Acid mind drainage: occurs when rainwater seeping through a mine or mine wasters carries sulfuric acid to nearby streams and groundwater • In the U.S the mining industry produces more toxic emissions than any other industry (accounting for half of emotions)

28. Life Cycle of a Nonrenewable Resource Metal ores are extracted from the earth’s crust, purified, smelted to extract the desired metal, and converted to the desired products Ore mineral: contains desired metal and waster material called gaungue Removal of gangue from ores produces piles of waste called tailings Smelting: separates metal from the other elements in the ore mineral Figure 12-13 (image)

29. Possible Environmental Limits to Resource Extraction and Use • Environmental impacts from mining an ore are affected by its percentage of metal content, or grade. • Higher grade ores exploited first • As deplete it takes more money, energy, water, and other minerals to get lower-grade ores • Results in increase land production, mining waste, and pollution • Full Cost Pricing- including the cost of environmental harm done in the price of goods made from minerals

30. Supplies of Nonrenewable Mineral Resources • Future supply of nonrenewable minerals depends on two factors: actual or potential supply of the mineral and rate at which we use it • Economically depleted: when it costs more to find, extract and, transport, and process the remaining deposit than it is worth • Once at this point have five options: recycle or reuse existing supplies, waste less, find a substitute, do without • Depletion time: how long it takes to use up a certain proportion (usually 80%) of the reserves of a mineral at a given rate we use

31. Prices and Supplies of Nonrenewable Minerals • Geologic processes determine the quantity and location of a mineral resource in the earth’s crust • Economics determines what part of the known supply is actually extracted and used • Between 1982 and 2004, U.S mining companies received more than $6 billion in government subsidies • If geologists identify 10,00 possible deposits of a given resource, only 1,000 sites are worth exploring; only 100 justify drilling, trenching, or tunneling; and only 1 becomes a producing mine or well

32. Mining Lower Grade Ores Factors that limit mining of lower grade ores: • Increased cost of mining and processing larger volumes of ore • Availably of fresh water needed to mine and process some minerals • Environmental impacts of the increased land disturbance, waster mineral, and pollution produced during mining and processing Way to improve mining technology is to use microorganisms for in-place mining

33. Using Nanotechnology to Produce New Material • Nanotechnology: uses science and engineering at the atomic and molecular levels to build materials with specified properties • Uses abundant atoms as raw materials and arranges them to create everything from medicines and solar cells to automobile bodies • Southern Methodist University found fish swimming in water loaded with buckyballs experienced brain damage within 48 hours

34. Nanotechnology Analysts say we need to take 2 steps before using nanotechnology broadly: • We must carefully investigate its potentially ecological, health, and societal risks • We must develop guidelines and regulations for controlling and guiding its spread until we have better answers to many of the “what happens next” questions

35. Getting Minerals from the Ocean • Cost too much to extract, and mineral resources found on the deep ocean floor are not being removed because of high costs and squabbles over who owns them • Some environmentalists believe it could cost less environmental damage than on land

36. Substitutes for Scarce Mineral Resources • Material revolution: Silicon and new materials, partially ceramics and plastics, are being developed and used as replacements for metals • Finding substitutes for some key minerals are difficult or impossible • Substitutes are inferior to minerals they replace

37. Bibliography • Miller, G. Tyler. "Chapter 12: 12.3-12.4 Geology and Nonrenewable Minerals." Environmental Science: Working with the Earth. 11th ed. Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole, 2006. 274-77. Print. • of an open pit mine ." Mine Engineer.Com provides mining, gold, copper, coal, mineral, information . N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2012. <http://www.mine-engineer.com/mining/open_pit.htm>. • "ENERGY :: GEOTHERMAL AND FOSSIL ENERGY :: COAL MINE :: OPEN-PIT MINE image - Visual Dictionary Online." Visual Dictionary Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2012. <http://visual.merriam-webster.com/energy/geothermal-fossil-energy/coal-mine/open-pit-mine.php>. • "ENERGY :: GEOTHERMAL AND FOSSIL ENERGY :: COAL MINE :: STRIP MINE image - Visual Dictionary Online." Visual Dictionary Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2012. <http://visual.merriam-webster.com/energy/geothermal-fossil-energy/coal-mine/strip-mine.php>. • "Free Online Geology Curriculum - Chapter 5 - Igneous Rocks." Creation Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2012. <http://www.answersincreation.org/curriculum/geology/geology_chapter_5.htm>. • "Geological Society - The Rock Cycle (KS3)." Geological Society - Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2012. <http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/rockcycle>. • "Metamorphic Rocks | Pictures of Foliated and Non-Foliated Types." Geology.com: News and Information for Geology & Earth Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2012. <http://geology.com/rocks/metamorphic-rocks.shtml>. • Pidwirny, Michael, and Scott Jones. "10(f) Characteristics of Sedimentary Rocks." Geography : Physical Geography. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2012. <http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/10f.html>.

38. Bibliography • http://www.google.com/imgres?q=negative+effects+on+mining&um=1&hl=en&client=safari&sa=X&rls=en&biw=1280&bih=738&tbm=isch&tbnid=_vzutvBMZQSEAM:&imgrefurl=http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/13/news/economy/coal_schools_scholastic/index.htm&docid=MpIy8NaOlFlDtM&imgurl=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/2011/05/13/news/economy/coal_schools_scholastic/coal-mining.ju.top.jpg&w=475&h=307&ei=4pE4T7HUDrPKiAL9qcCICg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=430&sig=102238599325460414158&page=1&tbnh=118&tbnw=163&start=0&ndsp=26&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0&tx=128&ty=60http://www.google.com/imgres?q=mining&um=1&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&biw=1280&bih=738&tbm=isch&tbnid=cODAAf2wK9lniM:&imgrefurl=http://www.coalleader.com/continous_mining_new.htm&docid=jXQJPJDovker5M&imgurl=http://www.coalleader.com/photos/Continious_Mining.jpg&w=491&h=385&ei=FJM4T_rXJIKniQLHm8ikCg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=418&vpy=174&dur=1075&hovh=199&hovw=254&tx=160&ty=141&sig=102238599325460414158&page=2&tbnh=171&tbnw=203&start=15&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:15http://www.google.com/imgres?q=southern+methodist+university+logo&um=1&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&biw=1280&bih=738&tbm=isch&tbnid=Fv69GdYN2YKlaM:&imgrefurl=http://smu.edu/esl/&docid=meVPUDgxNJXbEM&imgurl=http://smu.edu/esl/pictures/SMU_computerized_logo.gif&w=300&h=217&ei=tJM4T_nfKKnliALzut2zBg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=442&vpy=469&dur=3416&hovh=173&hovw=240&tx=134&ty=124&sig=102238599325460414158&page=1&tbnh=159&tbnw=224&start=0&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:11,s:0http://www.google.com/imgresq=nanotechnology&num=10&um=1&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&biw=1280&bih=738&tbm=isch&tbnid=EzISLyxFIMQMnM:&imgrefurl=http://www.localcooling.com/articles/nanotechnology/&docid=AMqV4Yq5OgMkkM&imgurl=http://www.localcooling.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/nanotechnology.jpg&w=468&h=322&ei=2ZM4T9C4N5DViAK37p2mCg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=985&vpy=202&dur=990&hovh=186&hovw=271&tx=189&ty=104&sig=102238599325460414158&sqi=2&page=1&tbnh=160&tbnw=216&start=0&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:0http://www.google.com/imgres?q=mining+industry&um=1&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&biw=1280&bih=738&tbm=isch&tbnid=l1ujPgKoDk05gM:&imgrefurl=http://www.berthold-us.com/industrial/productapplications/miningindustry.htm&docid=2qwWEAQMeRSwpM&imgurl=http://www.berthold-us.com/industrial/images/Mining%252520Industry.jpg&w=1184&h=888&ei=2Ig4T_GLDqiviQL27J2bCg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=376&vpy=232&dur=3870&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=193&ty=107&sig=102238599325460414158&page=2&tbnh=165&tbnw=220&start=15&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:15