Chapter 16 Somerset, PA will construct five ponds using ShoreGuard vinyl sheet piling. The first two settling ponds the iron mixes with oxygen. The next.

Chapter 16

Somerset, PA will construct five ponds using ShoreGuard vinyl sheet piling.The first two settling ponds the iron mixes with oxygen. The next two ponds contain limestone to remove the acid.Pond five will capture any remaining metals.Then it will flow through a wetland before entering Indian creek.

Across the Ages

1.Stone Age 6,000 BC to 2,000 BC2.Bronze Age 2,500BC or 1,000AD3. Iron Age - most by 1,000BC

Bronze Age - Copper and TinBrass - Copper and zincSteel - iron and carbon

What age are we in now?

Mining law 18721.Encouraged western settlement2.File claims to hard rock minerals at $2.50-

5.00 an acre & keep all profits3.Oil and gas leases on federal lands require

the payment of royalties4.Legacy of law - superfund sites/acid

drainage5.Colorado has about 23,000 abandoned

hard-rock mine sites - more than 500,000 nation wide

Copperbasin (Ducktown) Tennessee

1960’s

Copperbasin (Ducktown) Reclamation

Smelting

Coke: what is coke?Hydrocarbon heated to remove volatiles to get pure carbon.

Copper Basin ReclamationProblem: 1. Copper Discovered 18432. Heap Roasting of ore3. Acid Precipitation4. 50 square miles turned to waste5. Dams lost 25% storage capacity

Solution:1. 1930’s remediation failed - kudzu2. 16 Million Acid tolerant pine and grass seeds broadcast3. Added lime and fertilizer4. Cost $500.00 per acre5. Erosion went from 200 tons to 8 annually6. Target completion date 2000

Summitville Colorado

Opened 1870

1985 Cyanide Heap Leaching - Canadian Company

1992 – Bankruptcy

Why are minerals located here?

Mineral Formation

1. Magmatic concentration - as magma cools it separates with silicates rising and iron, nickel, & copper sinking - layered by density

2. Hydrothermal processes - dissolved minerals mix with salts to form a metal-bearing complex - gold, silver, copper, lead & zinc

3. Sedimentation - dissolved minerals are deposited manganese, copper, sulfur & phosphorus - warm meets cold

4. Evaporation - lakes without outlets salt, borax, potassium, gypsum

Metallic and Non-Metallic Minerals

Source / Transport / Trapping

Salt Flats

Environmental Impacts

1. Disturbs large areas of land

2. Uses huge quantities of water - pump out groundwater for processing

3. Affects water and air quality - acid drainage & sulfur

4. Requires extensive energy input

5. Long term hazard

Hydraulic Mining

Environmental Implications of Minerals

Environmental Impacts of Refining Minerals

Cost Benefit Analysis1. Boom and bust job cycle

2. True cost has not been incorporated into cost-benefit analysis

•Cost: equipment, salaries, maintenance, mining operations, transport & fuel, insurance, safety, workers benefits, infrastructure and development of mine

•Benefits: jobs, purchases made by workers, local Vs larger economy

Costs not included: water & air pollution, workers health, remediation and clean-up (super fund), loss to fisheries…etc.

Long Term VS Short Term?

Environmental Implications of Minerals

Case-in-Point: Copper Basin, TN

The LawSurface Mining Control & Reclamation Act of 1997

•Only covers coal

•SMCRA created two programs: •one for regulating active coal mines•one for reclaiming abandoned mines

Phytoremediation - Thlaspi1. Absorbs Zinc & Cadmium2. Has an ability to concentrate heavy metals in plant parts

Advantages Disadvantages

Works on a variety of organic and inorganics

May take several years to remediate

Easy to implement Restricted to shallow sites

Low Cost Dependent on Climate

Environmentally friendly

Possible impacts on food chain

Pleasing to the eye Harvest can be classified as hazardous waste

Reduces waste to landfill

Human consumption of food a concern

International Sources - Stockpiling

The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and lithium.

Reserve Vs ResourceReserves:1. Have been located and quantified2. Can be extracted with current technology3. Can be extracted profitably

Resource:1. Does not yet qualify but located 2. Future technology may make accessible

• To Deep or under ocean3. Not profitable under current technology

• Low Grade• Contaminated• Drilled out as a reserve source

Total Resources = Reserve + Resource

Will We Run Out?

1. New Discoveries2. Replacement Materials - plastics3. Changing global economy4. Technology Changes5. Conservation

Future Trends

1. Deep Oceans - international waters2. Antarctica - should we - will we3. Biomining4. Design - dematerialization

KaolinChattahoochee, Ocmulgee, Oconee and Savannah Rivers where inland shipping was stopped by falls or rapids at the Fall Line.

Uses: paper, food additive, toothpaste, cosmetics…

Geology

Geo

log

y

Stone MT. in Bloom

Diamorphia Smallii

Confederate Daisy