1 Environmental Geology and Earth Resources Chapter 11 ECONOMIC GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY • Metals – Metals consumed in greatest quantity by world industry (metric tons annually): • Iron (740 million) • Aluminum (40 million) • Manganese (22.4 million) • Copper and Chromium (8 million ea) • Nickel (0.7 million) Strategic Metals and Minerals • Durable, highly valuable, and easily portable, gemstones and precious metals have been a way to store and transport wealth. – These valuable materials have bankrolled despots, criminal gangs, and terrorism in many countries. – Much of the illegal trade ends up in the $100 billion per year global jewelry trade, two-thirds of which sells in the U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF RESOURCE EXTRACTION • Mining – Placer Mining - Hydraulically washing out metals deposited in streambed gravel. • Destroys streambeds and fills water with suspended solids. – Strip-Mining or Open-Pit Mining • Large scars on land surface. • Tailings – Toxic runoff – Underground Mining • Very Dangerous – Gas – Inhaling Particulate Matter – Tunnel Collapse • Environmental Dangers… http://geology.cr.usgs.gov/pub/open-file-reports/ofr-95-0023/summit.htm Polluted waters over 70 km downstream After making $98 Million in gold, declared bankruptcy in 1992 EPA Superfund site- over $120 million to clean it up
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ECONOMIC GEOLOGY AND Environmental Geology and Earth ...Environmental Geology and Earth Resources Chapter 11 ECONOMIC GEOLOGY AND MINERALOGY •Metals –Metals consumed in greatest
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1
Environmental Geology and Earth
ResourcesChapter 11
ECONOMIC GEOLOGY AND
MINERALOGY• Metals
– Metals consumed in greatest quantity by world industry
(metric tons annually):
• Iron (740 million)
• Aluminum (40 million)
• Manganese (22.4 million)
• Copper and Chromium (8 million ea)
• Nickel (0.7 million)
Strategic Metals and Minerals
• Durable, highly valuable, and easily portable, gemstones and precious
metals have been a way to store and transport wealth.
– These valuable materials have bankrolled despots, criminal gangs, and
terrorism in many countries.
– Much of the illegal trade ends up in the $100 billion per year global
jewelry trade, two-thirds of which sells in the U.S.
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
OF RESOURCE EXTRACTION• Mining
– Placer Mining - Hydraulically washing out metals deposited in streambed gravel.• Destroys streambeds and fills water with suspended solids.
– Strip-Mining or Open-Pit Mining• Large scars on land surface.