ME551/GEO551 INTRODUCTION TO GEOLOGY OF INDUSTRIAL MINERALS SPRING 2011 BASIC CONCEPTS: GEOLOGY, MINING, AND PROCESSING OF THE INDUSTRIAL MINERALS,Virginia McLemore,OUTLINE,Definitions Life cycle of a mine Classification of reserves and resources Geology of industrial minerals Field notes Sampling,DEFINITIONS,A mineral occurrence is any locality where a useful mineral or material is found.,A mineral prospect is any occurrence that has been developed by underground or by above ground techniques, or by subsurface drilling to determine the extent of mineralization.,The terms mineral occurrence and mineral prospect do not have any resource or economic implications.,A mineral deposit is any occurrence of a valuable commodity or mineral that is of sufficient size and grade (concentration) that has potential for economic development under past, present, or future favorable conditions.,An ore deposit is a well-defined mineral deposit that has been tested and found to be of sufficient size, grade, and accessibility to be extracted (i.e. mined) and processed at a profit at a specific time. Thus, the size and grade of an ore deposit changes as the economic conditions change. Ore refers to industrial minerals as well as metals.,Generally, industrial minerals are any rock, mineral, or naturally occurring substance or closely related man-made material of economic value, generally excluding metals, fuels, and gemstones.,“Without a market, an industrial mineral deposit is merely a geological curiosity” Demand feeds back from the end-use market, to the end product, to the intermediate end product, and finally back to the mineral supplier. Customer specifications include physical and chemical and other criteria,Classification of mineral resources on U.S. Federal Land,Locatable Minerals are whatever is recognized as a valuable mineral by standard authorities, whether metallic or other substance, when found on public land open to mineral entry in quality and quantity sufficient to render a claim valuable on account of the mineral content, under the United States Mining Law of 1872. Specifically excluded from location are the leasable minerals, common varieties, and salable minerals.,Leasable Minerals The passage of the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as amended from time to time, places the following minerals under the leasing law: oil, gas, coal, oil shale, sodium, potassium, phosphate, native asphalt, solid or semisolid bitumen, bituminous rock, oil-impregnated rock or sand, and sulfur in Louisiana and New Mexico.,Salable Minerals The Materials Act of 1947, as amended, removes petrified wood, common varieties of sand, stone, gravel, pumice, pumicite, cinders, and some clay from location and leasing. These materials may be acquired by purchase only.,LIFE CYCLE OF A MINE,Stages of Mining,Exploration (discovery) Feasibility study Mine development Extraction/production Processing/beneficiation/milling Marketing Closure/post-mining use,http:/www.mndm.gov.on.ca/mndm/mines/mg/mgimages/cycle_e.pdf,EXPLORATION,Exploration,identification of areas with potential for discovery of an economic mineral deposit geology governs the quest surveys sampling geophysics drilling pits shafts, adits base-line/pre-existing conditions,Generation of new project ideas/targets,Corporate objectives Previous experience or knowledge Old mining districts Recent information Literature, including unpublished reports, theses, news releases New developments by other companies,Land Access,Is the area open to mineral exploration Who owns the land federal government state government private Indian other Transportation,SAMPLING AND ANALYSES,How are you going to sample? What are the end-use specifications? What processing must occur?,FEASIBILITY STUDY,FEASIBILITY STUDY,Is this property economic? What are the reserves? Can we mine this property? Can we market this product? What are the environmental consequences? What is the land status?,New technologies are being developed that will increase the chance of finding a new deposit, save money, disturb less land, and minimize affects on local communities and cultures.,Geologic methods,Robust thermodynamic and kinetic geochemical data and models New ore deposit models, especially for deposits with minimal impact on the environment More sophisticated 3-dimensional geological and ore reserve models Better geohydrologic models relating to mineral deposits, including industrial minerals deposits Geologic maps of mineralized areas Databases of mineral deposits and mineralized areas,Geochemical and geophysical methods,Hand-held and down-hole analytical instruments Improved cross-bore hole correlation methods and characterization Better understanding of element mobility in soils and water Drones (unmanned aircraft) for airborne geophysical methods Low-cost, seismic methods Better interpretation of remote sensing and hyperspectral data (Livo and Knepper, 2004) More sophisticated 3-dimensional geochemical, hydrological, and geop