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UA SWES 210 - Minerals and Mining

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SWES 210 1st Edition Lecture 18 Outline of Last Lecture I. Agro-ecologya. Input farming= conventional farmingb. Defining organicOutline of Current Lecture II. Obtaining mineralsIII. Removing mineral depositsIV. A mining method: placer miningV. Surface miningVI. Metal from oresVII. Copper miningVIII. Mining in AZIX. Copper oxidesX. Copper sulfidesXI. ASARCOCurrent Lecture- Obtaining mineralso Mining the earth’s crusto Recycling- component reused or completely broken down and separated into minerals/metals for new manufacture (urban mining)o Mining approaches depend on location and abundance/ concentration of the desired material . compare coal and copper- Removing mineral depositso Shallow mineral deposits are removed by surface mining by: Removing vegetation Removing the overburden or soil and rock overlying a useful mineral dposit Placing waste material set aside in piles, called spoilso 20% of the tar sands deposits can be surface minedo coal= surface (strip) mining is useful and economical for extracting mineral deposits that lie in large horizontal beds close to the earth’s surface (coal is a good example) strip mining removes soilo mountaintop removal- coal in west Virginia entire mountaintop blasted away and removed, waste is dumped into vallys used for coal mining in Appalachian mountains economically efficient “vally filling”These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute. pollutes streams, deforests areas, erosion, mudslides, flashfloods- a mining method: placer miningo using running water, miners sift through material in riverbedso used for gold, gemso debris washed into streams makes them uninhabitable for wildlifeo disturbes stream banks, causes erosiono harms riparian plant communities- surface miningo open pit miningo copper mines usually are thiso subsurface mining removes minerals from underground through tunnels and shaftso only used when ores are too deep to be extracted by surface miningo most dangerous form of mining dynamite blasts, collapsed tunnels toxic fumes and coal dusto acid drainage , polluted groundwater- metal from oreso ores= a mineral or grouping of minerals from which metals are extractedo economically valuable metals include copper, iron lead, gold, and aluminum - copper miningo demand and productiong continue to increaseo finite natural resourceo recycling is an option (80% of mined copper is still in use)o copper production in millions of tons/yearo copper prices increased dramtically in last decadeo Bingham Canyon Mine- Kennecott copper mine Largest manmade excavation made on earth (2.5 miles wide, .6 miles deep) 2nd largest producer of copper in US- mining in AZo Morenci mine= largest copper mine in the USo Active for almost a century and a halfo Million tons of rock removed every dayo AZ produces 60% of all US produced coppero General mining act of 1872=hard-rock mining precedence over other uses of federal land. Nearly impossible to block extraction, no matter how serious the potential consequences. Soaring metal prices are now driving new mine proposals across the westo AZ has 12 large scale mining operations near green valley south of Tucson- Focus on coppero 2 major categories of copper minerals= copper oxides found near surface in weathered zones (cuprite), and copper sulfides (chalcopyrite)o ore typically contains ~1% coppero oxides and sulfides are processed differently to yield pure (99.99%) copper- copper oxideso dissolves in acid. Makes it possible to extract the copper from the ore without heating it up (smelting)o crushed and placed on lined pad in a heap (i.d. heap leaching). And sulfuric acid is applied at top of pile and the dissolved metals are “leached” out of the ore and are carried with the water to the drainage basin below.o The copper in the solution is then solvent extracted and placed in a giant electrolysis cell(like a car battery) and the copper is plated out as sheets (electrowinning)o Known as solvent interaction/ electrowinning (SXEW)- Copper sulfideso The ore is crushed in a ball milling operation and converted to copper concentration (30% copper ) through flotation and dewatering. It is then sent to a smelter where it is further processed to produce copper sheets- ASARCO= Amarillo TXo After the smelter- final purificationo Copper anodes are hung in tanks containing a liquid electrolyte of copper sulfate and sulfuric acido Thin pure copper cathods are suspended between the anodeso Electric current is applied and copper dissolves from the anode and is plated out on the cathodeo Impurities settle to the bottom of the


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UA SWES 210 - Minerals and Mining

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