Economic geology is the study of fuels, metals, and other materials Mineral Deposits

from the earth that are of interest to industry or the economy in • Economic Minerals
general. It is concerned with the distribution of resources, the costs and • Minerals that can be extracted, processed, and marketed at a
benefits of their recovery, and the value and availability of existing profit
materials. These materials include ore (rocks or minerals possessing Mineral deposits can be classified on the basis of the mechanisms
economic value) as well as fossil fuels, which embrace a range of responsible for concentrating the valuable substance.
products from petroleum to coal. Masonry stones and gasoline, • Magmatic Mineral Deposits
gypsum wallboard and jewelry, natural gas, and table salt—these and • Hydrothermal Mineral Deposits
many more products are the result of efforts in the broad field known • Sedimentary Mineral Deposits
as economic geology. • Placer Mineral Deposits
Economic geology affects our daily life in many ways because this • Metamorphic Deposits
branch of geology is rooted in several disciplines of geologic sciences.
Mining
Why do we have to learn Economic Geology? One of the reasons is to Mining is the removal of minerals and metals from earth
know how, why, and where the minerals are concentrated in specific Here are some examples of what is being mined:
rock structures and to know how to search or find these concentrations • Copper
• Tin
4 CARING PRINCIPLES OF OUR PLANET • Nickel
1. Reduce the dependence on fossil fuels and heavy metals • Diamond
2. Reduce dependence on synthetic chemicals • Gold
3. Reduce destruction of our nature
4. Ensure we are not stopping people globally from meeting their Types of Mining Process
needs Surface mining
Including strip mining, open-pit mining, and mountaintop removal
Ores mining, is a broad category of mining (Links to an external site.) in
• A Metalliferous mineral or an aggregate of metalliferous which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposits are removed
minerals mixed with gangue, which can be extracted at a profit.
• A Natural occurrence of rock or sediment that contains Underground mining
sufficient minerals with economically important elements, Underground or Sub-surface mining involves the digging of a network
typically metals. The ores are extracted at a profit from earth of shafts and tunnels into the earth to reach and extract the deposit of
through mining; and they are refined. ore or mineral beneath the earth.
• Metalliferous black shade are organic-reach rocks that are
normally deeper in metallics elements like Mo, Ni, Si, P, S, Al, Mining - Open pit and Underground
Fe, Co, Cu, Pb, U, Mn, and as localized in specific horizons To define the ore from the waste rock, samples are taken and assayed.
Analogy of Gangue: Assay results are used to mark out areas of ore and waste rock, which
• Ore- has value, good stuff inside the gangue are mined separately. Some of the harder areas require blasting to
• Gangue- no economic value, the coating layer of ore, other loosen the rock prior to excavation by hydraulic diggers. Dump trucks
minerals that are not valuable. haul the rock to the primary crushers in the open pit or to the ore
stockpiles from underground.
CRUSHING WATER TREATMENT
The primary crushers located at the open pit mine site, receive ore and Excess water is pumped to the water treatment plant and treated to the
waste at separate times. They break the larger rocks down to a size required standards before discharge into the Ohinemuri River.
suitable for transport on the conveyor belt.
TAILINGS DISPOSAL
TRANSPORT Some water from dewatering the mine, from the embankment
A rubber belted conveyor transports the ore and waste rock from the underdrains and decant water from the tailings pond is recycled for use
open pit, approximately two kilometers, via a tunnel through Union in the grinding circuit.
Hill, to the mill and waste rock embankments. Large electromagnets
remove any steel debris excavated from the old Martha Mine Various Causes of Mining
workings. • advancement in technology
• urbanization and increased population growth
GRINDING AND SIZING • substitutes for minerals
Ore from both open pit and underground is stockpiled separately at the • economic foundation in some countries
mill before being fed into a S.A.G. mill with lime, water, and steel
balls. The larger particles from this mill are returned to the S.A.G. mill DIFFERENT IMPACTS OF MINING
for more grinding. The finer particles receive more grinding in a ball Mining on Human Health
mill, and are size classified to give a final product of 80% < microns. • Respiratory complications
• Injuries and fatalities
LEACHING AND ABSORPTION • Cancers due to radioactive material exposure
A slurry of ground ore, water and a weak cyanide solution is fed into • Poisoning and organ damage due to heavy metals exposure
large steel leach tanks where the gold and silver are dissolved.
Following this leaching process, the slurry passes through six Mining on environment
adsorption tanks containing carbon granules which adsorb the gold and • Water pollution
silver. This process removes 93% of the gold and 70% of the silver. • Erosion
• Effects on biodiversity
ELUTION AND ELECTROWINNING • Bio magnification
The loaded carbon is fed into an elution column where the bullion is • Effect on aquatic animals
washed off. The barren carbon is recycled. The wash solution— • Destruction and loss of vegetation cover
pregnant electrolyte—is passed through electrowinning cells where
gold and silver are won onto stainless steel cathodes. Mining on economy
• Providing livelihood to local communities
BULLION PRODUCTION • Generating income for the local government thereby
The loaded cathodes are rinsed to yield a gold and silver bearing directly contributing to its economy
sludge which is dried, mixed with fluxes and put into the furnace. • Promoting a more efficient use of energy, saving people
After several hours the molten material is poured into a cascade of money
molds producing bars of doré bullion. • Promoting environmental awareness through rehabilitation
programs resulting to more renewable sources than ever
GEOCHEMISTRY Origin of the Elements
• The field of geochemistry involves study of the chemical Approximately 73% of the mass of the visible universe is in the form
composition of the Earth and other planets, chemical processes of hydrogen. Helium makes up about 25% of the mass, and everything
and reactions that govern the composition of rocks and soils, else represents only 2%. While the abundance of these more massive
and the cycles of matter and energy that transport the Earth's ("heavy", A > 4) elements seems quite low, it is important to
chemical components in time and space, and their interaction remember that most of the atoms in our bodies and Earth are a part of
with the hydrosphere and the atmosphere. this small portion of the matter of the universe. The low-mass
elements, hydrogen, and helium, were produced in the hot, dense
• Geochemistry is the science that uses the tools and principles conditions of the birth of the universe itself. The birth, life, and death
of chemistry to explain the mechanisms behind major of a star is described in terms of nuclear reactions. The chemical
geological systems such as the Earth's crust and its oceans. The elements that make up the matter we observe throughout the universe
realm of geochemistry extends beyond the Earth, were created in these reactions.
encompassing the entire Solar System, and has made important
contributions to the understanding of a number of processes PLANETARY DIFFERENTIATION
including mantle convection, the formation of planets and the In planetary science, planetary differentiation is the process of
origins of granite and basalt. separating out different constituents of a planetary body as a
consequence of their physical or chemical behavior, where the body
SUBSET OF GEOCHEMISTRY develops into compositionally distinct layers; the denser materials of a
1. Isotope geochemistry involves the determination of the relative and planet sink to the center, while less dense materials rise to the surface,
absolute concentrations of the elements and their isotopes in the earth generally in a magma ocean. Such a process tends to create a core and
and on earth's surface. mantle. Sometimes a chemically distinct crust forms on top of the
Examination of the distribution and movements of elements in mantle. The process of planetary differentiation has occurred on
different parts of the earth (crust, mantle, hydrosphere etc.) and in planets, dwarf planets, the asteroid 4 Vesta, and natural satellites (such
minerals with the goal to determine the underlying system of as the Moon).
distribution and movement.
2. Cosmochemistry includes the analysis of the distribution of METEORITES
elements and their isotopes in the cosmos. A meteorite is the term given to a piece of a comet or asteroid that falls
3. Biogeochemistry is the field of study focusing on the effect of life into the Earth’s atmosphere and survives to hit the surface. These
on the chemistry of the earth. objects come in three easy-to-remember categories: stony, metallic,
4. Organic geochemistry involves the study of the role of processes and stony metallic.
and compounds that are derived from living or once-living organisms.
5. Aqueous geochemistry studies the role of various elements in ISOTOPE GEOCHEMISTRY
watersheds, including copper, sulfur, mercury, and how elemental Isotope geochemistry is an attribute of relative and absolute
fluxes are exchanged through atmospheric-terrestrial-aquatic concentration of elements and their isotopes in Earth. Variations in the
interactions. abundance of these isotopes can be measured by an isotope ratio mass
6. Regional, environmental and exploration geochemistry includes spectrometer. The information reveals the age of rocks and minerals,
applications to environmental, hydrological, and mineral exploration or source of air and water. The study of isotopes is divided into:
studies. (1) Stable isotope; and
(2) Radiogenic isotope geochemistry.
STABLE ISOTOPE Summary-6
Stable Isotope Geochemistry is an introduction to the use of stable
isotopes in the geosciences. It is subdivided into three parts: Why do we have to learn Economic Geology?
• Theoretical and experimental principles One of the reasons is to know how, why, and where the minerals are
• Fractionation processes of light and heavy elements concentrated in specific rock structures and to know how to search or
• The natural variations of geologically important reservoirs. find these concentrations.
Since the application of stable isotopes to earth sciences has grown in Mining is the removal of minerals and metals from earth.
the last few years, a new edition appears necessary. Here are some examples of what is being mined: copper, tin, nickel,
diamond, and gold
RADIOACTIVE ISOTOPE Types of Mining Process
Radioactive (unstable) isotopes are nuclei that spontaneously 1. Surface mining
disintegrate over time to form other isotopes. During the Including strip mining, open-pit mining, and mountaintop removal
disintegration, radioactive isotopes emit alpha or beta particles and mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying
sometimes also gamma rays. The so-called stable isotopes are nuclei the mineral deposits are removed.
that do not appear to decay to other isotopes on geologic timescales, 2. Underground mining
but may themselves be produced by the decay of radioactive isotopes. Underground or Sub-surface mining involves the digging of a network
of shafts and tunnels into the earth to reach and extract the deposit of
GEOTHERMOMETRY ore or mineral beneath the earth.
Chemical geothermometers are used to estimate reservoir temperatures
for most of the systems. The geothermometers are based on Mining Process
temperature- dependent, water-rock reactions which control the • mining-open pit and underground
chemical and isotopic composition of the thermal water. This method • crushing
is applicable only to hot-water systems because the common chemical • transport
constituents of thermal water (SiO2, Na, K, Ca, Mg, Cl, HCO3, and • grinding and sizing
CO3) are soluble in liquid water but lack significant solubility in • leaching and absorption
steam. • elution and electrowinning
• bullion production
GEOCHRONOLOGY • water treatment
Field of scientific investigation concerned with determining the age • tailing disposal
and history of Earth’s rocks and rock assemblages. Such time
determinations are made and the record of past geologic events is Different impacts of mining
deciphered by studying the distribution and succession of rock strata, Various Causes of Mining
as well as the character of the fossil organisms preserved within the • advancement in technology
strata. • urbanization and increased population growth
• substitutes for minerals
• economic foundation in some countries

Mining on Human Health

 • Respiratory complications 7. Regional, environmental and exploration geochemistry includes
• Injuries and fatalities applications to environmental, hydrological, and mineral exploration
• Cancers due to radioactive material exposure studies.
• Poisoning and organ damage due to heavy metals exposure

Mining on environment
• Water pollution
• Erosion
• Effects on biodiversity
• Bio magnification
• Effect on aquatic animals
• Destruction and loss of vegetation cover

Geochemistry
Geochemistry is the science that uses the tools and principles of
chemistry to explain the mechanisms behind major geological systems
such as the Earth's crust and its oceans. The realm of geochemistry
extends beyond the Earth, encompassing the entire Solar System, and
has made important contributions to the understanding of a number of
processes including mantle convection, the formation of planets and
the origins of granite and basalt.
Subsets of Geochemistry
1. Isotope geochemistry involves the determination of the relative and
absolute concentrations of the elements and their isotopes in the earth
and on earth's surface.
2. Examination of the distribution and movements of elements in
different parts of the earth (crust, mantle, hydrosphere etc.) and in
minerals with the goal to determine the underlying system of
distribution and movement.
3. Cosmochemistry includes the analysis of the distribution of
elements and their isotopes in the cosmos.
4. Biogeochemistry is the field of study focusing on the effect of life
on the chemistry of the earth.
5. Organic geochemistry involves the study of the role of processes
and compounds that are derived from living or once-living organisms.
6. Aqueous geochemistry studies the role of various elements in
watersheds, including copper, sulfur, mercury, and how elemental
fluxes are exchanged through atmospheric-terrestrial-aquatic
interactions.