Mining & Exploration For Mineral Resources
Mining & Exploration For Mineral Resources
Kaneko
K. Kaneko
Hokkaido University, Japan.
Contents
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1. Introduction
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2. Geologic Prospecting
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2.1. Ore Deposits Formed During Magmatic Process
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2.1.1. Separation and Concentration due to Crystallization in Basic Magma at Specific
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Places and at Specific Stages
2.1.2. Separation and Concentration due to Immiscibility in the Melt
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2.2. Hydrothermal Deposits
2.2.1. Porphyry-type Deposits
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3. Geophysical Prospecting
3.1. Gravity Survey
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Summary
Depletion of mineral resources often induces social crises and sometimes causes wars.
However, during the long history of human beings, total depletion of a single mineral
has never occurred. New discoveries and technology are adding to the reserves of
various mineral commodities at a rate that has exceeded depletion. Mineral exploration
leading to the discovery of new ore deposits and products is one of the most important
forces helping to fend off depletion. In section 1, the fundamentals and aims of mineral
exploration are briefly introduced. In section 2, the characteristics and formative
processes of mineral deposits are described for geologic prospecting. In sections 3 and 4,
the geophysical and geochemical prospecting methods widely used for mineral
explorations are described.
1. Introduction
The magnitude of the world's mineral production has increased sharply, and there is no
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sign that this growth is likely to stop in the near future. The growth rates of production
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and life expectancies of aluminum, crude steel, copper, zinc and energy over the past
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half century are illustrated in Figure 1.
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Growth rates increased radically after 1950, especially between 1950 and 1973. On the
other hand, life expectancies have remained nearly constant because new discoveries
and technology add to the reserves of mineral commodities at a rate that has exceeded
depletion, in order to satisfy growing demands. However, since the quantity of a
particular resource in the Earth's crust is physically limited, it is questionable whether
this condition is sustainable in the future. Therefore, most of our attention for the future
has been focused on potentially recoverable resources and exploration (see Mining
Engineering and Mineral Transportation).
Reserves, production and life expectancies are fundamental factors in forecasting the
supply and demand of mineral commodities. Current statistical data for 35 minerals are
summarized in Table 1.
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Be t 6,220 N.A. N.A. 720.9U.S.A. (82%) (16%)
Peru
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Bi t 3,620 110,000 30 8.49Mexico (35%) (28%)
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U.S.A
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B 1000t 4,817 170,000 35 0.37Turkey (32%) (28%)
Cd
H O t 18,764 600,000 32 0.31Japan (14%)
Canada
(11%)
Kazakh
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South Africa stan
Cr 1000t 14,000 3,700,000 264 0.063 (49%) (17%)
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Canada
Co t 29,900 4,500,000 151 37.52Congo (23%) (18%)
U.S.A.
Cu 1000t 12,288 340,000 28 1.67Chile (30%) (15%)
South Africa U.S.A.
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Brazil
Fe 1000t 1,041,571 74,000,000 71 0.025China (25%) (18%)
China
Pb 1000t 2,977 66,000 22 0.96Australia (23%) (18%)
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Russia
Si 1000t 3,400 N.A. N.A. 1.28China (27%) (13%)
Peru
Ag t 17,199 280,000 16 170Mexico (14%) (13%)
Spain
Sr t 304,000 6,800,000 22 0.07Mexico (40%) (31%)
Brazil
Ta t 495 19,000 38 74.96Australia (71%) (18%)
Brazil
Th t 7,800 1,200,000 154 82.5India (64%) (18%)
Indones
ia
Sn 1000t 216 7,700 36 8.06China (37%) (22%)
Norway
Ti 1000t 3,780 327,000 87 9.37Australia (53%) (16%)
Russia
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W t 31,000 2,000,000 65 47China (77%) (11%)
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South
Africa
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V t 42,800 10,000,000 234 4.39China (37%) (37%)
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Zn 1000t 7,977 190,000 24 1.17China (19%) a (15%)
South
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Africa
Zr t 941,000 36,000,000 38 20〜26 Australia (43%) (43%)
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etc.)
The reserves of Ag, Au, As, Sr, Pb, Zn are not sufficient for even 25 years at the current
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rate of production. Reserve life expectancies of 12 minerals including Cu, Mn, Mo, Cd,
Sn, etc., vary from 25 to 50 years. The total world reserves of other resources seem
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adequate for the next 50 years. As mentioned previously, new discoveries and advances
in mining technology have added to the reserves of various mineral commodities.
Reserves are not fixed. Additional reserves and cumulative consumption of 16 essential
metals over the period 1970-95 are shown in Figure 2. For gold, using 1970 as the index
(1970=100) of additional reserve, the 1970-95 increase in reserves is approximately
sevenfold, and cumulative consumption has more than tripled. In other words, six times
the gold reserves in 1970 were discovered and more than three times the 1970 reserves
were consumed during 1970-95. Currently, discoveries and technologies to increase the
reserves of many metals are divided in the following three categories.
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Figure 2: Additional Reserves and Cumulative Production of 16 Essential Metals
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between 1970-1995. (Revised from Nishiyama, T. (1995). Resource Depletion
Calculated by the Rate of the Reserve Plus Cumulative Consumption to the Crustal
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Abundance for Gold.
Nonrenewable Resources, Vol.4, No.3, p.258.)
Exploration strategies vary widely, dependent upon the mineral commodity species, the
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geologic and climatic environment, political and social restrictions, and available
resources. Exploration programs focus progressively on decreasing size, from large to
narrow research areas using methods increasing in cost per unit area, with a declining
risk of failure. The principal programs from reconnaissance surveys into detailed ones
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include three stages: (1) conventional prospecting consisting of the search for directly
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crosscuts.
2. Geologic Prospecting
Geology provides the framework in which mineral exploration and the integrated
procedures of remote sensing, geophysics, and geochemistry are planned and interpreted.
Mineral resources have been formed by a variety of processes and in various places
throughout the 4600 million year history of crustal development. The mineral deposits
can, for convenience, be classified into three types based on their formative processes
from magmatic to surface genesis, magmatic process, the process of solution-dominated
ore genesis, and the transport of particulate matter at the earth's surface.
Certain formations of igneous rocks may become concentrated into bodies of sufficient
size and richness to constitute valuable mineral deposits such as chromium, platinum
and REE. Representatives of magmatic concentration are many and widespread, but the
products yielded are not numerous. Chemical and mineralogical evolution is attended by
the formation and segregation of two groups associated with ultra-basic and acidic
magma.
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famous example of this type of deposit is the Bushveld Igneous Complex in South
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Africa, where stratiform bands of chromite of remarkably uniform thickness lie parallel
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to the pseudo-stratification of the enclosing mafic igneous rocks and can be traced for
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several kilometers (Figure 3). Even more remarkable is another thin layer of pyroxenite,
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the "Merensky Reef" horizon, bounded above and below by thin layers of chromite that
contain economic quantities of platinum. Currently this layer has supplied most of the
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world's demand for platinum
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Nickel-copper deposits associated with basic and ultrabasic rocks and REE,
niobium-tantalum deposits associated with alkali rocks are well known as typical of this
group. Although metallic oxides do not or rarely form immiscible phases in silicate
magma, it has been proved that an immiscible sulfide melt, which concentrates copper
and nickel, occurs during crystallization. The Sudbury irruptive, which has for a long
time been the most important source of nickel, is formed in this manner. Deposits
consisting of nickel-copper ores, with accompanying platinum, gold, silver, and other
elements are in a stratiform complex composed of the lower norite and the upper
micropegmatite (Figure 4).
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Figure 4: Geological Map of Sudbury Region (After South et al., 1969.)
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Carbonatite consisting of alkaline rocks such as nepheline syenite is also an example of
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immiscible liquid segregation. The carbonatites of economic importance are mostly
associated with a source of rare-earth elements, Nb, Ta, U, Th, Zr and Hf etc.
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Bibliography
Rose A. W., Hawkes H. E. and Webb J. S.(1979). Geochemistry in Mineral Exploration, Academic
Press, New York
Sasaki, A., Ishihara, S. and Seki, Y. (1985). Mineral Resources and Engineering Geology, Chichester:
John Wiley & Sons. [This book provides some genetic topics of ore deposits. ]
Biographical Sketches
Takashi Nishiyama (born 1939) is a professor emeritus at Kyoto University and at the time the research
for this article was started, a professor of Department of Energy and Technology, Graduate School of
Energy Science, Kyoto University. He studied in Mining Engineering Department at Kyoto University
and obtained a degree of Dr. Eng.
Katsuhiko Kaneko (born 1950) is working as a professor of Division of Environment and Resources
Engineering, Hokkaido University. He studied in Mining Engineering Department at Kyoto University
and obtained a degree of Dr. Eng. He also worked for the Department of Resources Engineering,
Kumamoto University, for eighteen years.
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