Sustainability
and Stewardship
of Mineral
Resources in
Minnesota
Jim Miller
University of
Minnesota Duluth
Terminology and Definitions
Natural Resources – materials, and energy that occur naturally within the
Earth’s spheres. Many are essential for our survival, while others are used for
satisfying our wants.
Water Resources
• unlimited
• recycleable
• reuseable
Biological Resources
• renewable
• recycleable
• reuseable
Stuff
Wind and Solar
• unlimited
Mineral Resources
• non-renewable
• recycleable
• reuseable
“Sustainable Development is development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet
their own needs” (1984, United Nations Commission)
Stewardship - “administration, management, control, including
responsible use of resources” (Oxford English Dictionary Online)
Talk Outline
Iron Ore Mining
 What is Iron Ore?


Why is it here?
What is the future? – reclamation/re-use
Copper-Nickel-Precious Metal Deposits
 Why are they here?





Why does do they contain sulfur?
Why do we need these metals?
How will this be mined safely?
When will this be mined? -Stewardship
What happens when the mines close?
Iron Ore Mining (1884-Present)
Iron Formations of the
Lake Superior Region
Taconite Ore
Vermilion
Babbitt, MN
Natural Ore
Hematite Ore
Ispheming, MI
Chisolm, MN
BIOGENIC ORIGIN?
STROMATOLITES
(Fossilized Algal Mats)
Evidence of Early Life
LTV Mine, MN
Shark Bay, Australia
Mary Ellen Mine, MN
Rocheleau Natural Ore Pit
Hull Rust
Dunka
Pit Taconite Mine
Laurentian Vision Partnership
Reclamation and Re-use of the Mesabi Range
A Looming
Stewardship
Question for
Minnesotans:
Should we
develop this
immense
copper-nickelprecious
metal mineral
resource?
_______________
THE
MIDCONTINENT
RIFT
_______________
An attempt at
continental rifting
1.1 billion years
ago
Cu-Ni-PGE Sulfide Deposits of the Duluth Gabbro Complex
S
S
The Role of Sulfur in Concentrating Metals
Most of the world’s metal comes from sulfide minerals
Chalcopyrite
CuFeS2
Bornite
Cu5FeS4
Chalcocite
Cu2S
Pentlandite
(Fe,Ni)9S8
Cinnabar
HgS
Sphalerite
ZnS
Molybdenite
MoS2
Galena
PbS
Cobaltite
CoAsS
United States –
The #1 consumer of
mineral resources,
but produces
little for itself
% Mined by US
Metal vs. Total Mining
Copper
% Imported for
US consumption
7.7%
40%
(Chile (30%), US, Indonesia, Peru)
Nickel
0%
54%
(Russia, Australia, Canada, Indonesia)
Cobalt
0%
78%
(Congo (30%), Zambia, Australia, Canada)
Palladium
6.6%
78%
(Russia (44%), South Africa (38%))
Statistics from US Geological Survey
Mineral Commodity Summaries, Jan. 2006
COPPER
An Important Metal in a Green Economy
NW Mining Association, 2009
Cu in a Standard Car with
Combustion Engine
43-55 lbs
Cu in a Prius
80 lbs
US consumption
from recycled Cu
2010
35%
Data from USGS Mineral
Commodity Summary
PGE – Platinum Group Elements
Pt – Platinum, Pd – Palladium, Os – Osmium, Ru – Ruthenium, Rh – Rhodium, Ir - Iridium
Bushveld Complex
South Africa
Supplying the 70% of the World’s Platinum
Merensky Reef, Amplats Mine, Rustenburg, SA
Merensky Reef, Eastern Bushveld Complex
Pd
Uses
Palladium:
“The Environmental Metal”
Noril’sk, Russia
Ni-Cu-PGE Deposits
Supplies 60% of the World’s Palladium
Sulfide Smelter in Monchegorsk, Russia
In 1998, responsible for 50% of SO2
in the northern hemisphere
The Stillwater Mine (Montana)
Only Precious Metals Mine in the U.S.
(owned by Noril’sk Nickel)
PolyMet Mine Plan
Re-Use as One Form of Sustainability
Re-Use of
LTV
Taconite
Facilities
Rod and Ball Mills
Tailings Basin
Mill
Crusher
Secondary
Crusher
Mill
Primary
Crusher
Separating
Metal from
Sulfur
THEN
Roasting/Smelting
NOW
Hydrometallurgy
Sudbury, Ont.
Monchegorsk, Russia
The Concern and the Challenge Acid Mine Drainage
2FeS2(s) + 7O2(g) +
2H2O(l) →
2Fe2+(aq) + 4SO42-(aq)
+ 4H+(aq)
Building Environmental Safeguards
During Mining
Reclamation of Sulfide Mines
Flambeau Mine, Ladysmith, WI
Before (~1990)
After (2005)
During (1993-1997)
Copper and
Nickel
Resources
of the Duluth
Complex
WORLD
CLASS!
That will be
mined....
SOMEDAY
Hulbert & Ekstrand, 2008
STEWARDSHIP:
the individual’s
responsibility to
manage his life
and property with
proper regard to
the rights of
others
Webster’s Ninth New
Collegiate Dictionary (1987)
Responsible
stewardship of mineral
resources demands that
we make sensible and
fair choices of where,
how, and when to
acquire critical
resources we need for
today and for the future.