Geologic Resources
Mineral Resource
• A mineral resource can be defined broadly as the concentration of material of
economic interest in or on the Earth’s crust.
• In this course, it includes solid earth materials such as metals (i.e., copper, gold,
iron), industrial minerals (e.g., fluorite, quartz), and rocks (e.g., limestone, sand,
gravel).
• The reason to introduce the word solid is that some fuel resources, mainly oil and
gas, are not solid materials, and their mining cycle is completely different from
other raw materials cited. This restriction is not valid for fuel resources that are
solid ones (e.g., coal, tar sands, and bituminous shales) and whose exploration,
evaluation, exploitation, mineral processing, and reclamation stages present
similar guidelines that those involved for metals or industrial minerals and rocks.
• A mineral is «an element or chemical compound that is normally crystalline and
that has been formed as a result of geological processes» (International
Mineralogical Association).
• A mineral deposit:
• a concentration of mineral of possible economic interest,
• a concentration of mineral resources profitable to extract (always in or on the Earth’s crust).
• Sometimes, the rocks can be profitable to extract, usually as industrial rocks (e.g.,
limestone for cement or granite for ornamental rock). In these cases, the term
mineral deposit is usually applied.
•a
• Ore is the material that is extracted for treatment.
• «technically, it (ore) is an aggregation of ore minerals and gangue from which one
or more metals may be extracted at a profit» (Bateman 1950).
• On the contrary, gangue means the valueless mineral particles or crystals within
an ore, while waste is the material that must be mined to obtain the ore.
Geologic Resources and Earth’s Systems
• Geologic resources - valuable materials of geologic origin that can be
extracted from the Earth
– Many geologic resources originate in the hydrosphere
• Petroleum and coal come from organisms that lived and died in water
• Halite (salt) and other evaporite minerals come from dry lake beds
– Weathering interactions between geosphere, atmosphere and hydrosphere produce
metal oxide ores
– Humans (biosphere) interact directly with the geosphere, hydrosphere, and
atmosphere when extracting and utilizing geologic resources
– Groundwater (hydrosphere) is a renewable geologic resource
• If it can’t be grown, it must be mined
Types of Geologic Resources
Three major categories:
Energy resources: petroleum
(oil and natural
gas), coal, uranium, geothermal resources:
Geothermal Heated Homes
Hot Springs
Geothermal Geysers
Metals: iron, copper, aluminium, lead, zinc, gold,
silver, platinum
Non-metallic resources: sand
and gravel,
limestone, building stone, salt, sulphur, gems,
gypsum, phosphates, groundwater, etc.
Resources and Reserves
• Resources: the total amount of a valuable
geologic material in all deposits, discovered
and undiscovered
• Reserves: discovered deposits of geologic
resources that can be extracted economically
and legally under present conditions
– The short-term supply of a geologic materials
Energy Resources - Coal
• Fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, and coal)
account for nearly 90% of U.S. energy
• Coal is a sedimentary rock that forms from
the compaction of plant material that has
not completely decayed
– Forms from shallow burial and compaction of
peat
Energy Resources - Coal
• Four varieties of coal
– Lignite (brown coal) is soft and crumbly
– Sub-bituminous and bituminous coal (soft coal)
• black and dusty
• burn with a smoky flame
• commonly strip-mined
– Anthracite (hard coal)
• shiny and dust-free
• burns with a smokeless flame
• low-level metamorphic rock
• Burning of high-sulfur coal can produce acid rain; strip
mines can scar landscape
• U.S. coal reserves could last for centuries
Energy Resources
-Petroleum
• Petroleum - oil and natural gas - occurs in
underground pools
• Occurrence of oil pools requires:
– A source rock (rich in organic matter)
– A reservoir rock in which it can be stored and
transmitted (e.g., sandstone)
– An oil trap (set of conditions holding rock in reservoir
rock and preventing migration)
– Deep enough burial (and sufficient time) to “cook” the
oil and gas out of the organic matter
Structural Traps
for Gas and Oil
2300 m – 4600 m = Oil formation
4600+ m
= Gas formation
Energy Resources - Petroleum
Eroded anticline forms trap in Landers oil field in Wyoming.
Other Oil Traps in Geological Structures
Petroleum Recovery
• Oil fields are regions underlain by one or
more oil pools
– Largest in U.S. are in Texas and Alaska
• Oil and natural gas are removed through wells
drilled down into an oil trap within a reservoir rock
• Negative environmental effects resulting from oil
recovery and transport include oil spills, brine
contamination of surface water,
and ground
subsidence
Oil Peak, Oil Panic ?
(Study by Amos Nur - Stanford)
U.S., Canada, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, UK, are the biggest
consumers of oil reserves worldwide.
Oil Peaks – 1960's
In the 1850's oil mainly used for kerosene
lamps – remaining was burned or
disgarded.
Current oil production rates peaked
in 1960's but U.S. consumption rates
increase dramatically above this.
Don't panic!
-Try to conserve energy
-Seek alternative energy sources
Petroleum Reserves
At current rate of use, worldwide oil reserves should last 30-40 years, and natural gas reserves
somewhat longer (estimates from USGS)
Petroleum Reserves
• As petroleum prices rise, alternate petroleum sources,
such as heavy crude, oil shale and oil sand, will
be increasingly exploited
– Heavy crude is dense, viscous petroleum
– Oil shale is black or brown shale with high solid organic matter
content from which oil can be extracted by distillation
– Oil sands (or tar sands) are asphalt-cemented sand or sandstone
deposits
Jobs and Salaries in Geology
Starting salaries for petroleum geologists with 0-2 yrs experience.
Mixture of B.S. and M.S. Degrees.
Jobs and Salaries in Geology
Geologists in Environmental (e.g. EPA, Geotechnical firms) and
Geologists in Government make $ 50 K – 75 K
Geology Ph.D. faculty starting salaries in 2007 ($70 K – 80 K)\
Metals and Ores
• Metal ores - naturally occurring materials that can be
profitably mined
• Whether or not a mineral deposit is an ore depends on
chemical composition, the percent extractable metal,
and current market value of the metal
• Metallic ore deposits originate from crystal settling
in igneous intrusions, hydrothermal fluids cooling in
pores and factures, chemical precipitation in water,
or sedimentation in
rivers (placers)
Mining and Metals
• Mining can be done at Earth’s surface (strip mines,
open-pit mines, and placer mines) or underground
– Metals mined include iron, copper, aluminum, lead, zinc,
silver, gold and many others
• With care, negative environmental effects of
mining, including unsightly tailings piles, surface
scars, land subsidence, and acid mine drainage can
be minimized
Non-metallic Resources
• Non-metallic resources - not mined to extract a metal or
an energy source
– construction materials
• sand, gravel, limestone, and gypsum
– agriculture
• phosphate, nitrate and potassium compounds)
– industrial uses
• rock salt, sulfur, asbestos)
– gemstones
• diamonds, rubies, etc.
– household and business products
• glass sand, fluorite, diatomite, graphite)
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