yournotes.org: ENMU: Earth Resources Notes

Earth Resources Notes: Lecture One

Technologially advanced society
- -high standard of living taken for granted
- -virtually dependant on many difernt mineral resouces
- -virtualy dependant on massive amounts of energy
Resource use increases over time. Why?
- -population increases
- -technological advances
Metals(all)
- -electrical conductivity
- -shiny: silvery luster (technical def.)
- -thermal conductors
- -descriptors
  - -Malleable: shapeable (some metals)
    - -opposite: hard
  - -Ductile: deform quite a bit without breaking
    - -opposite: brittle
Abundant metals: >0.1% by weight of Earth's crust
- -large mineable deposits
- -abundant supplies
- -paresent in fairly common minerals
Scare metals: <0.1% by weight of Earth's crust
- -small deposits
- -not abundant
- -not present in common minerals
Energy Resouces
- -fossil fuels: oil, gas, coal, oil shale, tar sand
- -nucleur fuels
- -renewable resouces: solar, wind, etc.
Nonmettalic mineral resouces
- -fossil fuels: plastics
- -chemcial mineral: example: Halite >>NaCl
- -fertilizer: "Potash" Kcl >>> Phosphate deposits
- -refactory materials: material that withstand high temp. without melting or reacting with other materials
- -flux: lowers melting temp. and helps remove and separate impurities
- -pigment: something that adds color and nothing else, does not effect anything else in the material
Building materials: cement, dry wall, concrete

Economic production:

-labor
-equipment
-maintance
-energy
-transportation
-comody price/value
-exploration
-engineering
-environmental

Resource:

-natural material
-economic extraction currently or potentially feasible

Ore

-metalic reserves (Au ore)

Ore Deposit

-localized concentration of ore (Au deposit)

Rocks

Igneous
- -crystallize from magma
Sedimentary
Metamorphic
- -change old rocks by increasing temp. and sometimes pressure
Igneous
- -Plutonic(Intrusive): coasrser grain minerals
  - -form in the depth of earth's crust
- -Volcanic(Extrusive): fine grain minerals
  - -form on or near the earth's surface
  - (coarse: large crystals)(fine: small crystals)
  - (porphyritic texture: large crystals in a finer grain matrix ie chocolate chip cookie
- -Felsic
  - -lots of light minerals/ higher SiO2 (silica)
Sedimentary
- -Clastic (Greek: broken): made from fragments of preexisting rocks
- -Chemical: precipitate out of sea water
Metamorphic
- -Foliated (Layered)
- -Non-foliated: pressure was not important
Ores in Granites
- -generated in subduction zones along continental margins
- -Porphyry Cu and Mo
  - -Large open-pit deposits (Santa Rita and Questa, NM)
- -Pegmatites
  - -very coarse-grained
  - -fledspars, quartz, mica, Be, Li, REEs(Rare Earth Elements 58/90-71/103), gems
  - -Harding, NM
- -Hydrothermal veins(mineral filled fracture)
  - -Pb, Zn, Cu, Ag, Au, w/quartz or calcite as waste material
Ores in Basalts
- -Most important layered gabbroic (or mafic) intrusions
  - -minerals crystallize in sequence forming layers of different rock types
  - -Mg-Fe-rich and Si-poor at bottom; opposite at top
  - -ore minerals form nearly pure layers
- -Bushveld, South Africa
  - -platinum, chromite, V-rich magnetite layers
  - -largest concentration of these three elements in the world
- -Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
  - -Layers of Fe, Ni, Cu, and Co minerals
  - -important source of nickel for US
Metamorphic Rocks
- -Regional metamorphism (change in T and P)
  - -produces foliated rocks
  - -Marble, slate, garnets, Al-silicates for ceramics
- -Contact metamorphism (change in T)
  - -produces non-foliated rock
  - -skarns form where granite intrudes limestone
    - -Cu, Au, or Sn-rich
  - -gemsones: emerald, sapphire, and ruby
Surface Processes
- -concentration of sand and gravel
- -Breakdown of feldspars to form clays
- -deep leaching of soils in tropical regions can yield bauxite (Al ore)
- -placers: concentration of heavy minerals (Au, Pt, Sn, Ti oxides)
Marine Processes
- -evaporites: halite, gypsum etc.
- -marine sand and gravel
- -marine placers
- -limestone
- -phosphate and Mn nodules
- -black smokers
Chapter 3
Resource usage throughout history
- -300,000 ybp Paleolithic hunters searched for flint and obsidian
- -40,000 ybp use of pigments
  - -cave and body painting
  - -ochre (Fe oxides) and umber (Fe-rich clays
- -11,000 ybp discovery of making ceramics
- -8000 ybp use of other pigments in Turkey
  - -HgS- vermilion(red); MnO- wad (black)
  - -PbS- grey; SbS - stibio or kohl (black)
  - -Cu carbonates - green and blue
Early Metal Use I
- -native Cu probably first metal used
- -6500-6000 ybp smelting discovered
  - -smelting: separation of metal from minerals
  - -discovered accidentally(?) by heating Cu pigments
- -alloys discovered about this time
  - -Cu ore with As melted at lower temp, easier to cast, harder and stronger
  - -about 5000 ybp Sn replaced As = bronze Age
- -Au and Ag known from about 4000 B.C.
  - -Jason's search for Golden Fleece = ancient Au rush?
  - -Ag funded Athenian navy which defeated the Persians
- -Pb of little value until 1200 B.C. with development of plumbing and pewter
  - -pewter = Pb + Sn, Cu, or Sb
- -Fe artifacts date back to 2800 B.C.
  - -for 1500 year 5x more valuable than Au
  - -by 1300 B.C. Hittites discovered efficient smelting
  - -by 500 B.C. use is widespread
- -The 7 metals of antiquity (prior to 2000 ybp)
  - -Cu, Sn, Au, Ag, Pb, Fe, Hg
  - -Mn, Zn, and As used, but not known
- -Age of Exploration in 15th to 18th centuries
  - -Spanish and Portuguese to the New World
  - -British and Dutch to Africa
  - -all looking for new metals as well as sources for old metals
Early Nonmetal Use
- -Salt: important dietary supplement, trading commodity, antiseptic
  - -used in part to pay roman soldiers
  - -sal = latin word for salt
  - -Roman soldiers recieved a salarium = salary
  - -"worth his salt"
- -Stone working by Egyptians(pyramids) and Greeks(temples and statues)
Resources and War
- -April 1879 - Chile declares war on Peru and Bolivia for control of nitrate resouces in Atacama Desert
- -Germany annexes Alsace-Lorraine region after 1871 Franco-Prussian War for iron deposits
- -Germany increases holdings during WWI, made up for failure to do so earilier
- -German's develop moly mine at Climax, CO for arms
- -1930's
  - -British and French wanted to be self-sufficient as far as resources go
  - -Germany and Italy want return of colonies lost in WWI
  - -Italy invades Ethiopia; Germany annexed Austria
- -Beginning of WWII
  - -germany defeats france and regains Alsace-Lorraine region (Fe)
  - -moves toward Ukraine and Donets Basin for Fe ore, coking coal, and limestone
  - -generals want oil in southern Russia - Hitler wants to move to Stalingrad and Leningrad
  - -allied strategic objective: wipe out German oil industry
  - -Texas oilfield crews lay up to 50 miles pipe/day across Europe to supply troops oil piped directly from refineries in UK
Japan and WWII
- -Late 1800's begins empire building
- -late 1930's invades Manchuria, China for Fe and coal
- -July 1940 US puts sanctions on aviation gas
- -Sept 1940 US embargoes scrap Fe and steel; Japan signs Tripartite Pack creating Axis powers
- -July 1941 Japan invades Indochina - Britain, Dutch East Indies, and US cut off all oil (90% lost)
- -Sept. 3, 1941 plan to go to war with US if embargo not lifted by October
- -Dec. 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor bombed - oil fields of Dutch East Indies siezed
Mineral Usage
- 1770-1900 World Pop. increased 2x mineral production. increased 10x
- 1900-1970 World pop. increased 2.3x mineral production increased 12x
- 1970-2000 world pop. increased 2x mineral production increased 3x
- 1875 US was suffiecient upto
relaiance on import is very volitile to local and national economies
Countries with large resource income
- -middle east countries: >90% income from oil
- -ecuador, trinidad, venezuaela: nearly all from oil
- -Jamaica: Al ore
- -Nauru: bird guano
- -Zaire: 60% from Cu and Co
- -South Africa: 50% from Cr PGMs Au, diamonds
- -Australia: 40% from mix of metals
Purchasing Resources
- -long term contracts
  - -large volume users: power utilities, steel mills, etc.
  - -Quantity and price agreed on
- -spot or open market
  - -short term supply or one-time purchase
  - -price, quantity, and availability volatile
Control of Resources
- -corporations
  - -dominated by large corporations because of large capital investment
  - -some venture capital and small companies
  - -problems in foreign countries
    - -nationalization: forced to enter 50:50 deals
    - -expropriation: seized by foreign government
    - -examples:
      - -Mexico: PEMEX
      - -Chile and Zambia - Cu Mines
- -governments
  - -democratic countries
    - -government regulates and taxes mineral production, but doesn't own producers
  - -Communist countries
    - -state-owned and operated companies
  - -Socialist countries
    - -often provide subsidies to unprofitable operations
- -cartels, syndicates, and trade groups
  - -control price, availability, and production
  - -Cartels: countries unite for a common goal (OPEC)
    - -Organization of petroleum exporting countries
  - -Syndicates: individuals and organizations make joint effort to carry out transactions (DeBeers)
  - -Trade Groups: less formal organizations
Environmental Impact on Mining
- -removal of material affects landscape
- -waste from mining and processing
  - -overburden removal
  - -concentration of ore
    - -Royal Gold, Long Valley, CA
    - -51.5 million tones @ .019 oz/ton
- -smelting and refining waste
  - -air pollution
  - -chemical waste
  - -pollution problems in past (no federal regs)
  - -tight controls today
Choosing a Mining Method
- -Physical factors
  - -Geometry of ore body - size, shape, depth, continuity
  - -Geology
    - -physical characteristics of ore and rock
    - -structures (faults and folds)
    - -groundwater and surface waters
  - -Technologic factors
    - -availability of labor, water, power
    - -flexibility of method
    - -surface area requirements
      - -maintance facilities
  - -Economic factors : cost limits, mine life,...
Surface Mining
- -Open pit mining
  - -irregular, deep orebodies
  - -deep conical mines
    - -Cu and Mo porphyry deposit mines in western US
    - -Sediment-hosted Au in NV, Ca UT and ID
  - -overburden and stripping ratio
    - -ratio of waste:ore e.g. 3:1
  - -benches
    - -level with ramps; spirals
    - -up to 60m high; >30m wide
  - -haulage: truck (+/- trolley assist, conveyor, rail (obsolete)
  - -may grade into underground mine
Strip Mining
- -flat-lying orebodies - coal, U, phosphate, Fe
- -mined in strips
- -overburden removed
  - -topsoil and underlying waste stockpiled
  - -use walking draglines - largest land-based machines
    - -big muskie - 27 million lbs; 325 ton cap. bucket; 60 second cycle time
- -resource removed with shovels
- -waste material and topsoil replaced
- -area revegetated
Underground Mining
- -deep, persistent veins
  - -Access
    - -horizontal adit (tunnel)
    - -vertical shaft, decline, or decline spiral
    - -move people, ore, equipment, air
  - -Drift(level) and crosscuts: horizontal workings
  - -raise(driven upward) and winze (driven downward)
    - -internal - never reach surface
  - -stope - location of excavation
  - -pillars - columns of rock left for support
Cut and Fill Mining
- -drive a raise
- -excavate stope 6-12 foot high, 100 feet along the vein
- -Partially fill void with "sand" slurry from concentrator
- -continue mining when floor is stablized
- -Sequence
  - -drill blast holes (1.5" x 8')
  - -blast with ANFO or dynamite at end of shift
    - -ANFO: Ammonium Nitrate Fuel Oil
  - -barring of loose rock; rock bolting
  - -mucking
  - -sandfilling
Room and Pillar Mining
- -excavate huge rooms with support pillars
  - -pillars 45 sq. ft. on 90' centers
  - -begin with 20' tall horizontal slice
  - -remove 40' of underlying ore
Solution Mining
- -using solution to extract metallic and nonmetallic resources
- -Brining
  - -injected water dissolves soluble minerals
  - -NaCL; Kcl(in UT, not NM), Li in NV
- -Frasch Process - S
  - -hot water (150 -170 degrees C) and compressed air injected
  - -molten S flows to pump and is brought to surface
- -Hydrometallurgical mining
  - -sulfuric acid for Cu ore (AZ)
  - -Acid or ammonium carbonate for U
  - -Cyanide for Au (heap leaching)
Processing of Ore
- -Beneficiation
  - -communition (size reduction)
    - -Crushing (dry)
    - -Milling (wet)
  - -liberation of ore from gangue (Table 4.2)
    - -yields concentrate and tailings(waste material)
- -Smelting (concentrate converted to pure metal)
  - -sulfides: roast to drive off S then combine with O to form oxide
  - -oxides: chemically reduce to remove O, yielding pure metal
Environmental and Human Impact
- -Agricultural Land
- -Urban settings
- -effect on recreation
- -noise and dust
- -dangerous work
- -hazards to public
- -reclamation
  - -underground mines
  - -open pit mines
  - -strip mines
Acid Drainage and Tailings
- -sulfur combins with water to make acid
  - -sulfide and sulfate minerals, organic sulfur
  - -makes H2SO4 - sulfuric acid
- -tailings
  - -used in cut and fill mining
  - -stabilize and vegetate
- -Dredging
  - -Au, diamonds, heavy minerals
  - -leaves gravel piles
- -Mn nodules
  - -legal and environmental problems
Oil
- -Blowouts
  - -occur when high-pressure zone encountered
- -Offshore drilling
  - -spills
  - -seepage controlled
  - -rigs act as reefs
- -North Slope and ANWR in Alaska
  - -Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge
- -Pipeline
  - -No negative impact
- -Tanker spills
TEST
- T/F Questions
- Mutliple Choice Questions
- Short answer Questions
- Diagrahm 4.4 along those lines will have to name things
  - adit portals
  - adits
  - shafts
  - inclines
  - raise
  - winze
  - crosscut
  - match picture to list of words
- Fig 1.6 abundant vs scarce
- Fig. 1.9
- 2.16
- 3.1
- 3.12
- Table 3.2
- Table 3.3
- 56-57

Lecture Two

Energy and Work
- -energy: the capacity to perform work (dictionary)
  - -capacity to move matter (chemical text)
- -Work: transference of energy when a force produces movement of a body (dictionary)
  - -energy exchange that results when a force (F) moves an object through a distance (d): Work = F x d (Chemical Text)
Energy Units
- -Calorie : (gram-calorie)
  - -the energy needed to raise the temp. of 1 gram of water 1degree C
- -Btu
  - -energy needed to raise the temperature of 1 pound of water 1 degree F
- -Joule
  - -the standard unit of energy
  - -1 J = 1kg x m2/s2
  - -1 J = 0.239 gram-calories
  - -1 J = 0.00095 Btu
Power
- -the amount of energy used per unit time
- -watt
  - - 1 J of electrical energy/second
  - -14.34 calories/minute
  - -3.414 Btu/hour
Fossil Fuels
Environment Organics Contribution Fuels

Marine Phytoplankton Protein Oil and Gas

Bacteria Lipids

Carbos

Terrestrial Plants Resins Coal and Gas

Waxes

Lignins

Carbos
Coal: Early Use
- -from anglo-saxon word "col" (charcoal)
- -changed to cole then coal about 300 years ago
- -used 5000 to 6000 years ago by Bronze Age tribes in Wales
- -also used by chinese and greeks
- -widely used in 12th century england
- -banned in 1306 by King Edward I because of air pollution
- -widely used again in 1600's to save forest
- -dramatic increase after development of the steam engine (industrial revolution)
- -coal mining began in the Appalachians in 1750
- -most important for home heating 1850-1950
- -replaced by oil, gas and electricity
- -most important uses today:
  - -electric power generation
  - -coking coal- heated to drive off volatiles
    - -primary ingrediant for steel production
Coal and Plant Evolution
- -organic matter = leaves, stems, seeds, and spores
- -higer land plants didn't appear until Devonian Period (408-360 million years ago)
- -Carboniferous and Permian Periods (360-245MYA)
  - -ferns and cycads (trees with scaly bark)
  - -time of abundant coal formation (Fig. 5-10)
- -Mesozoic Era (245-66.4 MA) and Tertiary Period (66.4 - 1.6 Ma) of Cenozoic Era
  - -Angiosperms
Coal Classification
- -based on material present and where formed
- -macerals- organic equivalents of minerals
- -Humic coal - swamps
  - -plant material >> peat >> coal
  - -most abundant type
- -Sapropelic coal - ponds, lakes, and lagoons
  - -cannel coal - mostly spores
  - -boghead coals - mostly algae
Formation of Humic Coal
- -lush plant growth in high-latitude temperate swamps
  - -need rainfall for lush growth
  - -cold temps to prevent bacterial decay
- -organic matter covered with stagnant water
  - -prevents bacterial decay and oxidation
- -partially decays to peat with plant structures preserved
  - -only about 10% plant matter preserved as peat
- -best locations today: Canada, Ireland Scandinavia...
Coal formation
- -peat is transformed into coal
- -requires burial by sediments
  - -typically interbedded with terrestrial and marine seds(fig 5.9)
  - -indicates transgression-regression cycles
  - -sediments preserve the peat
- -coalification: process which transforms peat to coal
  - -biochemical changes due to increased T and P
  - -rank of coal increases
Powder River Basin Coal
- -largest strip-mineable reserve of compliance coal
  - -<0.27 kg SO2/million btu
- -southern part of (WY) most productive in USA last 9 years; and for next 50+ years
- -90% of coal mined in 1 to 3 beds up to 61m thick
- -average values:
  - -0.33% S
  - -5.12% ash
  - -19.89 MJ/kg (8950 Btu/lb)
  - -> 1 trillion tons in WY alone
Mining and transportaion
- -electric shovels with 55-60 cubic yard buckets and load 300 ton trucks
- -draglines with 160 cubic yard buckets used for overburden removal
- -trains
  - -average 115 cars @ 110 tons/car for 12,650 tons/train
  - -going to Al cars with 10 tons more coal/car
  - -typically more thatn 8200 feet long
  - -can load a 130 car train with 13,000 tons in < 2 hours
  - -up to 56 trains/day today; 65/day by 2000
Early Oil History
- -natural seeps used in Middle East and by Native Americans
- -used bitumen as adhesive, waterproofing, preservative(mummies), fuel(marginal?)
- -bitumen: dark, liquid to plastic hydrocarbons (oil, asphalt, tar, wax)
- -distilling kerosene from petroleum discovered in Middle East - lost during dark ages
- -used as lubricant and 'snake oil' in US frontier
Later Oil History
- -canadian geologist rediscoved distillation in 1852
  - -produced berosene from oil and coal
  - -most oil for lamps, stoves, and lubes came from whales
  - -petroleum saved whales from extinction?
- -modern oil industry began Aug. 27 1859
  - -Edwin Drake drilled first successful well
  - -Titusville, PA
  - -followed by discoveries in WV, CO, TX, CA
  - -Saudi Arabia 1938
    - -biggest find of oil in the world
- -more recent: North Sea and North Slope of Alaska
Formation of Oil and Gas
- -Oil: Marine microorganisms
  - -Dinoflagellates: plankton (Fig. 5-28)
  - -Main organic material
- -Gas - marine and terrestrial material
  - -thermogenic and biogenic
- -oil chemistry very complex
- -gas is simple: CH4 - methane
Maturation
- -complex organic molecules must be converted to simpler molecules
- -pressure and temp. increase with depth of burial
- -oxygen, nitrogen, and water are driven off
- -organic molecules simplified or "cracked"
- -Organics >>> Kerogen >>> Oil >>> Gas(CH4)
Diagenesis
- -minor changes to sediment
- -surface to a few hundred meters
- -temp < 50 degrees C
- -biogenic gas produced by bacteria
Catagenesis
- -depth up to 5km
- -temp = 50 - 100 C
- -organics converted to kerogen and petroleum
- -production of thermogenic gas
- -gas dominates over oil at depth
- -wet gas = methane +ethane +propane and butane
metagenesis
- -depth > 5km
- -temp. > 150C
- -organics converted to dry gas or carbon rich residue
Movement of Oil
- -oil forms in source rocks
- -migrates to porous and permeable reservoir rocks
- -accumulates in traps ( prevents movement of oil)
  - -structural traps
    - -found near folds and faults
  - -stratigraphic traps
    - -requires porous and permeable zones
Primary Oil Recovery
- -relies on pressure in reservoir (and pumps)
  - -solution gas drive: 5-20%
    - -CO2 coming out of solution
  - -gas cap expansion drive : 20-45%
    - -Downward pressure from gas
  - -water drive: 22-55%
    - -upward or sideways water pressure
Secondary Oil Recovery
- -extracts addtional oil left behind after primary recovery
  - -waterflooding: 30-60%
    - -inject water into adjacent wells driving oil to producing well
  - -gas injection: 20-45%
    - -separate oil and gas
    - -inject gas to use as gas cap drive
Enhanced Oil Recovery
- -steam stimulation and steam injection
  - -heat lowers viscosity of oil
- -in situ combustion
  - -burning oil yields water vapor and thinner oil
- -chemical flooding
  - -viscosity reducers (carbon dioxide)
  - -surface tension reducers ("detergents" or alkalis)
  - -water "thickeners" (polymers)
    - -improves waterflooding
Hibernia GBS
- -hibernia field 315km ESE of St. Johns Newfoundland
- -3 billion bbls in field - 615 million bbls recoverable
- -peak production - 150,000 bbls/day
- -platform
  - -GBS - gravity based structure sitting on ocean floor in 250 ft. of water
  - -75 story building
  - -7 years to build, 5.8 billion dollars, weights 1.2 million tons
  - -9 most powerful tugs in world placed it within 1 meter
  - -sits in iceberg alley - 50' thick ice walls to defend against 1 million ton iceburg with no damage; 6 million ton berg with minor damage
Production
- -magor oil provinces - Table 5.5
- -reserves - Figure 5.45
- -USA #1 producer 1856 - 1970s
- -Number 1 commodity in international trade - about 28 million bbls/day
- -supertankers >430m long; carry 3.5 million bbls
Refining
- -crude oil composition - Table 5.4
- -refining separates out components
  - -distillation or fractionation in towers at 500 degrees C
    - -as T increases, lighter stuff(gas) rises, denser stuff condenses out below (diesel and heating oil)
  - -Heavier stuf cracked in lighter stuff
    - -thermal cracking (T and P)
    - -catalytic cracking (zeolites, clays)
    - -Hydrogenation (zeolites add H for more gasoline)
Early History of Natural Gas
- -chinese piped gas through bamboo pipes to boil brines for salt
- -600 years ago used in Azerbaijan for eternal flames
- -distilled from coal, peat, and wood in U.K. early 1600's
- -1802-04 coal gas lamps used in cotton mills
- -first commercial gas light utilities: London 1812; Baltimore 1816
- -Electric light invented 1879 - gas declines as illuminant
- -1920's and 30's large gas fields discovered in TX, OK, LA followed by laying of pipeline
Recent History of Natural Gas
- -fairly limited use prior to WWII - most flared off
- -rapid expansion after war - suburbs in US + rebuilding of Europe
- -best of all fuels
  - -no refining - only minor processing
  - -easily handled
  - -very clean burning
  - -most heat/unit weight of any fossil fuel
- -nearly a third of all energy used in US
- -important for making industrial and agricultural products
  - -plastic,synthetic fabrics,
Transportation and Reserves
- -can be transported as LNG (Fig. 5.52)
  - -cool to -162 degrees C becomes a liquid occupying 1/600 space
- -stored in depleted/abandoned oil fields and coal mines to meet peak demands
- -production and reserves (Fig. 5.53, Table 5.7
- -coal bed methane
  - -thermogenic and biogenic gas associated with coal
  - -fracture the coal and withdraw methane
  - -US reserves(unconventional) may be 2x conventional gas reserves
  - -important in San Juan basin (NW NM)
All questions and comments about this site should be directed to the Webmaster.
All Rights Reserved. Copyright ©2004, yournotes.org

Environment	Organics	Contribution	Fuels
Marine	Phytoplankton	Protein	Oil and Gas
	Bacteria	Lipids
		Carbos
Terrestrial	Plants	Resins	Coal and Gas
		Waxes
		Lignins
		Carbos