A MINERAL S - Savannah Resources · What are Heavy Minerals? 2 • Most sand on the beach consists...
Transcript of A MINERAL S - Savannah Resources · What are Heavy Minerals? 2 • Most sand on the beach consists...
-
ABOUT MINERALSANDS
AIM:SAV
-
What are Heavy Minerals? 2
Most sand on the beach consists of grains of the mineral quartz (SiO2)
Mineral sands are old beach sands that contain concentrations of the
important minerals, rutile, ilmenite, zircon and monazite. These minerals
are heavy and are also called 'heavy minerals'
Heavy minerals are those with an specific gravity (SG) > 2.9 t/m3
VHM : Valuable heavy mineralsthose that are worth something!
Titanium is the 9th most abundant element
Forms of titanium are the minerals
Rutile ~ 94-96% TiO2
Leucoxene ~ 65->90% TiO2
Pseudorutile ~ 60-65% TiO2
Altered Ilmenite ~ Tween ilmenite and pseudo-ilmenite
Ilmenite ~ 35-65% TiO2
Anatase ~ >90% TiO2
Zircon ~ ZrSiO4
-
Why are Heavy Minerals Important? 3
Zircon
Over 50% of the zircon supplied to industry is consumed
in the production of ceramics, including tiles, sanitary
ware and tableware where it is used in the glazes. Zircon
is also used in a range of other applications including
zirconium chemicals, refractories, fused zirconia, catalytic
fuel converters, foundry applications as well as water
and air purification applications.
Titanium Minerals
The Titanium material is used in pigment production to
make a pure white additive, which is light refractive,
and used to produce materials such as plastics, paints
and paper. Other applications for titanium products
include TiO2 sponge for the production of Titanium
metal, and welding rod applications.
-
How are Heavy Mineral Deposits Formed 4
Rutile, ilmenite and zircon originally grew as crystals in igneous rocks such as granite,
pegmatite and basalt and some metamorphic rocks.
-
How are Heavy Mineral Deposits Formed 5
Over millions of years, these igneous and metamorphic rocks were weathered and eroded, and
the grains of quarts and other minerals in the rock, including rutile, ilmenite, zircon and
monazite, were washed down to the sea by heavy rainfall and fast flowing streams.
-
How are Heavy Mineral Deposits Formed 6
The heavy minerals are then carried back up onto the beach by waves. As the waves washed up
and down on the beach, they carried the lighter quartz grains with them back into the sea,
leaving the grains of the heavy minerals rutile, ilmenite, zircon and monazite behind on the
beach. Wind also helped to concentrate the heavy minerals by blowing away the lighter quartz
sand.
-
How are Heavy Mineral Deposits Formed 7
These processes were repeated many times over millions of years, eventually
creating a large deposit of mineral sands on the beach.
-
8
As the sea level rose and fell over geological time, the shoreline moved further
inland and then back again. As this happened, the deposits of mineral sand were
covered by more sand and built up or eroded and redeposited elsewhere.
How are Heavy Mineral Deposits Formed
-
Exploration Techniques: Target Generation
9
The start of the process comes
from the generation of ideas,
which are based on the geology
of a region, company exploration
models, geophysics and the
broad scoping of potential
resources that might suit a
current commodity market
-
Exploration Techniques: Reconnaissance Exploration
10
Low impact exploration, or early exploration as it is often referred to, generally
results in minimal ground disturbance with limited rehabilitation requirements
-
Exploration Techniques: Drilling 11
The location of the targets identified will depend mostly on the results of the low
impact exploration conducted and any land access requirements
Advanced exploration, especially drilling, is concentrated within small areas of
-
Resource Definition 12 All the information gained through the drilling program is then used to calculate
the volume, quality and shape of the mineral resource
Three dimensional computer-generated models are produced to better define the
shape and volume of the resource, along with information on chemical assays and
mineral concentrations
This information will be used to determine the type of mine required in the studies
below
-
Mineral Sands Processing 13
1. Mining
2. Ore transported to processing plant
Mining
Processing Plant
Heavy Mineral Concentrate
4. Tails taken back to pit and rehabilitated
3. Processing plant
5. Heavy mineral concentrate split into products
6. Products transported to market for sale
www.resource-finance.com
-
Rehabilitation 14
Rehabilitation during mining is progressive with the tailings material returned to
the pit from where it was mined and the area is rehabilitated as the mining
continues.
-
www.savannahresources.com
For further information on Savannahs corporate social responsibility
programme, please email: [email protected]
http://www.savannahresources.com/