Earth History GEOL 2110

Stewardship and Sustainability of

Earth Resources

Terminology and Definitions

Biological Resources• renewable• recycleable• reuseable

Mineral Resources• non-renewable• recycleable• reuseable

Water Resources• unlimited• recycleable• reuseable

Wind and Solar• unlimited

“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)

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.

Stuff

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)

Stewardship of Earth Resources

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.

Making these choices also requires that we face some other inconvenient truths about the earth and our interaction with it.

Inconvenient Truth #1We Use the Earth

From the Minerals Education Coalition

Mineral Resources are Necessary in our Modern Lives

Computers26 different elements66 different minerals

National Mining Institute, 2005

Smart Phones

Inconvenient Truth #2If it wasn’t grown, it had to be mined

Inconvenient Truth #3Everything comes from something, but something isn’t

everywhere

Porphyry Cu deposits in young mountain belts

gone

Porphyry Cu Mine, Bagdad, AZ

Sulfide Flotation Cells Sulfide Floating Electroplating Copper

Buried too Deep

Just Buried

Inconvenient Truth #4Most of the world’s base metal comes from sulfide minerals

ChalcopyriteCuFeS2 Bornite

Cu5FeS4

CobaltiteCoAsS

SphaleriteZnS

GalenaPbS

ChalcociteCu2S

MolybdeniteMoS2

Pentlandite(Fe,Ni)9S8

CinnabarHgS

New Processing Technology for Sulfide Ores

OLD – Smelting

NEW – Hydrometallurgy

The Challenge – Acid Rock Drainage

2FeS2(s) + 7O2(g) + 2H2O(l) →

2Fe2+(aq) + 4SO42-(aq) + 4H+(aq)

Inconvenient Truth #5

The western world consumes the most, but mines the least amount of mineral

resources

49%

20%

12%

10% 9%

2010 Domestic Cu Use

Building Construction

Electrical/Electronics

Transportation

Consumer Products

Industrial Machinery

34%

8%7%7%7%

6%

5%

5%

3%

3%16%

2010 Sources of Mined CuChile

Peru

China

US (AZ,UT,NV,NM,MT)

Russia and Kazakhstan

Australia

Indonesia

Zambia

Canada

Poland

Rest of World

Data from 2010 USGS Mineral Commodity Summary

Total Cu Use from Recycling in 2010

36%

Cu in a Standard Car with Combustion Engine

43-55 lbs

Cu in a Prius - 80 lbs

Cu in a Volt - 150 lbs

COPPER An Important Metal in a Green Economy

NW Mining Association, 2009

Inconvenient Truth #6If we don’t mine it here, it will be mined somewhere else....BADLY

PGE – Platinum Group Elements

Pt – Platinum

Pd – Palladium

Os – Osmium

Ru – Ruthenium

Rh – Rhodium

Ir - Iridium

Bushveld ComplexSouth Africa

Supplying the 70% of the World’s Platinum

Merensky Reef, Eastern Bushveld ComplexMerensky Reef, Amplats Mine, Rustenburg, SA

Palladium: “The Environmental Metal”

PdUses

The Stillwater Mine (Montana)Only Precious Metals Mine in the U.S.

(owned by Noril’sk Nickel)

Sulfide Smelter in Monchegorsk, RussiaIn 1998, responsible for 50% of SO2

in the northern hemisphere

Noril’sk, RussiaCu-Ni-PGE Deposits

Supplies 60% of the World’s Palladium

A Looming Stewardship Question for Minnesotans

:

When should we develop this

immense copper-nickel-precious metal

mineral resource?

Sulfur Contamination creating the Cu-Ni-PGE Sulfide Deposits of the Duluth Complex

SCu Ni Co Pd + Pt + Au

S

Cu-Ni-PGE Sulfide Depositsof the Duluth Complex

Current Exploration ActivityPolymet – NorthmetTeck American – MesabaTwin Metals MN – Nokomis, Maturi, Dunka Pit, Birch Lake, Serpentine, Spruce Rd Encampment – South Filson Cr

World Class Ores of the Duluth Complex

#1 or 2 in contained Copper#4 in contained PGE#3 in contained Nickel

Compared to other Magmatic Sulfide Deposits, the Duluth Complex is:

Only the Bushveld, Great Dyke (PGE deposits) and

Noril’sk contain more PGE

From Peterson, 2010

World Class Scale of the Maturi Deposit Alone

Nokomis

From Peterson, 2010 and DM press release 12/2012

Maturi

Maturi

Maturi

The Largest UNDEVELOPED Cu-Ni Deposit on Earth

From Peterson, 2010

Duluth deposits are perceived as low grade. But compared to the source of most of the world’s copper - Porphyry Copper Deposits...

…the Duluth Complex ores are HIGHER GRADE with MORE CONTAINED METAL than nearly all porphyry systems.

The largest copper ore deposits in the USA are on this diagram, and the Duluth Complex ores are much larger then all of them.

Stewardship question - If not now, when?

CONCLUSION: The base and precious metal deposits of the Duluth Complex are a World Class Resource that will be mined …. SOMEDAY

Next Monday

Course ReviewPrepping for the Final

EH Factoid QuizReturn Old Quizzes and

Term Papers