The Lithosphere
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What is the lithosphere?
Soil, rocks and mineral resources that provide environmental resources for organisms to grow and live
What layers of the earth make up the lithosphere?
Earths solid crust and upper mantle
What are native minerals?
Single element minerals including unreactive metals
What are compound minerals?
Minerals made up of more than 1 element chemically joined
What are bulk minerals?
Rocks of mixtures of many different minerals
What are mineral stocks?
All of the material that exists in the earth crust for that mineral, whether it can be extracted or not
What’s is a mineral resource?
A concentration or occurrence of mineral of economical interest in or on the earths crust in such form, quality and quantity that there are reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction
What is a mineral reserve?
The amount of the mineral resource that can be exploited NOW using exitsting technology
What does grade mean?
Proportion of the ore deposit being mined that is the ore mineral
What is cut of ore grade mean?
Lowest grade or that can be profitably mined
What are the 3 categories of mineral reserves?
Inferred reserves Probable reserves Proven reserves
What is an inferred reserve?
The presence if the mineral that can be predicted from knowledge of the geological strucutres present but not enough is known to estimate the amount that can be economically extracted
What is a probable reserve?
Sufficient information about the deposit is known, so the amount of the mineral that can be economically extracted can be estimated with sufficient accuracy that further exploration is justified
What is a proven reserve?
Sufficient exploration has been carried out, including trail drilling, to accurately estimate the amount of the mineral that can be economically extracted
What 3 factors limit the viability of exploitation?
Absence of correct technology to extract the deposit Fincancial cost is too great Environmental impact is unacceptable
Give some reasons to why are mine may not be developed even if it has enough good ore deposits?
Mining costs Processing costs Purity of ore Conflict Cut off grade
What is Laskys principle?
As amount of mineral present in the crust increases the purity of the mineral decreases exponentially
How do igneous processes work to create exploitable mineral deposits?
Process by which rocks and minerals are created by the cooling and hardening of magma
What are the 3 igneous processes?
Cumulate layers Hydrothermal veins Deep sea, black smoke deposits
How do metamorphic processes produce exploitable mineral deposits
Tectonic movements can create heat and high pressure, which recrystallises rocks into metamorphic rocks
What happens to mudstone to form slate?
Metamorphic process Recrystallisation makes mudstone hard and impereamable , crystals align making a straight regular pattern (slate cleavage)
What happens to limestone to form marble l?
Metamorphic process \ Limestone recrystallises to form interlocking arrangement of calcite crystals, makes rock harder and erosion resistant - marble
What preparation needs to be done before a mine can extract any of the mineral? What’s wrong with it?
Detailed info of mineral to be mined It’s expensive
How do igneous rocks form?
magma cools and crystallises into interlocking solid minerals