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Quantitative estimation of undiscovered mineral resources: A case study of US Forest Service Wilderness tracts in the Pacific Mountain system

The need by land managers and planners for more quantitative measures of mineral values has prompted scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey to test a probabilistic method of mineral resource assessment on a portion of the wilderness lands that have been studied by the Survey during the past 20 years. A quantitative estimate of undiscovered mineral resources is made by linking the techniques of subjective estimation, geologic mineral deposit models, and Monte Carlo simulation. The study, which uses grade-tonnage and occurrence models for 21 geologic deposit types, considers 91 U.S. Forest Service wilderness tracts in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. Estimates of the amounts of the 11 metals contained in undiscovered mineral deposits of the types studied range from negligible to several years of U.S. consumption. Although these estimates are limited to metals contained in undiscovered deposits of a small number of metallic mineral deposit types, the assessment procedure can be expanded by the use of additional deposit models and by using information about identified mineral resources. This will allow models of economic processes such as exploration, development, and production to be applied.

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Aspects of estimation and reporting of mineral resources of seabed polymetallic nodules: a contemporaneous case study.

1. Introduction

1.1. mineral owners, 1.2. mineral developers, 1.3. reporting rules.

• Materiality;
• Transparency;
• Competence and responsibility.

2. History of Evaluation of Polymetallic Nodule Deposits

3. reporting standards and the international seabed authority, 4. methods for the evaluation of polymetallic nodule deposits, 4.1. contrasting estimation of terrestrial mineral resources and polymetallic nodule mineral resources, 4.2. geology of polymetallic nodule deposits, 4.3. sampling, 4.3.1. physical sampling, 4.3.2. seafloor photographs and long-axis estimates of abundance.

• Site-scale variations in the local regression relationships (mostly likely due to site-based variations in the thickness of the geochemically active layer and thus the thickness of the nodules);
• Varying scales in the towed photo images (e.g., a slightly oblique perspective when taking the photograph due to flaring of the towed systems resulting from vessel heave);
• Partial sediment cloaking or covering of the edges of nodules ( Figure 5 );
• Imprecision in the manual digitising process.

4.3.3. Assaying

• Split the nodules into representative aliquots;
• Dry the nodules and then crush and pulverise them, reducing the sample size between each step with splitters;
• Analyse a wide range of elements using a mixture of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and inductively coupled plasma spectrometric (ICP) methods. Measure loss on ignition using a thermogravimetric analysis furnace;
• Use blanks, duplicates, and certified reference materials not known to the laboratory to confirm the precision and accuracy of the analyses.
• Water of crystallisation included within the manganese and iron oxide minerals. This was determined in TOML test work to consistently be around 16% by wet weight (including the likely trace levels of other volatiles) [ 12 ]. A very small amount of water from crystallisation likely starts to be removed at temperatures as low as 50–70 °C through a transformation of the manganese mineral buserite into birnessite, but most manganese and iron oxide minerals are stable until reaching higher temperatures (115 °C and greater; Novikov and Bogdanova [ 71 ]);
• Free water included within pores and other cavities within the nodules, including water adsorbed onto mineral surfaces—this is estimated to be around 28% by wet weight depending on the micro and macro void space in the nodules. Air-drying may remove approximately 16% (absolute) of this, with the rest removed by oven drying (up to 105 °C).

4.3.4. Historical Samples

• Corroborate the ISA-supplied historical results by comparing the data between different original collection organisations and with other published data (non-ISA) from the CCZ nodule deposit. This was possible due to the large size of the CCZ deposit and the relative homogeneity of the grades across vast areas.
• Demonstrate a level of quality control by directly requesting information on sample collection and analysis from the original groups, also noting that the ISA, as an independent and accountable organisation, would need to check the data they received, as these data were used to define retained and released mineral rights under the groups’ administration.
• Retain the services of an independent qualified person with direct experience in sample collection from the CCZ.

5. Estimation Case Study—Tonga Offshore Mining Limited Contract Area

5.1. samples and related data, 5.2. domains and model, 5.3. geostatistics and model estimation, 6. discussion, 6.1. reasonable prospects of eventual economic extraction.

• In the foreseeable future, mining of polymetallic nodules from the seafloor would be technically feasible.
• Processing of polymetallic nodules to extract nickel copper, cobalt, and manganese products would likely be feasible using a combination of existing extractive technologies (e.g., Haynes et al. [ 74 ]).
• The metal products would have a market because there is anticipated to be increasing demand for these metals for traditional purposes supported by increased demand for electrochemical cells (batteries).
• The entire process, from seafloor collection to the delivery of metalliferous products, could be achieved in an economically viable manner.
• Success in the pilot mining of polymetallic nodules in the CCZ by two groups in the late 1970s (e.g., Brockett et al. [ 51 ]).
• Successful sub-sea operations at similar or greater water depths, including tasks such as the installation of oil and gas production facilities at circa 2500 m; the spudding of drill holes at circa 3000 m; cable laying and retrieval at circa 5000 m; and the collection of samples at circa 11,000 m.
• Demonstration of various lift systems from water depths such as the CCZ, including cable, pumping, and airlift solutions.
• Demonstration of operating offshore production vessels including the transfer of product.
• The similarities of some proposed metallurgical processing routes to existing facilities for terrestrial ore sources.
• Higher grades than some terrestrial ore sources and upsides in terms of recoverable metals.
• Lack of overburden and no need to cut rock, at least in part, compensating for working at a depth. Reduced mine infrastructure outside of the production system.
• Transport distances for product comparable with those of other seaborne bulk commodities.
• Benefits of homogenous mineralogy in metallurgical optimisation and cost reduction.

6.2. Marine Environment

6.3. qualified persons, independence, and transparency, 6.4. property inspection and chain of custody.

• The inclusion of a QP who had actually spent 3 months working in the CCZ;
• A documented chain of custody around the collection of box core samples and seafloor images; and
• The fact that numerous other independent organisations had explored the deposit in the past and reported essentially similar results.

7. Conclusions

Author contributions, institutional review board statement, informed consent statement, data availability statement, acknowledgments, conflicts of interest.

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Parianos, J.; Lipton, I.; Nimmo, M. Aspects of Estimation and Reporting of Mineral Resources of Seabed Polymetallic Nodules: A Contemporaneous Case Study. Minerals 2021 , 11 , 200. https://doi.org/10.3390/min11020200

Parianos J, Lipton I, Nimmo M. Aspects of Estimation and Reporting of Mineral Resources of Seabed Polymetallic Nodules: A Contemporaneous Case Study. Minerals . 2021; 11(2):200. https://doi.org/10.3390/min11020200

Parianos, John, Ian Lipton, and Matthew Nimmo. 2021. "Aspects of Estimation and Reporting of Mineral Resources of Seabed Polymetallic Nodules: A Contemporaneous Case Study" Minerals 11, no. 2: 200. https://doi.org/10.3390/min11020200

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The state to setup small, medium and heavy scale Mineral based Industries without importing any major raw minerals from other state. The workable economic deposits of almost all minor and major minerals located and also the state is reach in Power, Water and Human resources. Adequate quantity of different kinds raw minerals are available for sustaining the conventional Industries like Thermal Power Generation, Extraction, Cutting and Polishing units for Gem and Dimension Stones, Ancillary unit for derived from the Cement and Iron Industries.

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Exploitation of different kinds of mineral deposits is currently addressed to recover mostly the main product from an ore, with little effort either for its co-/by-products or for value-addition and creation of wealth from waste. Presently, mineral industry is facing many problems that make it less attractive for old and new entrepreneurs. To overcome them, there is a need for 'Mega-, Micro-and Nano (10-9)-Scale' (MMNS) investigations on both working and potential ore deposits. Salient aspects of these multidisciplinary and multi-faceted, both field-and laboratory-based, investigations, together with their main objectives, during different stages of 'Mineral Exploration and Exploitation' (MEE) are presented. Brief description of some major explored and exploited ore deposits in India, along with their possible, high-value by-products, and waste from a few mining industries, both recommended for research, are listed. Nano-scale mineral technology, presently in its initial stage, may be effectively used to isolate valuable elements or molecules from ore and gangue minerals as well as has the potentiality for 'Recycling and Reusing' (R & R) of waste material, thereby serving the twin concept of value-addition and creation of wealth from waste. Some pertinent problems of mineral industry, which can be tackled by comprehensive MMNS studies, and some requiring future Research and Development (R & D), as well as expected results of such research are given. The objectives of these studies on ore deposits are (i) maximum recovery of both the main and valuable co-/by-products from ores for value-addition, (ii) utilization of their waste material for creation of wealth from waste and (iii) expansion and cost-effective development of mineral resources in mining and industrial areas of India.

Rahul Dwivedi

Journal Indian Geological Congress

Trilochan Singh

Abstract : The paper highlights mineral resources available in the Arunachal Himalaya, and associated problems for socio-economic development of the State of Arunachal Pradesh, which is under constant geo-environmental threat in terms of earthquake, landslide, flash flood, soil erosion, etc. The Arunachal Himalaya is known as land with hidden treasure of mineral resources. This hidden natural wealth requires systematic investigations to obtain reliable data on uniform pattern for making policy and plans. It is vital to understand distribution of various mineral resources in time and space so as to assess economic, commercial and technical feasibility for their exploitation. The biggest hindrance appears to the vast forest cover and biosphere reserve / national parks / wildlife sanctuaries. Thus, sub-surface mineral wealth must be investigated through professional agencies in terms of terrain consideration; quantity and quality assessment of the mineral deposits; exploitation techniques and its environmental impact assessment; policy and legal framework; etc. In-depth assessment indicates immense presence of mineral wealth in Arunachal, but feasibility at present is limited to coal, oil, limestone & dolomites, and graphite, which are economically very promising. Other minerals like lead and zinc, base-metal sulphides, platinoid group of minerals are also substantial. In addition, building material may also be exploited, which occurs in appreciable quantities. Oil is already in exploration stage. The coal, on the other hand, has been exploited to a limited extent in the past, but presently it has come to halt. Based on the availability of the potential minerals in Arunachal, it is suggested to set up mineral based industries/plants, such as fertilizer plants; cement plants and calcium carbide units; coking plants; refractory, pencil, and abrasive units; and cutting and polishing units.

Rakesh Satpathy

Orissa, a major state of India has enormous mineral potential and is rich in mineral resources. Many of the minerals are known to be in abandon supply, while many are least known in this state. Orissa produces enormous minerals including nonmetallic, metallic and fuel minerals. Orissa stood one of major producer of Chromite, Nickel, Iron, Manganese, Tin, Graphite, Bauxite, Lead and Zinc in India. Among the fuel minerals, coal of Ib-River and Talcher coalfields continues to play a dominant role among the domestic energy resources in this state. In terms of geographical distribution of mineral resources of India, about 10-14 % of mineral production comes from the state of Orissa. Let us discuss the mineral potential of the state one by one briefly.

IAEME Publication

International Trade is the exchange of capital, goods and services across international borders or territories. In most countries, such trade represents a significant share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Increasing international trade is crucial to the continuance of globalization. There should be a balance between exports and imports otherwise the trade deficit will suppress the economic growth of a country. The global mining industry drives more than 45% of the world’s gross domestic products that facilitate growth of most of industries. The use of minerals has been instrumental in raising the standards of living mankind. The sophisticated world of today is largely the result of enlarged use of minerals. India produced as many as 86 minerals. The contribution of mining industry to India’s GDP increased from 1.9% in the Financial Year (FY) 2010 to 2.3% in the FY 2011. Rajasthan - A Mineral Rich State is geologically and mineralogically so endowed that it is called museum of minerals. 79 minerals are available in Rajasthan out of which 25 nos. hold monopoly at the national production. Quartz and Feldspar are important industrial mineral produced from Rajasthan in substantial quantities. 62% of the country production of feldspar is share by Rajasthan, similarly, 29% of country’s production of quartz is shared by the state. Both the minerals are important raw materials for ceramic, semi-conductor and glass industries. Both the minerals are produced and processed in substantial quantity from South Rajasthan.

N'da Anicet YAO

Tarun Kanti Bose

Journal of emerging technologies and innovative research

Duryadhan Behera

JodaBarbil area in Keonjhar District of Odisha has vast reserves of high quality Iron and Manganese ore on which the Iron and Steel Industries of Odisha greatly depends upon. It enjoys a strategic location in terms of transport of the ore to East and South-East Asia. In the recent decades, as an effect of globalization of economy, our natural bounties have been opened to international industrial and business communities. Now due to replacement of older tools and technologies of production with the modern efficient ones, the pace of exploitation of mineral resources, universal growth of the economy, ever growing market demands in this area has been multiplied manifolds over the recent years. The unprecedented and widespread growth of industrial activities in this region has created a number of impacts on the natural environment. In the present paper, attempts are made to outline the historical background of exploitation of the resources in the area, impact of the exploitation on the ...

Surender Chauhan

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Case Study Questions Class 10 Social Science Geography Minerals and Energy Resources

Case study questions class 10 social science geography chapter 5 minerals and energy resources.

CBSE Class 10 Case Study Questions Social Science Geography Minerals and Energy Resources. Important Case Study Questions for Class 10 Board Exam Students. Here we have arranged some Important Case Base Questions for students who are searching for Paragraph Based Questions Minerals and Energy Resources.

Minerals have played a pivotal role in shaping the Indian economy for centuries. India is a mineral-rich country with vast reserves of coal, iron ore, bauxite, and other essential minerals. These resources have been the backbone of various industries, including steel, cement, and power generation. However, challenges like illegal mining, environmental concerns, rathole mining, and resource depletion need to be addressed.

Q1) Define minerals and elaborate how rocks and minerals are related to each other? Mark 1

Q3) What are the various form in which mineral occurs? Mark 2

Q1) Give an account of variety of coals found in India? Mark 2

Answer Coal is found in a variety of forms depending on the degrees of compression and the depth and time of burial.

Q2) Give details of India natural gas pipeline infrastructure? Mark 2

Non-conventional or renewable energy sources have assumed a paramount role in India’s quest for sustainable development and energy security. These sources, which include solar, wind, hydropower, biomass, and geothermal energy, have witnessed remarkable growth and adoption in recent years. Solar energy, in particular, has experienced a meteoric rise, with India emerging as one of the world’s largest solar power producers.

Case Study 5:

Conservation of minerals and energy resources in India has never been more critical. As a nation on the path of rapid industrialization and urbanization, we rely heavily on these finite resources to fuel our growth.

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Saleem Ali sees sustainable strategies related to precious minerals as inherently linked to far-sighted collaborations grounded in a respect for the planet. “We need to look beyond traditional ideas of business leaders or political leaders," he says, "and aspire to be systems leaders through ecological literacy.” Illustration: Joel Kimmel

Envisioning a Future where Minerals Are Managed for the Global Good

As demands for metals and minerals increase to support low-carbon technologies, Saleem Ali promotes an international strategy to protect future generations

How we extract metals and minerals from the Earth brings destruction to the planet and puts at risk the raw materials we need to make the critical transition to green energy, says Saleem Ali, A94. 

But we can improve how we manage the planet’s nonrenewable resources, he says, if we adopt a collaborative global approach that addresses the environmental hazards of extraction and ensures that limited resources are used for the long-term benefit of all humanity. 

Ali’s dedication to a systems approach to managing nonrenewable resources informs his research and teaching at the University of Delaware where he is the Blue and Gold Distinguished Professor of Energy and the Environment and chair of the Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences. It has vaulted him into a larger sphere of influence as a member of several global advisory groups, including the United Nations International Resource Panel and the Secretary General's Advisory Board on Zero Waste. 

He’s also challenged the public to reckon with the consequences of the mineral industry in a series of books exploring the environmental destruction caused by our pursuit of gold, oil, and other natural resources. His most recent book,  Soil to Foil: Aluminum and the Quest for Industrial Sustainability , is a deep dive into the challenges and opportunities of aluminum. He considers this story a “corollary for a broader conversation about how we can more sustainably manage the elemental resources of our planet.”

Aluminum is highly versatile, valued for its malleability, lightness, and resistance to rust. Those same qualities make it central to building the infrastructure for the green energy transition in sectors that include transportation, solar panels, and batteries, Ali says. 

As with other natural resources, the challenge is to manage extraction sustainably, including ramping up recycling. “I think we could get close to a circular economy with aluminum,” says Ali. “What I hope people take away from the book is that, in general, across all raw materials, we need to rethink a process with a destructive environmental impact and significant carbon footprint, as well as examine the incremental decisions each of us make daily.”

For Ali, the theme that connects all these ideas is collaboration across sectors, which depends on “systems leaders,” or leaders who think cohesively, across multiple disciplines. “Systems thinking is so essential for contemporary leaders in any field,” he says. “We need to look beyond traditional ideas of business leaders or political leaders and aspire to be systems leaders through ecological literacy.”

Pivot Points

Ali grew up in Pakistan, with parents who prioritized education. He is grateful to them for sparking his imagination and intellect with a subscription to the youth version of National Geographic magazine. When he turned 12, the “grownup” magazine, which covered “everything under the sun,” fueled his growing curiosity about the wider world. 

“That magazine is what first inspired me to be a systems scientist,” he says. “It made me see that there are always connections between physical geography and human geography. It’s why I continue to always look for connections.”

At Tufts, Ali double majored in environmental studies and chemistry. He went on to earn a master’s degree from Yale in environmental law and policy and a doctorate in urban studies and planning from MIT.

Chemistry will always speak to his indelible fascination for the periodic table, “the anchor for everything I do,” Ali says. Yet environmental system sciences fed his wide-ranging curiosity “and it fits my temperament,” he says. “I like to travel and meet people. I want to learn as much as I can from them, and to synthesize new ideas.” It’s also an interdisciplinary field that he believes holds the key to solving today’s pressing global challenges.

Future Blueprint, Now

In a  recent TED Talk commissioned by the Rockefeller Foundation, Ali was asked to contribute a “Big Bet” for improving the condition of humanity. He proposed a mineral trust for the green transition. Such a trust would wisely manage the Earth’s raw materials, which are indispensable to clean energy technologies, as resources that benefit future generations, he says. 

The idea of a planetary trust was first proposed by  political philosopher Edith Brown Weiss in 1984, says Ali. But in 2024, it gains new urgency: The UN’s climate change panel’s latest report says we must cut greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2035 to avoid catastrophic consequences.

What is needed is a vast collaborative effort, he says, in which key decisions about mineral processing would be coordinated by the  International Renewable Energy Agency , a global intergovernmental organization, rather than by individual businesses or nations. “So you would have [a] mechanism that is much more technocratic and also much more efficient,” Ali argues.

In time, this approach would build a strong, reliable energy infrastructure that is not hindered by geopolitical tensions and that encodes the values of sustainability, he says. 

Resources as Endowments

The need for thinking about “resource endowments is particularly compelling and prescient when the resources in question are needed to solve global problems like climate change,” Ali underscores in a  recent article in Forbes . 

“The minerals specifically needed for this kind of transition should be available through markets without fears of resource nationalism or protectionism,” he writes. “They should be extracted where it is both ecologically and economically efficient to do so and not because of political bravado.”

Achieving a planetary trust, Ali believes, is not without precedent. The 1987 Montreal Protocol is a global agreement to protect life on Earth by shielding it from harmful ultraviolet radiation. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea—an agreement between 150 countries representing all regions of the world—establishes a legal framework for all maritime activities, including deep seabed mining. 

“Minerals, especially the ones which we're using for sustainable design of infrastructure, which we need to prevent climate change, should be considered in that same light,” Ali says. “In my mind, this is nothing less than mission critical if we are to successfully progress toward a renewable, sustainable energy future.”

Editor's Note: Saleem Ali will expand on his career and systems thinking on September 5 when he gives the keynote address for the Hoch Cunningham Environmental Lectures Series. He is one of many alumni returning to campus to mark the 40th anniversary celebration of the Tufts Environmental Studies Program. Learn more here, including how to register to hear his lecture, Systems Leaders in the 21st Century: Why Environmental Literacy Matters, via livestream Zoom .

How Climate Partnerships Can Change the World

June 21, 2024

India to offer incentives for critical minerals extraction, govt source says

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A tearful Biden takes center stage on DNC opening night

President Joe Biden, forced by his allies to abandon his reelection bid a month ago, took center stage on opening night of the Democratic National Convention, aware that his party has swiftly moved on without him.

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Categorization of Mineral Resources Based on Different Geostatistical Simulation Algorithms: A Case Study from an Iron Ore Deposit

• Original Paper
• Published: 11 March 2019
• Volume 28 , pages 1329–1351, ( 2019 )

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• Nurassyl Battalgazy 1 &
• Nasser Madani 1  

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Mineral resource classification plays an important role in the downstream activities of a mining project. Spatial modeling of the grade variability in a deposit directly impacts the evaluation of recovery functions, such as the tonnage, metal quantity and mean grade above cutoffs. The use of geostatistical simulations for this purpose is becoming popular among practitioners because they produce statistical parameters of the sample dataset in cases of global distribution (e.g., histograms) and local distribution (e.g., variograms). Conditional simulations can also be assessed to quantify the uncertainty within the blocks. In this sense, mineral resource classification based on obtained realizations leads to the likely computation of reliable recovery functions, showing the worst and best scenarios. However, applying the proper geostatistical (co)-simulation algorithms is critical in the case of modeling variables with strong cross-correlation structures. In this context, enhanced approaches such as projection pursuit multivariate transforms (PPMTs) are highly desirable. In this paper, the mineral resources in an iron ore deposit are computed and categorized employing the PPMT method, and then, the outputs are compared with conventional (co)-simulation methods for the reproduction of statistical parameters and for the calculation of tonnage at different levels of cutoff grades. The results show that the PPMT outperforms conventional (co)-simulation approaches not only in terms of local and global cross-correlation reproductions between two underlying grades (Fe and Al 2 O 3 ) in this iron deposit but also in terms of mineral resource categories according to the Joint Ore Reserves Committee standard.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Nazarbayev University for funding this work via “Faculty Development Competitive Research Grants for 2018–2020 under Contract No. 090118FD5336.” The second author acknowledges the Social Policy Grant (SPG) supported by Nazarbayev University. The authors also thank the Geovariances Company for providing the dataset. We are also grateful to Dr. John Carranza and the reviewers for their valuable comments, which substantially helped improving the final version of the manuscript.

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Battalgazy, N., Madani, N. Categorization of Mineral Resources Based on Different Geostatistical Simulation Algorithms: A Case Study from an Iron Ore Deposit. Nat Resour Res 28 , 1329–1351 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11053-019-09474-9

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Received : 24 November 2018

Accepted : 04 March 2019

Published : 11 March 2019

Issue Date : October 2019

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11053-019-09474-9

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