MINERAL

RESOURCES
Jomin Thomas N J
B110602EE
General Classification of
Nonrenewable Mineral Resources
The Mineral resources into four major categories:
Identified:known location, quantity, and quality or existence
known based on direct evidence and measurements.
Undiscovered: potential supplies that are assumed to exist.

Reserves: identified resources that can be extracted

profitably.
Other: undiscovered or identified resources not classified as
reserves
General Classification of
Nonrenewable Mineral Resources
Examples are fossil
fuels (coal, oil),
metallic minerals
(copper, iron), and
nonmetallic minerals
(sand, gravel).
GEOLOGIC PROCESSES
Deposits of nonrenewable mineral resources in the
earths crust vary in their abundance and
distribution.
A very slow chemical cycle recycles three types of
rock found in the earths crust:
Sedimentary rock (sandstone, limestone).
Metamorphic rock (slate, marble, quartzite).

Igneous rock (granite, pumice, basalt).

 Erosion
Transportation

Weathering

Deposition

Igneous rock
Sedimentary Granite,
rock pumice,
Sandstone, basalt
limestone
Heat, pressure

Cooling
Heat, pressure,
Magma
stress
(molten rock)

Melting

Metamorphic rock
Slate, marble,
gneiss, quartzite
 MINERAL RESOURCES IN INDIA

Metallic minerals
Non metallic minerals
Open-pit Mining
Machines dig holes
and remove ores,
sand, gravel, and
stone.
Toxic groundwater
can accumulate at
the bottom.
Area Strip Mining
Earth movers strips
away overburden,
and giant shovels
removes mineral
deposit.
Often leaves highly
erodible hills of
rubble called spoil
banks.
Contour Strip Mining
Used on hilly or
mountainous terrain.
Unless the land is
restored, a wall of
dirt is left in front of
a highly erodible
bank called a
highwall.
Mountaintop Removal
Machinery removes
the tops of mountains
to expose coal.
The resulting waste
rock and dirt are
dumped into the
streams and valleys
below.
 ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF USING
MINERAL RESOURCES
Minerals are removed through a variety of methods that
vary widely in their costs, safety factors, and levels of
environmental harm.
A variety of methods are used based on mineral depth.
Surface mining: shallow deposits are removed.
Subsurface mining: deep deposits are removed.
Environmental Impacts of Mining

Acid Mine Drainage

Erosion and Sedimentation
Cyanide & Other Toxic Releases
Dust Emissions
Habitat Modification
Surface and Groundwater Contamination
Coal mining affects the environment

Strip mining causes severe soil erosion and chemical runoff

Acid drainage = sulfide minerals on exposed rock surfaces
react with oxygen and rainwater to produce sulfuric acid
Mountaintop removal causes enormous damage
 Coal mining harms human health
Subsurface mining is harmful to human health
Mine shaft collapses

Inhalation of coal dust can lead to fatal black lung disease

Costs to repair damages of mining are very high

These costs are not included in the market prices of fossil
fuels, which are kept inexpensive by government subsidies
Mining companies must restore landscapes, but the impacts are
still severe
Looser of restrictions in 2002 allowed companies to dump
rock and soil into valleys, regardless of the consequences
Now what do we do with it?
Once the ore is mined and hauled to the surface, it
must be processed
Tailingsare what is left behind once the valuable
portion of the ore is removed.
Gangue is the commercially worthless minerals
associated with a valuable find.
Mining Impacts

Metal ores are smelted

or treated with
(potentially toxic)
chemicals to extract the
desired metal.
Hyperaccumulation
Hyperaccumulator plants accumulate inordinate
amounts of one or more Trace Elements (TE)s in their
above ground biomass.
Hyperaccumulators species may accumulate one or
more of a range of TEs that currently includes nickel,
manganese, zinc, cadmium, thallium, copper, cobalt and
arsenic.
Hyperaccumulation may have applications in mining in
the future.
 Natural Capital Degradation
Extracting, Processing, and Using Nonrenewable Mineral and Energy Resources

Steps Environmental effects

Mining Disturbed land; mining
accidents; health hazards,
Exploration, mine waste dumping, oil
extraction spills and blowouts; noise;
Processing ugliness; heat

Transportation, Solid wastes; radioactive

material; air, water, and
purification,
soil pollution; noise;
manufacturing safety and health
Use hazards; ugliness; heat

Transportation or Noise; ugliness; thermal

transmission to water pollution; pollution
of air, water, and soil;
individual user, solid and radioactive
eventual use, and wastes; safety and health
discarding hazards; heat
Mining Waste
Subsidence is a phenomenon where the surface
collapses directly above a subsurface mine.
Spoils are the unwanted rock and other waste left
over after mining either on the surface or
subsurface
Tailings are the materials left over after the
process of separating the valuable fraction from the
worthless fraction of an ore.
What to do with the waste
Incorporate the mine waste into
Concrete for buildings
Backfill for roads

Extraction of other minerals

ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF USING
MINERAL RESOURCES

The extraction, processing, and use of mineral resources

has a large environmental impact.
SUPPLIES OF MINERAL RESOURCES

The future supply of a resource depends on its

affordable supply and how rapidly that supply is used.
A rising price for a scarce mineral resource can increase
supplies and encourage more efficient use.
SUPPLIES OF MINERAL RESOURCES

Depletion curves for a

renewable resource
using three sets of
assumptions.
Dashed vertical lines
represent times when
80% depletion occurs.
SUPPLIES OF MINERAL RESOURCES

New technologies can increase the mining of low-grade

ores at affordable prices, but harmful environmental
effects can limit this approach.
Most minerals in seawater and on the deep ocean floor
cost too much to extract, and there are squabbles over
who owns them.
Getting More Minerals from the
Ocean
Hydrothermal deposits
form when mineral-rich
superheated water
shoots out of vents in
solidified magma on
the ocean floor.
USING MINERAL RESOURCES MORE
SUSTAINABLY
Scientists and engineers are developing new types
of materials as substitutes for many metals.
Recycling valuable and scarce metals saves money
and has a lower environmental impact then mining
and extracting them from their ores.
 Solutions
Sustainable Use of Nonrenewable Minerals

Do not waste mineral resources.

Recycle and reuse 6080% of mineral resources.

Include the harmful environmental costs of

mining and processing minerals in the prices
of items (full-cost pricing).

Reduce subsidies for mining mineral resources.

Increase subsidies for recycling, reuse, and

finding less environmentally harmful substitutes.

Redesign manufacturing processes to use less

mineral resources and to produce less pollution
and waste.

Have the mineral-based wastes of one

manufacturing process become the raw
materials for other processes.

Sell services instead of things.

Slow population growth.

Control Of Mining in India
THE MINES ACT, 1952
MINES AND MINERALS

(DEVELOPMENT AND REGULATION) ACT, 1957

regulates active coal mines and reclaims abandoned

mines
Standards of Performance.
Permitting.

Bonding.

Inspection and Enforcement.

Land Restrictions.