Mineral Economics and Mining Geology Flashcards
It has a hole diameter of 122.6 mm and core diameter of 85 mm
PQ
It has a hole diameter of 48 mm and core diameter of 27 mm
AQ
It has a hole diameter of 75.7 mm and core diameter of 47.6 mm
NQ
A map that can either be a topographic map or an aerial photograph of the area which orients the map user to the location of the details within the geologic map.
Base Map
What is the differences between large- and small-scale maps?
Large-scale - high ratio (ex. 1:1,000)
Small-scale - small ratio (ex. 1:1,000,000)
A type of drill that utilizes a helical drill that digs through the material and acts as a conveyor to remove the material.
Auger Drill
A type of drill that utilizes a helical drill that digs through the material and acts as a conveyor to remove the material.
Auger Drill
A method of drilling that uses a diamond drill bit used to cut through and recover core samples
Diamond-Core
A type of drilling that uses a dual-walled rod, which means it has an inner rod where the core cuttings pass through to be transported out.
Reverse-Circulation
A drilling method which employs the use of sharp, rotating drill bits to cut through the material.
Hydraulic Rotary
A method of shallow, lateral excavation that is usually best done with an overburden of less than 3 m.
Trenching
A method of vertically excavating from the surface or from one level to another in an underground mine.
Winzing
An RQD value of 60% is labelled as:
a. Poor
b. Fair
c. Good
d. Excellent
Fair
An RQD value of 40% is labelled as:
a. Poor
b. Fair
c. Good
d. Excellent
Poor
An RQD value of 85% is labelled as:
a. Poor
b. Fair
c. Good
d. Excellent
Good
What core sizes are not allowed for RQD?
AQ and BQ
A mechanical, surface mining method that involves creating a deep, wide pit, that’s supported by benches, for excavating shallow metal or nonmetal deposits.
Open Pit
A mechanical, surface mining method that involves creating a deep, wide pit, that’s supported by benches, for excavating shallow metal or nonmetal deposits.
Open Pit
A mechanical surface mining for dimension stones or aggregates which involves slicing large, vertical benches of the commodity.
Quarrying
A mechanical, surface mining often interchangeable with “strip mining” and is similar to ope-pit mining but for a more shallower deposits. Common for coal and nickel laterite deposits.
Open Cast
A mining method that involves stripping by following a specific contour of the deposits.
Contour
A mechanical surface mining method commonly used for extracting commodities from seams.
Auger
A non-mechanical method that utilizes manpower to sieve through the alluvial deposits for the ore.
Panning
An aqueous, surface mining method that utilizes the power of jet streams of water to break the orebody and retrieve the ore. It has been banned in some countries.
Hydraulicking
An aqueous surface mining method that extracts minerals along streams where the minerals have accumulated as unconsolidated alluvial deposits.
Placer
An aqueous surface mining that involves extracting minerals contained in sediments partly underwater or in shallow bodies of water using an excavator.
Dredging
An aqueous surface mining method that extracts minerals in situ by utilizing different solutions which can leach them out. Linked with uranium deposits.
In-situ leaching
An unsupported underground mining method that is one of the oldest methods, and is done by developing a grid, which are then used to self-support the system. For flat lying deposits.
Room and Pillar
An unsupported underground mining method that is similar to Room and Pillar having only the shape of the pillars left. Irregular spaces.
Stope and Pillar
An unsupported underground mining method where the ore is excavated horizontally and is progressively excavated upwards, while being extracted at the bottom through funnels.
Shrinking Stoping
An unsupported mining method that is done by creating patterned drillings through a steeply dipping ore body through stopes in sublevels and then blasted before collecting the broken ore.
Sublevel Stoping
An underground mining method in which the ore and surrounding waste rock are both blasted and allowed to cave as ore is extracted from lower sublevels. Commonly done in steeply dipping ore bodies and the operation is done in the footwall.
Sublevel Caving
A supported underground mining method where the ore is mined horizontally in levels progressing upwards and backfilled once the ore has been extracted and serves as the new platform for the upper level.
Cut and Fill Stoping
True or False. Waste rock is efficiently used as a backfill material in many mining methods.
True
An old, supported underground mining method that heavily relies on square set-timbering as support system for every square set of excavated parts of the ore body, which is eventually backfilled after one section is mined out.
Square Set Stoping
A caving underground mining of flat-lying, and relatively thin, tabular deposits, usually coal, where shearing machineries are used to extract coal as it travels back and forth across its coal face. As the shearers cross the coalface, moveable roof supports are installed to support the overlying strata
Longwall stoping
A caving underground method for hard rock that involves mining the ore body from under and allowing it to collapse on its own. It is considered as an underground analog of open-pit mining. The method utilizes funnels where the orebody is lead to for extraction.
Block Caving
Define Upstream, Midstream, and Downstream Industries
Upstream: Identification, Extraction, and Production of goods
Midstream: Transportation and Storage services
Downstream: Processing, Post-production, Bringing to consumers
Gross vs Net Income
Gross - Total income without accounting tax and royalties
Net - Total income accounting tax and royalties
A tax imposed by the government for the income generated the generally amounts to ____% of the net income.
Income tax; 32%
A tax imposed by the government for the production, sales and/or consumption generated that amounts to ___% of the gross sales.
Excise Tax; 4%
How many grams in 1 oz?
28.35 g
A mining company has two stockpiles of Nickel ore: A: 9000MT with 1.5% Nickel and B: 7000MT with 2.4% Nickel. Determine the total tonnage of ore needed if the buyer requires a minimum grade of 2.0% Nickel.
- Since Stockpile A did not meet the minimum requirements, “x” MT of it is used to dilute Stockpile B with to lower total grade and meet the minimum grade requirement.
(7000 × 0.024) + (x × 0.015) = ((x+7000)×0.02)
x = 5600 MT
Tonnage = 7000 MT (from B) + 5600 MT (from A)
Tonnage = 12600 MT at 2.0% Ni
Minimum amount of mineral deposits for it to be considered world class deposits
a. Gold
b. Silver
C. Copper
d. Zinc
e. Lead
a. Gold - 100 MT
b. Silver - 2,400 MT
C. Copper - 2,000,000 MT
d. Zinc - 1,700,000 MT
e. Lead - 1,000,000 MT
A group made up of representatives from various organizations that aim to standardize the code for reporting exploration, mineral resource and mineral reserve results. They are responsible for drafting JORC and PMRC.
Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards (CRIRSCO)
A geometric resource estimation method that utilizes the area of a certain drillhole to estimate the grade for a specific depth and point.
Area of Influence method
A geometric resource estimation method best used for uneven drillhole spacing and estimates the area of Influence by extending it halfway through the distance from its neighboring drillholes, resulting in varying areas.
Polygon Method
Area of a rhombus
A = h((a+b)/2)
A geometric resource estimation method based on elevation of the area. It utilizes the area of a rhombus.
Contour Method
A geometric resource estimation method used for elongated, irregularly-shaped deposits, and is applicable when the vertical distance is greater than the horizontal distance of each drill hole.
Cross-Section Method
A geostatistical resource estimstion method that assigns a value to a block based on nearest available data to the centroid of a block.
Nearest Neighbor Method
A geostatistical resource estimation method based on the empirical observation that the bearing of each sample is proportional to an inverse power of the distance from the location of the estimated point to the samples.
Inverse Distance Weighting Method
A geostatistical resource estimation method that applies the concepts of ellipsoid search radius derived from variograms plotted from data acquired from samples.
Ordinary Kriging Method
The following are Porphyry Cu-Au deposits except:
a. Taganito Mining Corp.
b. Dipidio Mine
c. Padcal Mine
d. Philex Mining Corp.
Taganito Mining Corp (Nickel)
Which of the following employs cut and fill stoping mining method?
a. Dipidio Mine
b. Apex Mining Co. Inc.
c. Co-O Mine
d. Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company
Apex Mining Co. Inc. (Cut and Fill) and Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company (Shrinkage Stoping and Cut and Fill)
Which of the following employs block caving mining method?
a. Co-O Mine
b. Silangan Mindanao Mining Co.
c. Philex Mining Corporation
d. Oceana Gold
Answer: Philex Mining Corporation
a. Co-O Mine (Shrinkage, Stope and Pillar)
b. Silangan Mindanao Mining Co. (Sublevel Caving)
d. Oceana Gold (Open-pit, Shrinkage)
A horizontal opening driven from the surface which give access to the orebody. It is not open at both ends unlike tunnels.
Adit
An alloy of mercury and other metals
Amalgam
Entries at the back of the panel where the extraction begins and provide continuity in mine ventilation.
a. Bulkhead
b. Bleeder entries
c. Breakthrough
d. Breast
Answer: Bleeder entries
Bulkhead - A timber or concrete dam to hold air, tailings or water in place.
Breakthrough - A passage that allows the ventilating current to pass from one room to another.
Breast - The vertical end surface of a working heading.
A timber or concrete dam to hold air, tailings or water in place.
a. Bulkhead
b. Bleeder entries
c. Breakthrough
d. Breast
Answer: Bulkhead
Bleeder entries - Entries at the back of the panel where the extraction begins and provide continuity in mine ventilation.
Breakthrough - A passage that allows the ventilating current to pass from one room to another.
Breast - The vertical end surface of a working heading.
A passage that allows the ventilating current to pass from one room to another
a. Bulkhead
b. Bleeder entries
c. Breakthrough
d. Breast
Answer: Breakthrough
Bleeder entries - Entries at the back of the panel where the extraction begins and provide continuity in mine ventilation.
Bulkhead - A timber or concrete dam to hold air, tailings or water in place.
Breast - The vertical end surface of a working heading.
The vertical end surface of a working heading.
a. Bulkhead
b. Bleeder entries
c. Breakthrough
d. Breast
Answer: Breast
Bleeder entries - Entries at the back of the panel where the extraction begins and provide continuity in mine ventilation.
Bulkhead - A timber or concrete dam to hold air, tailings or water in place.
Breakthrough - A passage that allows the ventilating current to pass from one room to another.
a non-explosive blasting system. The ultimate solution for build-up & blockage issues in storage vessels, pre-heaters, coolers, inlet chambers, silos, raw feed mills, riser ducts, rotary kilns, and other high-heat process equipment. It utilizes the expansion properties of liquid carbon dioxide.
Cardox
A permitted device used in some English coal mines using a powder charge composed of ammonium chloride and sodium nitrate.
Hydrox
A baked mixture of caustic soda and lime, used in the container or regenerator of self-contained mine rescue or oxygen breathing apparatus to absorb inhaled CO2.
Cardoxide
A hydraulically actuated road support.
a. Chocks
b. Collar
c. Girt
d. Pack
Chocks
An artificial support system made from shaped rocks, concrete or pumice blocks.
a. Chocks
b. Collar
c. Girt
d. Pack
Pack
Is the caved area produced from the collapse of the mined out portion of the deposits.
a. Easer
b. Mole
c. Stull
d. Gob
Gob
A process for mining sulfur in which superheated water is forced into the sulfur deposit to melt it.
Frasch Process
Weight of waste to be extracted to mine one unit weight of ore (waste to ore ratio)
Stripping Ratio
As pit dimensions get bigger, the stripping ratio exponentially increases also. When the stripping ratio reaches a threshold where increasing pit size is no longer economic, a term called:
Maximum stripping ratio
refers to dirt and rock piled alongside a haulage road or along the edge of a dump point
Berm
Slopes are steepened in its final stage to achieve a low stripping ratio.
Ultimate Slope
Composition of Monel Metal Alloy composition
Nickel and Copper
Minimum Concentration needed for Copper, Gold, Nickel, and Silver in ppm for mining
Copper - 3,000 ppm
Gold - 0.5 ppm
Nickel - 2,000 ppm
Silver - 500 ppm
Describe how the cooling process provides a way of sorting out and concentrating metals to a potentially mineable grade.
“Cool… Dump the dull stuff, skim off the cream”
As volcanoes erupt, pressure is relieved in the magma chamber allowing parts of its minerals to crystallize.
These crystals are usually silicates (refer to Bowen’s on T and P changes) which are of no economic value leaving the melt/hydrothermal fluid enriched with precious metals.
Since magma input is not a one time event and volcanic eruption is also not a one time event, the melt/hydrothermal fluid will be super-enriched and will deposit precious metals on different levels as it travels upwards due to meteoric conditions.
True or False. A sulfur rich host rock is more important than a Copper/Nickel rich melt to produce heavy Ni-Cu sulfide melt.
True. Magma absorbs sulfur from surrounding rocks producing heavy Ni-Cu sulfide melt that settles in the bottom of the melt and cools to produce massive sulfide.
a highly altered granitic rock or pegmatite, usually composed predominantly of quartz and micas
Greisen
Source most of world’s Ni and PGE’s, Cr
Mafic Layered Complexes
36% of Ni production is from:
Cu-Ni Sulfide Deposits
Cu-Ni Massive Sulphide deposit in Canada hypothesized to have caused by meteorite impact
a. Sudbury
b. Norilsk
c. Witwatersrand
d. Rossing
Sudbury
Cu-Ni Massive Sulphide deposit in Russia where mineralization is hosted by 6 separate intrusions that formed feeders to the Siberian Traps
a. Sudbury
b. Norilsk
c. Witwatersrand
d. Rossing
Norilsk
Cu-Ni Massive Sulphide deposit in Canada which was discovered in 1993. 4% of world Ni production.
a. Litseng
b. Norilsk
c. Voisey’s Bay
d. Rossing
Voisey’s Bay
PGE-Cr Deposit in South Africa which hosts 80% of world’s PGE resources, and 60% of production. Average grade is 5-8 g/t.
a. Bushveld Complex
b. Norilsk
c. El Sauzal
d. Great Dyke
Bushveld Complex
PGE-Cr Deposit in Montana. Interbedded pyroxenites, dunites and gabbros. Cr/Cu/Ni produced in WW2. It produced the 13% of world production of PGEs in 2005. Average grade is 10 g/t.
a. Bushveld Complex
b. Stillwater Complex
c. Olympic Dam
d. Great Dyke
Stillwater Complex
PGE-Cr Deposit in Zimbabwe. Interbedded pyroxenites, dunites and gabbros. It produced the 270K oz Pt or 7% of world production. Average grade is <4 g/t.
a. Stillwater Complex
b. Muggaburna
c. Olympic Dam
d. Great Dyke
Great Dyke
Company founded by Cecil Rhodes when diamonds were discovered in a small mining town of Kimberley in South Africa.
de Beers company
Diamodiferous kimberlites almost always found above _______.
Archaean cratons (>2.5 BY)
Town that produced a 0.09 g/t grade of diamond
a. Letseng
b. Jwaneng
c. Orapa
d. Premier
a. Letseng (0.004g/t)
b. Jwaneng (0.09 g/t)
c. Orapa (0.24 g/t)
d. Premier (g,788 g/t)
The ______________ is the world’s largest gold mine and the highest situated mine in the world.
Grasberg mine
What are the 3 ways to get gold to drop out of the fluid?
- Cool the fluid or drop the pressure (Epithermal)
- Chemical Trap (Magnetite + Gold/Sulfur thio-complex = Pyrite + Native Gold + Water) (Hydrothermal and Mesothermal)
- Change pH or Eh (Mixing of Neutral Gold-bearing fluid with a reduced groundwater will cause the solubility of gold to drop) (Mesothermal)
High Sulfidation epithermal deposit in Mexico
El Sauzal
High Sulfidation epithermal deposits in Peru
Pierina and Yanacocha
Deposit that is:
- Mainly gold (+ minor silver and mercury)
- usually small/moderate in size but high grade
- Relatively narrow veins, steeply dipping
- Depth limited by boiling zone (pressure release)
Epithermal Low Sulfidation
Deposit characterized by:
- Gold near the surface (becoming more silver and lead-zinc rich at depth)
- Steep veins but may have flat splays
- Veins can be long and continuous
- Silver-lead-zinc mineralization can extend to significant depths
- underground or open pit
Epithermal Intermediate Sulfidation
These deposits are characterized by:
- Archean craton
- Thick crust to cause the deepest portion to melt
- “Crustal scale” fault to provide channelway towards surface
- Jog zone and source of reduced fluid to cause gold to drop out of solution.
Mesothermal/Greenstone Shear Zone Gold deposits
Are significantly clay rich limestones
Dirty Carbonates
This deposit is characterized by:
- hosted in “dirty carbonate” rocks
- Gold occurs as “micron gold” in disseminated pyrite
- associated with orpiment/realgar, carbon, silicification
Carlin deposits
This deposit produced 40% of all the gold produced in the world since the beginning of time.
Witwatersrand Gold Deposits
This country has the largest Uranium resources in the world:
a. Kazakhstan
b. Canada
c. Australia
d. Niger
Answer: Canada
Kazakhstan (largest production)
An IOCG Uranium deposit:
a. Witwatersrand
b. Rossing
c. Olympic Dam
d. Cigar Lake
Olympic Dam
An Intrusive Uranium deposit:
a. Witwatersrand
b. Rossing
c. Olympic Dam
d. Cigar Lake
Rossing
Uranium occurs as fine-grained uraninite and uranophane. Low grade but large and easily extracted.
a. Witwatersrand
b. Rossing
c. Olympic Dam
d. Cigar Lake
Rossing
Uranium is soluble in _________ water
Oxidized (Dissolve in oxygenated ground water, precipitate in reduced ground water)
What are the major minerals associated with albitic alteration?
Albite and paragonite
What are the major minerals associated with argillic alteration?
Kaolinite, smectite, illite; occurs in gold deposits hosted by sedimentary rocks
What are the major minerals associated with phyllic alteration?
Sericite, quartz, pyrite; decomposition of silicic rocks
What are the major minerals associated with potassic alteration?
Biotite, K-feldspar, adularia; High T alteration of silicic magma
What are the major minerals associated with propylitic alteration?
Chlorite, epidote, actinolite, tremolite; low to moderate T decomposition of mafic rocks
What are the major minerals associated with Spilitization alteration?
Albite
What is an ore?
a. accessory mineral in igneous rocks
b. any mineral of economic value
c. mineral which can be extracted with profit
d. rock of economic value
mineral which can be extracted with profit (the most correct answer)
‘Tenor’ in respect of an economic mineral deposit refers to what?
a. quantity of metal or element
b. amount of gangue
c. regularity of mineral content
d. level to which the deposit has been metamorphosed
quantity of metal or element
What is stope in a mine?
a. incline leading to an underground mine
b. cut on the side of mine tunnel
c. excavation formed by extraction of ore in a mine
d. main part of underground mine
excavation formed by extraction of ore in a mine
Which unit is used in the context of weighing precious metals and is equal to 1.555 grams?
a. troy ounce
b. carat
c. pennyweight
d. deadweight tonnage
Answer: pennyweight or deadweight tonnage
a. troy ounce - same concept, but 20 times (or 31.1035 grams)
b. carat - 200 mg, used to weigh precious gems
How does supergene enrichment of a mineral deposit takes place?
a. by upward capillary movement of solutions
b. by oxidation of sulphide minerals
c. when deposits lie along water table
d. by descending solutions
by oxidation of sulphide minerals (most correct)
What is efflorescence?
a. bubble formation on application of acid on a carbonate
b. mineral encrustation on soil
c. luminescence caused by electromagnetic radiation
d. luminescence caused by cathode rays
mineral encrustation on soil
What is a wall rock in economic geology?
a. rock in which minerals occur
b. vertical mineralized dyke
c. rock adjacent to a mineral vein
d. mineralized face of a mine
rock in which minerals occur
Which of the following is not a noble metal
a. platinum
b. tellurium
c. gold
d. palladium
tellurium
Which one of the following minerals does not occur in or as a
sedimentary deposit?
a. manganese
b. pyrite
c. barites
d. talc
talc
What is the special property of fuller’s earth
a. expands with addition of water
b. highly absorbent
c. high plasticity
d. good bleaching agent
highly absorbent
Historically, which country had the reputation as the first major
producer of diamonds?
a. Brazil
b. Borneo
c. India
d. South Africa
India
That diamond is pure carbon was proved first by which chemist?
a. Antoine Lavoisier
b. Smithson Tennant
c. Linus Pauling
d. Marie Curie
Smithson Tennant
The largest diamond ever found, the Cullinan, weighed how much in the
rough?
a. 4112 ct
b. 4238 ct
c. 3106 ct
d. 3144 ct
3106 ct
Where is the world-famous ‘Koh-i-Noor’ diamond kept now?
a. Tower of London
b. Royal treasury, London
c. Buckingham Palace, London
d. Sandringham Palace, Scotland
Tower of London
The largest cut blue diamond now displayed in the museum of the
Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, USA, is known by which name?
a. Brunswick
b. Tavernier
c. Hope
d. Cartier
Hope
Which is the mineral that is mined from under the sea off the coast of
Namibia?
a. copper
b. zircon
c. titanium
d. diamond
Diamond
What is an ashlar?
a. briquette of fly ash
b. stone slabs for roofing
c. rectangular stone for building
d. a heap of stone
rectangular stone for building
The element of this ore is added to capacitors to regulate voltage and improve audio quality of mobile devices
a. Tantalite
b. Bastnaesite
c. Sphalerite
d. Bauxite
Tantalum from Tantalite ore
_____ is a source of REE used to produce magnets in speakers, microphones, and vibration motors.
a. Tantalite
b. Bastnaesite
c. Sphalerite
d. Bauxite
Bastnaesite
_____ is the source of indium and germanium used in a mobile phone’s screen.
a. Tantalite
b. Bastnaesite
c. Sphalerite
d. Bauxite
Sphalerite
Gallium provides LED backlighting. What ore is the source of this commodity?
a. Tantalite
b. Bastnaesite
c. Sphalerite
d. Bauxite
Bauxite
This type of Silver has a fineness of 925.
a. Britannia Silver
b. French 1st Standard
c. Sterling Silver
d. Scandinavian Silver
Answer: Sterling Silver
a. Britannia Silver (958)
b. French 1st Standard (950)
d. Scandinavian Silver (830)
It is the core of Nobel Prize metals. What are the elements present?
a. Cupronickel
b. Nordic Gold
c. White Gold
d. Green Gold
Answer: Green Gold (Au, Ag, Cu)
a. Cupronickel (Cu, Ni - coins)
b. Nordic Gold (Cu, Al, Zn - Euro coins)
c. White Gold (Au, Pd, Ni - jewelry)
It is a Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) used for specialized glass frames. What are the elements present?
a. Nichrome
b. Nitinol
c. Mischmetal
d. Pewter
Which environment/setting would you expect to find gold and tungsten?
a. Magmatic Arc
b. Continental Rift/Hotspot
c. MOR
d. Shield
Shield
Which environment/setting would you expect to find chromium and platinum?
a. Magmatic Arc
b. Continental Rift/Hotspot
c. MOR
d. Shield
MOR
Alteration zone with abundance of biotite, k-feldspar, and adularia
Potassic
Alteration zone with abundance of chlorite, epidote, and actinolite
Propylitic
Alteration zone resulting in bleaching out of feldspars and introduction of clay minerals.
Argillic
Alteration zone with assemblage of kaolinite + quartz + hematite + limonite
Advanced Argillic
Layered Mafic Intrusions in South Africa and Canada
Bushveld and Sudbury
Olympic Dam and Prominent Hill in Australia are what type of a mineral deposit?
Iron Oxide Cu-Au (IOCG)
What type of epithermal deposit is found in Lepanto?
High Sulfidation
Where can Cyprus-, Besshi-, and Kuroko-type VMS found in Philippines?
Barlo, Rapu-Rapu, and Bagacay respectively
What is the use of BARITE in drilling?
DRILLING MUD
What country mines gemstones?
a. Sri Lanka
b. Madagascar
c. Goa
Sri Lanka
