Week 10: Resource Extraction, Mining Project Life Cycle, Stakeholders Flashcards
What is ‘alloying’?
The combining of different metals in solid solutions to improve and modify properties to those metals (ex. Cu/Sn alloy maintains properties like malleability but increases durability).
_______ society is built on _______.
MODERN society is built on CONSUMPTION.
Every American baby born will need __________ pounds of minerals, metals and fuels in their lifetime.
Every American baby born will need 3.19 MILLION pounds of minerals, metals and fuels in their lifetime.
What are the steps to the “Classical” Mineral Life Cycle?
- Exploration (using geophysics, experimental drilling)
- Mining and Milling (break mined rock into fine pieces and physically separate them)
- Smelting and Refining (chemically extract [copper]; the smelting stage is one of the most CO2-intensive processes of modern age).
- Manufacturing to form the initial products.
(In each step, there is waste, environmental and social stress. And in each step, there are opportunities to recycle!)
What is the most energy-intensive step of the “Classical” Mining Life Cycle?
Breaking down large rocks from fine slurry (sind-sized grains and water).
We’re breaking bonds in the solid structure of rock (finer and finer). The smaller the particles, the energy needed grows exponentially.
List three of the properties minerals may exhibit and by which they may be sorted.
- Size
- Density
- Magnetic properties
- Optical properties
- Electrical properties
- Surface properties (ex. tendency of surface to not get wet)
What is ‘pyrometallurgy’ and ‘hydrometallurgy’?
Pyro = smelting and refining (pyro = high temperature mineral extraction)
Hydro = minerals extracted under highly acidic or alkaline conditions.
Name the five stages of the Mineral Project Life Cycle.
- Exploration (1-10 years)
- Side design and construction (1-5 years)
- Operation (2-100 years)
- Final closure and decommissioning (1-5 years)
- Post-closure (a decade to perpetuity, *newer)
What is the importance of the “post-closure” stage of the Mineral Project Life Cycle?
Reclamation and monitoring of the surrounding environment post-closure attempts to return the site to its initial state. Groundwater quality is closely monitored, as is soil contamination and natural habitats to ensure there are no drastic changes to the surrounding environment.
When there was no post-closure stage, sites were often abandoned and this caused huge environmental impacts, which not only tarnished the env. but also, the company’s reputation.
What is artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM)?
[In]formal mining operations with simplified forms of exploration, extraction, processing and transportation. ASM is normally low capital-intensive and uses labour-intensive tech.
___% of the global gold supply is produced by ASM.
20%
__-__% of the ASM workforce in Africa are women.
40-50%
What are the challenges of ASM?
- Lack of legal protection and support
- Poor working conditions (health & safety risks)
- Limited adherence to environmental regulations
Only ___% of women who earn a bachelor’s degree in engineering are still working as engineers 20 years later.
30%
What is the definition of “pernicious”, and how does it relate to the struggles women face in engineering?
Pernicious (adj.): Having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way.
Oftentimes, women endure discrete forms of sexism that induce a sense of discomfort, unease, and lack of confidence, which discourage them from pursuing STEM fields.
