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The Lithosphere - Coggle Diagram
The Lithosphere
Environmental Impacts
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left over land when mine exploited can't be used for agriculture - low fertility, toxic metals, and sloping land
Lithosphere minerals
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when materials come in short supply, the price increases
Mine Viability
ore purity
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if ore grade is low: more rock has to be mined, more waste, more energy needed for mining, and more pollution
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Lasky's Priciple
states that as the purity of the ore decreases, the amount of mineral present increases - exponentially
issue - we have enough for the future but we need to develop METHODS to exploit the low-grade deposits
low grade ore is therefore more expensive to extract than high grade ore as it requires more machinery and processes
COOG = Cut Off Ore Grade
as the COOG increases, the reserves fall and the exploitation of low grade ores because less economically viable
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Reserves, Resources and Exploratory Techniques
resource
all the material theoretically available for exploitation - includes everything that can and can't be exploited
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reserve
amount of resources that can be exploited now, economically using existing technologies
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Exploratory Techniques
remote sensing - using any technique to gain information without gaining direct samples e.g satellite survey
Infrared spectroscopy - different minerals emit different wavelengths and these are used to identify them underground
gravimetry - gravimeters detect variations in gravity caused by variations in density and mass (igneous has a greater density than sedimentary)
magnetometry - detect rocks that are more magnetic such as iron ore magnetite and ores of tunsten and cobalt
seismic surveys - involve sound waves produced by controlled explosions or seismic vibrator on the surface
resistivity - measurement of difficulty with which electricity passes through e.g sedimentary have low resistivity
other techniques
trials drilling - most expensive technique per sampling site - produces samples of rocks from underground and is very invasive
chemical analysis laboratory tests confirm the chemical composition and purity of minerals in a rock sample
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examples
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mobile phones
copper, nickel, lead, tin and silicone
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