Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
(b) Discuss the economic, political and environmental aspects of the
development of a large platinum deposit in the region. In this discussion
you should take into account the geographical position of possible deposits,
the climate and other factors that will influence the development of a mine;
the distance to likely markets and global trade in the metals; present and
future uses of the metals; and finally the political issues - is Greenland a
potentially stable supplier of mineral products and how does it compare with
other sources.
Elements of a response:
(a) Inspection of the legend of the geological map reveals the presence of
mafic intrusions of various ages. These intrusion might contain Ni sulfide
deposits like those in Archean komatiites of Australia, or Cr and PGE
deposits like those of the Bushveld Complex in South Africa, or magmaic
sulfide deposits intrusions related to large magmatic provinces like those in
Russia. Descriptions of all these deposits are given in Chap. 3. An exploration
geologist would use the map to find areas where such deposits have been
located.
(b) When considering the mining of a deposit, factors such as the climate
(more extreme in the north and on the east coast); the distance from the coast
and means of transporting ore to a site where it could be shipped to future
customers; the site of a refinery and possibly a smelter (in Greenland or
elsewhere - Outukumpu in Finland is a possibility); measures to be taken to
assure that any future mining is conducted in an environmentally correct
manner; and finally the relations with the governmental authorities (authority
to explore and eventually to mine a deposit, royalties to be paid, hiring of
local workers and companies, and so on).
industrial expansion in China has multiplied its need for a wide range of metals and
even its large domestic resources cannot meet these requirements. China is there-
fore a major importer of a wide range of minerals. On the other hand, China
contains large deposits of tungsten and produces more than it needs; it is therefore
an exporter of this metal. Australia, a country with abundant resources of almost all
types of mineral, is a leading exporter of all these minerals, but it lacks major
deposits of Cr and is an importer of this metal.
Further complications arise when one distinguishes production of refined metals
from unrefined ores. In some cases, ore is exported in its unrefined form, more or
less as it is mined. This is the case for some iron ores that are shipped directly from
mines in Australia or Brazil to refineries in Japan or China. At the other extreme we
have gold or diamond, which almost always are separated from the gangue and
refined at the sites where they is mined, and only the pure metal or uncut gemstone
is transported out. In most other cases, ores or refined products of variable degrees
of purity are exported. Consider, for example, the several major steps in the
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