GEO3510 Industriak/Chemical minerals, Diamonds

The concentration factor of the ferroalloys can be calculated by…

Lowest minable grade divided by the average crustal abundance

What metal has the highest percent in the crust?

Alumninum

How many grades of steel are there?

Thousands

Exotic, high temperature, corrosion resistant alloys include:

Tungsten

Boron

Tantalum

Most steels are…

Carbon steels

What are the 9 major steel classifications?

Carbon, nickel, nickel-chromium, molbdenum, chromium, chromium-vanadium,tungsten, nickel-chromium-molybdenum, silicon-managnese steels

Chromium adds what to steel?

Corrosion resistance and high temperature stability

The principle ore mineral of chromium is what?

Chromite

Over 70% of the world’s known reserves of chromite occur in which country?

South Africa

South Africa counts for how much of the world production of chromium?

Half

What giant feature do these chromite deposits occur in?

The Bushveld Igneous Complex

Most other reserves are in a smaller deposit in…

Zimbabwe

Platinum is considered a…

Precious metal

Why is platinum considered a precious metal?

It historically cost more than gold

Platinum typically occurs as the…

Native metal

90% of the world’s platinum reserves are in the…

Bushveld Igneous Complex

Vanadium is particularly useful in…

High Strength/Low Alloy steels

Vandium adds what to steel?

Resiliency

Vanadium is mostly mined as a…

Trace element

The Great Dyke in Zimbabwe is an example of what?

A giant layered mafic intrusion trending north-northeast across Zimbabwe

Manganese is used in…

Virtually all steels

Manganese is added to steel for…

Wear resistance and it scours energy and sulfur impurities from steel

Manganese is mostly mined from…

Manganese oxided like Pyrolusite

Manganese ores typically form…

Sedimentary and hydrothermal deposits

The largest Manganese reserves are in…

South Africa, Ukraine, and Brazil

The largest producers of Manganese are…

South Africa, China, and Australia

Nodules

Extensive deposits that exist on the abyssal seafloors

Why did interest in nodules disappear?

The cost of mining was not competitive with land-based mining

Nodules mostly consist of…

Manganese and Iron

What 2 ferroalloy metals have similar geological origins?

Nickel and cobalt

Both nickel and cobalt come from…

Mafic ignenous rocks

Nickel and cobalt are basically…

Magmas that have crystallized with little modification

Nickel and cobalt are concentrated by…

Weathering

Diamonds are primarily brought to the surface through…

Rapid, violent volcanic eruptions

Eruptions that produce diamonds occur in…

Mafic volcanic beccias called kimberlites

Diamonds can also occur in…

Placer minerals in streams and beach gravels

The best way to evalutate for diamonds is through…

Trial mining

Most diamonds are about how old?

3 billion years or more

Diamonds have extremely high dispersion, meaning

different colors of light travel at different speeds

Diamond cut patterns…

Capitalize on high dispersion and separate colors of light by reflection inside the jewel

Most industrial diamonds are…

Synthetic

Garnet

A high grade metamorphic mineral used as an abrasive

Garnet is not as hard as diamond, but…

Much cheaper

Most sandpaper is coated with what?

Garnet