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Mining is the extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agricultural processes, or feasibly created artificially in a laboratory or factory. Ores recovered by mining include metals, coal, oil shale, gemstones, limestone, chalk, dimension stone, rock salt, potash, gravel, and clay. The ore must be a rock or mineral that contains valuable constituent, can be extracted or mined and sold for profit. Mining in a wider sense includes extraction of any non-renewable resource such as petroleum, natural gas, or even water.
Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals concentrated above background levels, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit. The grade of ore refers to the concentration of the desired material it contains. The value of the metals or minerals a rock contains must be weighed against the cost of extraction to determine whether it is of sufficiently high grade to be worth mining and is therefore considered an ore. A complex ore is one containing more than one valuable mineral.
Polymetallic nodules, also called manganese nodules, are mineral concretions on the sea bottom formed of concentric layers of iron and manganese hydroxides around a core. As nodules can be found in vast quantities, and contain valuable metals, deposits have been identified as a potential economic interest. Depending on their composition and autorial choice, they may also be called ferromanganese nodules. Ferromanganese nodules are mineral concretions composed of silicates and insoluble iron and manganese oxides that form on the ocean seafloor and terrestrial soils. The formation mechanism involves a series of redox oscillations driven by both abiotic and biotic processes. As a byproduct of pedogenesis, the specific composition of a ferromanganese nodule depends on the composition of the surrounding soil. The formation mechanisms and composition of the nodules allow for couplings with biogeochemical cycles beyond iron and manganese. The high relative abundance of nickel, copper, manganese, and other rare metals in nodules has increased interest in their use as a mining resource.
Mining in Japan is minimal because Japan does not possess many on-shore mineral resources. Many of the on-shore minerals have already been mined to the point that it has become less expensive to import minerals. There are small deposits of coal, oil, iron and minerals in the Japanese archipelago. Japan is scarce in critical natural resources and has been heavily dependent on imported energy and raw materials. There are major deep sea mineral resources in the seabed of Japan. This is not mined yet due to technological obstacles for deep sea mining.
The Southeast Missouri Lead District, commonly called the Lead Belt, is a lead mining district in the southeastern part of Missouri. Counties in the Lead Belt include Saint Francois, Crawford, Dent, Iron, Madison, Reynolds, and Washington. This mining district is the most important and critical lead producer in the United States.
Deep sea mining is the extraction of minerals from the ocean floor at depths of 200 metres (660 ft) to 6,500 metres (21,300 ft).
The mining industry of the Democratic Republic of the Congo produces copper, diamonds, tantalum, tin, gold, and more than 63% of global cobalt production. Minerals and petroleum are central to the DRC's economy, making up more than 95% of the value of its exports.
Mining in Egypt has had a long history that dates back to predynastic times. Active mining began in Egypt around 3000 BCE. Egypt has substantial mineral resources, including 48 million tons of tantalite, 50 million tons of coal, and an estimated 6.7 million ounces of gold in the Eastern Desert. The total real value of minerals mined was about LE 102 million (US$18.7 million) in 1986, up from LE 60 million (US$11 million) in 1981. The chief minerals in terms of volume output were iron ore, phosphates, and salt. The quantities produced in 1986 were estimated at 2,048, 1,310, and 1,233 tons, respectively, compared with 2,139, 691, and 883 tons in 1981. In addition, minor amounts of asbestos (313 tons) and quartz (19 tons) were mined in 1986. Preliminary exploration in Sinai indicated the presence of zinc, tin, lead, and copper deposits. Private sector exploration and exploitation activities so far have been limited. Only recently, AngloGold Ashanti with its joint Venture Partner Thani Dubai and a Canadian listed exploration company, Alexander Nubia International have been undertaking exploration in Egypt's Eastern Desert with some success. Centamin Ltd., a mineral exploration company founded in Australia, started a massive mining project in Sukari Hill.
Despite being a mineral rich country, Cameroon has only recently begun to investigate mining on an industrial scale. Strong metal and industrial mineral prices since 2003 have encouraged companies to develop mines here. The terrain mainly consists of granite-rich ground with areas of ultramafic rocks that are sources of cobalt and nickel. There are also deposits of bauxite, gold, iron ore, nepheline syenite, and rutile. Alluvial gold is mainly mined by artisanal miners.
Mining in Afghanistan was controlled by the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, prior to the August 15th takeover by the Taliban. It is headquartered in Kabul with regional offices in other parts of the country. Afghanistan has over 1,400 mineral fields, containing barite, chromite, coal, copper, gold, iron ore, lead, natural gas, petroleum, precious and semi-precious stones, salt, sulfur, lithium, talc, and zinc, among many other minerals. Gemstones include high-quality emeralds, lapis lazuli, red garnet and ruby. According to a joint study by The Pentagon and the United States Geological Survey, Afghanistan has an estimated US$1 trillion of untapped minerals.
Iron oxide copper gold ore deposits (IOCG) are important and highly valuable concentrations of copper, gold and uranium ores hosted within iron oxide dominant gangue assemblages which share a common genetic origin.
Cobalt is a chemical element; it has symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, silvery metal.
The regional geology of Serbia describes the geologic structure and history inside the borders of Serbia.
South Australia is an Australian state, situated in the southern central part of the country, and featuring some low-lying mountain ranges, the most significant being the Mount Lofty Ranges, which extend into the state's capital city, Adelaide, which comprises most of the state's population. Adelaide is situated on the eastern shores of Gulf St Vincent, on the Adelaide Plains, north of the Fleurieu Peninsula, between Gulf St Vincent and the low-lying Mount Lofty Ranges. The state of South Australia, which stretches along the coast of the continent and has boundaries with every other state in Australia, with the exception of the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania. The Western Australia border has a history with South Australia, involving the South Australian Government Astronomer, Dodwell and the Western Australian Government Astronomer, Curlewis in the 1920s to mark the border on the ground.
A nickel mine is a mine that produces nickel. Some mines produce nickel primarily, while some mines produce nickel as a side-product of some other metal that has a higher concentration in the ore.
The mining industry of Madagascar is mostly on a small scale, centred mainly around remote locations with large mineral deposits. Mining potential is noted in industrial and metallic minerals, energy, precious and semi-precious stones, as well as ornamental stone. The mining sector was neglected by the government for decades prior to the mid-2000s. In 2013, the mining industry, a main source of foreign investment, was struggling due to "low metals prices and distrustful companies", attributed to a 2009 coup.
The mining industry of Yemen is at present dominated by fossil mineral of petroleum and liquefied natural gas (LNG), and to a limited extent by extraction of dimension stone, gypsum, and refined petroleum. Reserves of metals like cobalt, copper, gold, iron ore, nickel, niobium, platinum-group metals, silver, tantalum, and zinc are awaiting exploration. Industrial minerals with identified reserves include black sands with ilmenite, monazite, rutile, and zirconium, celestine, clays, dimension stone, dolomite, feldspar, fluorite, gypsum, limestone, magnesite, perlite, pure limestone, quartz, salt, sandstone, scoria, talc, and zeolites; some of these are under exploitation.
Seabed mining, also known as Seafloor mining is the recovery of minerals from the seabed by techniques of underwater mining. The concept includes mining at shallow depths on the continental shelf and deep-sea mining at greater depths associated with tectonic activity, hydrothermal vents and the abyssal plains. The increased requirement for minerals and metals used in the technology sector has led to a renewed interest in the mining of seabed mineral resources, including massive polymetallic sulfide deposits around hydrothermal vents, cobalt-rich crusts on the sides of seamounts and fields of manganese nodules on the abyssal plains. While the seabed provides a high concentration of valuable minerals, there is an unknown risk of ecological damage on marine species because of a lack of data.
Deposits of coal is found in Tosh, Siuja, Azimara and Abidhara in Dang, and few places in Sallyan, Rolpa, Pyuthan and Palpa districts of Nepal. The total estimated deposit is about 5 million tons. Due to low volume of deposits, mining is done by traditional methods. The mines are exploited since early 1960's to 1990's, however due to lack of proper market, they are not exploited in full capacity.
Heterogenite is a natural tri-valent cobalt oxyhydroxide mineral. It is the most abundant oxidised cobalt mineral in the Katanga Copperbelt, a region in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. About 70% of known heterogenite is located in the DRC.
References
- ↑ Rana, M.N., 1965; Preliminary project report on Thosay iron works. NBM unpub. Report.
- 1 2 "Mineral Resources of Nepal and their present status – Nepal Geological Society" . Retrieved 2020-10-21.
- ↑ Sah, Ram Bahadur; Paudyal, Kabi Raj (2019). "Geological control of mineral deposits in Nepal". Journal of Nepal Geological Society. 58: 189–197. doi: 10.3126/jngs.v58i0.24604 . ISSN 2676-1378.
- ↑ Kansakar, Dibya R.; Dorian, James P.; Clark, Allen L. (1986-01-01). "The minerals potential of Nepal" . GeoJournal. 12 (1): 19–31. doi:10.1007/BF00213019. ISSN 1572-9893. S2CID 154314159 . Retrieved 2020-10-21.
- ↑ Paudel, Devi Prasad (2019). "Present Status and Utilization of the Mineral Resources in Nepal". The Third Pole: Journal of Geography Education: 85–96. doi: 10.3126/ttp.v18i0.28009 . ISSN 2392-4322.
