MARTIAN SAND DUNES · •“A mineral can be regarded as critical only if it performs an essential...

MARTIAN SAND DUNES

NATURAL RESOURCES

OUTLINE

• Resources and Reserves

• Critical Minerals

– What makes a mineral critical?

– The rare earth minerals

• Plate tectonics: California gold

WHAT MAKES AN AUTOMOBILE? • Iron 2134 lbs

• Aluminum 240 lbs

• Carbon 50 lbs

• Copper 42 lbs

• Silicon 41 lbs

• Lead 24 lbs

• Zinc 22 lbs

• Manganese 17 lbs

• Platinum 0.1 oz

WHAT MAKES A CELL PHONE SYSTEM?

• Barium

• Titanium

• Rare earths

• Indium

• Tin

• Tantalum

MINERAL RESOURCE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

A concentration of naturally occurring material in or on the Earths crust such that economic extraction of a useful commodity is currently or potentially feasible

USGS DEFINITIONS

• Identified resources

– Demonstrated

– Inferred

• Reserve base

– Economic reserves

– Marginal reserves

– Some currently sub-economic reserves

• Undiscovered resources

– Hypothetical resources

– Speculative resources

• Restricted resources/reserves

PETROLEUM PROVED RESERVES US ENERGY INFORMATION AGENCY

“Proved reserves” = Reserve Base

• United States Proved Reserves

– 2007 21.3-30.5 BB

– 2009 21.3 BB

• North American Proved Reserves

– 2007 57.5-71.3 BB

-- 2009 210 BB

• World Proved Reserves

– 2007 1,180- 1,240 BB

– 2009 1,340 BB

RESOURCES: READ THE FINE PRINT!

• Example: Arctic undiscovered oil*

– USGS 2009 Arctic continental shelves

– Hypothetical resources: estimate 22-256 BB

– Fifty percent probability > 83 BB

• Bloomberg 2012 (USGS) >2000 BB “untouched crude is still locked in the ground”“PEAK OIL SCARE FADES AS SHALE, DEEPWATER WELLS GUSH CRUDE”

• Has production reached its peak?

*Science 324 pp 1175-1179 2009

CRITICAL MINERALS

• British Geological Survey

• United States Department of Energy

• National Research Council

BGS SUPPLY CRITICALITY

• Scarcity

• Production concentration

• Reserve base distribution

• Governance

British Geological Survey Risk List 2011

BGS RANKING Crustal Abundance ppm

1. Antimony 0 .2

2. Platinum group 0 .0015 - .000041

3. Mercury 0.03

4. Tungsten 1.0

5. Rare earths 0.28-43

6. Niobium 8.0

7. Strontium 320

8. Bismuth 0.18

9. Thorium 5.6

10. Bromine 0.28

US DOE CLEAN ENERGY ECONOMY

• Critical technologies: permanent magnets, thin film semiconductors, advanced batteries, phosphors

• Criticality based on supply risk and importance to critical technologies

• Near term

– Critical: Dy*, Nd*, Eu*, Y, In

– Near critical: La, Ce*, Te

– Not critical: Pr *, Sm*, Li, Co, Ga

* Rare Earth Elements

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL*

• “A mineral can be regarded as critical only if it performs an essential function for which few or no satisfactory substitutes exist.”

• Criticality matrix

– Impact on the economy

– Supply risk

*Minerals, Critical Minerals and the US Economy National Academies Press 2008

NRC CRITICAL MINERALS

• Indium

• Manganese

• Niobium

• Platinum group metals

• Rare Earths

THE RARE EARTH ELEMENTS

Are they really rare?

WHAT GOOD ARE THEY? • Military: La, Gd, Y*, Sm, Dy, Ho, Lu

• Medical: Gd, Lu, Dy, Nd, Tb, Tm, Y, Eu

• Green technology

– Hybrid cars: La, Nd, Dy, Tb, Sm, Ce, Pr, Sc*

– Wind turbines: Nd, Dy, Lu, Ho, Sm, Ce, Pr

– Lighting: Y*, Tb, Ce, Pr

• Civilian economy: Pr, Er, Nd, Ce, Dy, Nd, Tb, Sm, Y*, Sc*

*Chemically similar to rare earths

RARE EARTH PRODUCTION & RESERVES metric tons

Production(2011) Reserves

• China 130,000 55,000,000

• India 3,000 3,100,000

• Brazil 550 48,000

• Malaysia 30 30,000

• Russia ? 19,000,000

• United States None 13,000,000

• Australia None 1,600,000

• Greenland None 6,900,000?

MOUNTAIN PASS MINE

THE CHINESE ISSUE

• China: 97% of current production

• “There is oil in the Middle East. There is Rare Earth in China.” Deng Xiaoping (1992)

• Restricted or suspended exports of rare earths

THE WORLD RESPONSE

• Increase supply

– US

– Australia

– Greenland

• Reduce Demand

– Recycling

– Redesign

– New technology

CALIFORNIA GOLD

California is thrice blessed

DISCOVERY

• 1775 Imperial County

• 1842 Los Angeles County

• 1848 Sutters Mill near Sacramento

• 1850 Grass Valley

• 1850s Mother Lode

WHERE DID CALIFORNIA GOLD COME FROM?

• From the Nevadaplano

• From accreted terranes

• From magma intrusions-plutons

ALTIPLANOS

• High plateaus bounded by mountains

• Bolivia/Peru 12,300 ft

• Mexico 6000 ft

– Sierra Madre Occidental

– Sierra Madre Oriental

• Nevadaplano 8000-9000 ft

– Sierra Nevadas 7000 ft

– Rocky Mountains?

NEVADAPLANO

SIERRA NEVADA FAULT SCARP

GOLD PANNING

PLACER GOLD

PLACER MINING

MOTHER LODE COUNTRY

ACCRETED TERRANES

• Ophiolites- sea floor

• Volcanic islands

• Sea mounts

• Submarine plateaus

• Limestone reefs

• Accretionary wedges

TRIASSIC ~240 Ma

JURASSIC ~180 Ma

EOCENE ~50 Ma

OPHIOLITES

HARD ROCK GOLD

GOLD IN QUARTZ

PLUTONS

METAMORPHIC CORE COMPLEX

MESQUITE MINE

DRY PLACER MINING

MESQUITE MINE

MESQUITE MINE

MESQUITE MINE

MESQUITE MINE

BRIGGS MINE

CALIFORNIA GOLD MINES

THERE’S STILL GOLD IN THEM HILLS!

WHERE DO DIAMONDS FORM?

1. In the deep mantle of the earth

2. In subduction zones

3. In space

4. At asteroid impact sites

GEM DIAMOND PRODUCING COUNTRIES

• Botswana

• Russia

• Angola

• Canada

• Congo

• South Africa

• Namibia

WHAT ABOUT THE UNITED STATES?

WYOMING DIAMONDS?

• Kimberlite

• Lamproite