| 1. |
|
|
| 2. |
- Abdelnasser, Amr, et al.
(författare)
-
REE geochemical characteristics and satellite-based mapping of hydrothermal alteration in Atud gold deposit, Egypt
- 2018
-
Ingår i: Journal of African Earth Sciences. - : Elsevier. - 0899-5362 .- 1464-343X. ; 145, s. 317-330
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- New geochemical data of the hydrothermal alteration zones associated with gold-bearing quartz veins at Atud mine are used for better understanding the ore evolution and exploration vectoring. ASTER and Landsat 8 OLI data are used to elucidate the distribution of gold-associated alteration zones. Three alteration zones are defined; zone 1 (sericite-kaolinite-quartz-pyrite), zone 2 (quartz-sericite-albite-pyrite), and zone 3 (chlorite-carbonate-epidote ± pyrite). Sericite and hydrothermal quartz are confined to the mineralized quartz veins. Fe-OH and OH-bearing minerals are observed along NW- and NE-trending shear zones in the Main Atud mine. The association of gold-bearing quartz veins and sericite alteration is constrained by processing ASTER- and OLI-imagery data. The geochemical data of the ore-enveloping hydrothermally altered rocks are used to assess the behavior of the REEs during the mineralization process. Mild enrichment in LREE and significant enrichment in the HREE are associated with sericite in zones (1) and (2) alterations. Carbonate alteration (zone 3) is enriched in LREE and in immobile HREE. Moreover, LREE and Eu anomalies have negative correlated with the Alteration Index (A.I.) and K2O index (K.I.) in zones 1 and 2, suggesting high mobility of LREE in K-rich hydrothermal fluids. On the other hand, HREE anomalies with increasing MgO index (M.I.) in alteration zone 3 may imply low solubility of these elements in alkaline solutions. Au anomalies linked to sericite/silica alteration is a rather meaningful vector for further exploration in the area.
|
|
| 3. |
- Alvarenga, Rodrigo A.F., et al.
(författare)
-
Towards product-oriented sustainability in the (primary) metal supply sector
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Resources, Conservation and Recycling. - : Elsevier. - 0921-3449 .- 1879-0658. ; 145, s. 40-48
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Consideration of sustainable supply of (primary) metals is increasingly influencing the policy agenda of western societies. Environmental sustainability can be managed from different perspectives, including a site-oriented one (strongly used by the mining sector) and a product-oriented one (as with life cycle assessment). The objectives of this article are to analyse and discuss the differences in these perspectives; to discuss potential benefits to the metal/mining sector of also considering the product-oriented perspective; and to propose ways for a smooth implementation. We made use of literature and expert knowledge, on top of interviews with different stakeholders, to identify why and how these perspectives are (not) used in the metal/mining sector. Moreover, we identified three key concerns related to the implementation of a product-oriented perspective in the sector (e.g., use of unrepresentative life cycle inventory (LCI) datasets for metal-based products) and proposed three corrective actions for all of them (e.g., increase the quantity and quality of LCI). Finally, we discuss how the corrective actions could be implemented in the sector in a smooth way and some potential benefits from its implementation.
|
|
| 4. |
- Bauer, Tobias, et al.
(författare)
-
Crustal Scale Shear Zones Controlling Grade and Tonnage of VMS Deposits in the Skellefte District, Northern Sweden
- 2015
-
Ingår i: Mineral Resources in a Sustainable World. - 9782855550664 ; , s. 45-48
-
Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Skellefte district in northern Sweden hosts abundant Paleoproterozoic, volcanic-hosted massive sulfide (VMS) deposits. The deposits formed due to pull apart basin formation in a volcanic arc setting and utilized the syn-extensional faults as fluid conduits. By comparing the structural setting in distinct structural domains with the tonnage and Cu, Au, and Ag grades a clear coupling between VMS deposits and the size of structures becomes evident. This shows how major crustal fault zones acted as fluid conduits for the ore forming hydrothermal fluids during an extensional phase. The same structures were subsequently re-activated as shear zones and possibly enhanced secondary enrichment processes.
|
|
| 5. |
- Billström, K., et al.
(författare)
-
Conflicting zircon vs. titanite U-Pb age systematics and the deposition of the host volcanic sequence to Kiruna-type and IOCG deposits in northern Sweden, Fennoscandian shield
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Precambrian Research. - : Elsevier. - 0301-9268 .- 1872-7433. ; 321, s. 123-133
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Northern Norrbotten region, and in particular the Kiruna area, hosts a number of large apatite iron oxide deposits (e.g. the huge Kiirunavaara ore) of significant economic importance. Age data from rock lithologies hosting these ores, represented by metamorphosed rocks of the Porphyrite and Kiirunavaara Groups, are complex to interpret. This is illustrated by (LA-ICP-MS) data for titanite, and to some extent for rutile, which scatter considerably yielding ages within a span from ca. 2.1 Ga to 1.7 Ga. These analysed hydrothermal minerals, characterized by complex BSE images revealing darker and brighter zones, are located in ore zones and associated with e.g. strong scapolitisation, albitisation and actinolitisation. Previous (TIMS) zircon ages of host rocks, on the other hand, define a more narrower age interval between ca. 1900 and 1870 Ma, and this is supported by new U-Pb zircon results presented here. Furthermore, one coherent set of SIMS data for titanite from the Luossavaara ore favour that crystallization took place at ca 1.88 Ga, although laser ICP data from the same locality are much more complex. An implication arising from published pre-1.9 Ga laser ablation ages for titanites is that the emplacement of host rocks started already at around 2.1 Ga. As the depositional time of these rocks is crucial for the understanding of the overall crustal formation in northern Norrbotten, additional rocks were selected for age dating. New zircon age data (LA-ICP-MS and SIMS) give support to a scenario where host rocks to ores started to develop at around 1900 Ma and this calls for a re-evaluation of published LA-ICP-MS data of hydrothermal mineral phases.Here, we present four models that aim to explain how pre-1.9 Ga titanite ages, believed to have a questionable geological significance, may develop. The principal idea is that ≤2.1 Ga alteration events were not responsible for the crystallization of the hydrothermal minerals, instead it is believed that apparent old age domains carry excess radiogenic lead due to the effect of ≤1.9 Ga hydrothermal processes. Currently, the interpretation of U-Pb isotope data in the study area remains enigmatic, and further radiometric analyses are required.
|
|
| 6. |
- Drielsma, Johannes A., et al.
(författare)
-
Abiotic raw-materials in life cycle impact assessments: An emerging consensus across disciplines
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Resources. - : MDPI. - 2079-9276. ; 5:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper captures some of the emerging consensus points that came out of the workshop "Mineral Resources in Life Cycle Impact Assessment: Mapping the path forward", held at the Natural History Museum London on 14 October 2015: that current practices rely in many instances on obsolete data, often confuse resource depletion with impacts on resource availability, which can therefore provide inconsistent decision support and lead to misguided claims about environmental performance. Participants agreed it would be helpful to clarify which models estimate depletion and which estimate availability, so that results can be correctly reported in the most appropriate framework. Most participants suggested that resource availability will be more meaningfully addressed within a comprehensive Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment framework rather than limited to an environmental Life Cycle Assessment or Footprint. Presentations from each of the authors are available for download [1].
|
|
| 7. |
- Drielsma, Johannes A., et al.
(författare)
-
Mineral resources in life cycle impact assessment—defining the path forward
- 2016
-
Ingår i: The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0948-3349 .- 1614-7502. ; 21:1, s. 85-105
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: Despite 20 years of research, there remains no robust, globally agreed upon method—or even problem statement—for assessing mineral resource inputs in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA). As a result, inclusion of commonly used methods such as abiotic depletion potential (ADP) in life cycle assessment (LCA)-related evaluation schemes could lead to incorrect decisions being made in many applications. In this paper, we explore in detail how to improve the way that life cycle thinking is applied to the acquisition of mineral resources and their metal counterparts. Methods: This paper evaluates the current body of work in LCIA with regard to “depletion potential” of mineral resources. Viewpoints from which models are developed are described and analyzed. The assumptions, data sources, and calculations that underlie currently used methods are examined. A generic metal-containing product is analyzed to demonstrate the vulnerability of results to the denominator utilized in calculating ADP. The adherence to the concept of the area of protection (AOP) is evaluated for current models. The use of ore grades, prices, and economic availability in LCIA is reviewed. Results and discussion: Results demonstrate that any work on resource depletion in a life cycle context needs to have a very clear objective or LCIA will not accurately characterize mineral resource use from any perspective and decision-making will continue to suffer. New, harmonized terminology is proposed so that LCA practitioners can build better mutual understanding with the mineral industry and recommendations regarding more promising tools for use in life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) are given. Conclusions: The economic issue of resource availability should be evaluated in parallel with traditional LCA, not within. LCIA developers should look to economists, the market, and society in general, for broader assessments that consider shorter-time horizons than the traditional LCIA methods. To do so, the concept of the AOP in LCA needs to be redefined for LCSA to ensure that models estimate what is intended. Finally, recommendations regarding mineral resource assessment are provided to ensure that future research has a sound basis and practitioners can incorporate the appropriate tools in their work.
|
|
| 8. |
- Ericsson, Magnus, et al.
(författare)
-
Why current assessments of ‘future efforts’ are no basis for establishing policies on material use : a response to research on ore grades
- 2019
-
Ingår i: Mineral Economics. - : Springer. - 2191-2203 .- 2191-2211. ; 32:1, s. 111-121
-
Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The concept of declining availability due to declining primary resource quality has been investigated for various resource categories to try to determine the effort needed in future to either extract the resource or to treat it for intended use. The concept of ‘future efforts’ due to declining primary resource quality is explored by Vieira et al. (2016, 2017). They suggest that a specific burden associated with the production of each primary material should be taken into account and that this can be done by studying the costs of production or ore requirements of the material and by projecting forward likely costs into the future. For the purpose of the analysis, they employ mine cost data for 2000–2013 and reserve data published by the US Geological Survey. We will argue below that this approach is not correct and, with this comment, we wish to make it clear that—contrary to what is suggested in much of the Life Cycle Assessment literature—the future efforts concept is not an established rule of natural resource extraction. For mineral resources, it is quite impossible to proceed with extraction in the ordered way that this approach suggests because nobody has a comprehensive view of the entire natural resource. Secondly, there is no evidence available to support the idea that extracting a mineral resource today causes a decrease in availability of that mineral tomorrow. On the contrary, the weight of evidence suggests that where declines in ore grades have been observed, they are overwhelmingly due to technology development in response to high demand and have been accompanied by increased mining efficiency and increased availability of the resource to successive generations. Grade is a rather arbitrary measure since the grade of mined ore ultimately has to do with the relationship of costs and revenues. It is not only the technology employed which matters but also how smartly this technology is applied. Thirdly, the future efforts approach entirely overlooks the potential availability of mineral materials from secondary (scrap) sources, sources which are expected to become increasingly important to mineral supply in the future. Our conclusion from the discussion is that we as humans have been able to economically access ever-increasing amounts of material from often lower and lower-grade sources. What is impossible to conclude from this is that the environment no longer contains any of the higher-grade sources. In fact, all the available evidence suggests that higher-grade deposits are still out there. We remain critical optimists.
|
|
| 9. |
- Kampmann, Tobias Christoph, et al.
(författare)
-
3D modelling and sheath folding at the Falun Zn-Pb-Cu-(Au-Ag) massive sulphide deposit and implications for exploration in a 1.9 Ga ore district, Fennoscandian Shield, Sweden
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Mineralium Deposita. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0026-4598 .- 1432-1866. ; 51:5, s. 665-680
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Falun pyritic Zn-Pb-Cu-(Au-Ag) deposit, situated in the Palaeoproterozoic (1.9–1.8 Ga) Bergslagen lithotectonic unit in the south-western part of the Fennoscandian Shield, is one of the major base metal sulphide deposits in Sweden. Altered rocks and ore types at Falun have been metamorphosed and deformed in a heterogeneous ductile manner, strongly modifying mineral assemblages in the original hydrothermal alteration system and the geometry of the deposit. Using a combined methodological approach, including surface mapping of lithologies and structures, drill core logging and microstructural investigation, the polyphase character (D1 and D2) of the ductile deformation is demonstrated and a 3D model for the deposit created. F2 sheath folding along axes that plunge steeply to the south-south-east, parallel to a mineral stretching lineation and the dip direction of the S2 foliation, is suggested as a key deformation mechanism forming steeply plunging, rod-shaped ore bodies. This is in contrast to previous structural models involving fold interference and, in turn, has implications for near-mine exploration, the occurrence of hanging-wall components to the ore body being questioned. Typical rock-forming minerals in the Falun alteration aureole include quartz, biotite/phlogopite, cordierite, anthophyllite and minor almandine, andalusite and chlorite, as well as dolomite, tremolite and actinolite. Where observable, the silicate minerals in the alteration rocks show growth patterns during different phases of the tectonothermal evolution, considerable static grain growth occurring between D1 and D2 and even after D2. A major high-strain zone, characterized by the mineral assemblage talc-chlorite-(quartz-biotite/phlogopite) defines a boundary between northern and southern structural domains at the deposit, and is closely spatially associated with the polymetallic massive sulphide ores. A possible role as a metal-bearing fluid conduit during ore genesis is discussed.
|
|
| 10. |
- Kampmann, Tobias Christoph, 1987-
(författare)
-
Age, origin and tectonothermal modification of the Falun pyritic Zn-Pb-Cu-(Au-Ag) sulphide deposit, Bergslagen, Sweden
- 2017
-
Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The Falun pyritic Zn-Pb-Cu-(Au-Ag) sulphide deposit, situated in the Palaeoproterozoic (1.9–1.8 Ga) Bergslagen lithotectonic unit in the south-western part of the Fennoscandian Shield, is one of the major base and precious metal sulphide deposits in Sweden. Felsic volcanic rocks and limestone hosting the deposit, as well as their hydrothermally altered equivalents and the mineralization, were affected by heterogeneous ductile strain and metamorphism under low-pressure, lower amphibolite-facies conditions during the Svecokarelian orogeny (2.0–1.8 Ga). These processes reworked the mineral assemblages of the original hydrothermal system and the mineralization, and also reshaped the structural geometry of the deposit.A three-dimensional modelling approach has been used in order to evaluate geometric relationships between lithologies at the deposit. The polyphase character (D1 and D2) of the strong ductile deformation at Falun is apparent. The main rock-forming minerals in the altered silicate-rich rocks are quartz, biotite and anthophyllite with porphyroblasts of cordierite and garnet, as well as retrogressive chlorite. Major static grain growth occurred between D1 and D2, inferred to represent the peak of metamorphism, as well as after D2 with growth (or recrystallization) of anthophyllite. A major shear zone with chlorite, talc and disseminated sulphides bounds the pyritic Zn-Pb-Cu-rich massive sulphide mineralization to the north, the latter being surrounded elsewhere by disseminated to semi-massive Cu-Au mineralization. F2 sheath folding along axes plunging steeply to the south-south-east is suggested as a key deformation mechanism, accounting for the cone-shaped mineralized bodies, which pinch out at depth, and explaining the similar character of intensely altered rocks on all sides of the massive sulphide mineralization. Immobile-element lithogeochemistry suggests that they share a common volcanic precursor. These relationships are consistent with a model in which the pyritic massive sulphide mineralization is located in the core of a sheath fold structure, surrounded by the same altered stratigraphic footwall rocks with Cu-Au mineralization.The geological evolution in the metavolcanic inlier that hosts the Falun deposit, constrained by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) U–Pb (zircon) geochronology, involved emplacement of a felsic volcanic and sub-volcanic rock suite at 1894±3 Ma, followed by hydrothermal alteration and mineralization. Subsequent burial and intrusion of late- to post-mineralization dykes occurred between 1896±3 Ma and 1891±3 Ma, followed by further burial and emplacement of plutons with variable composition during the time span 1894±3 Ma to 1893±3 Ma. The age determinations for all these magmatic suites overlap within their uncertainties, indicating a rapid sequence of continuous burial and different magmatic pulses. A metamorphic event, herein dated at 1831±8 Ma and 1822±5 Ma (SIMS U–Pb monazite), falls in the age range of a younger Svecokarelian metamorphic episode (M2). U-Th-Pb isotope systematics in monazite was completely reset during this event.During hydrothermal alteration and mineralization, a hot, reducing and acidic fluid carrying metals and sulphur together flowed upward along syn-volcanic faults, leading to intense chloritization, sericitization and silicification of calc-alkaline volcanic rocks in the stratigraphic footwall to the deposit. This resulted in proximal siliceous associations including Fe-rich chlorite, and dominant Mg-rich chlorite and sericite in more peripheral parts. Cu-Au stockwork mineralization formed in the siliceous core of the hydrothermal system as result of fluid cooling. Neutralization of the metal-bearing fluids upon carbonate interaction stratigraphically higher in the sub-seafloor regime led to formation of Zn-Pb-Cu-rich massive sulphide mineralization, the space for which was created by a combination of carbonate dissolution, primary porosity in the overlying volcanic rocks and secondary porosity produced during syn-volcanic faulting. A hybrid model for mineralization is suggested by alteration styles, metal zoning and textures indicating replacement of carbonate rock or highly porous pumice breccia by pyritic massive sulphide. Aspects of a sub-seafloor volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) system and carbonate replacement are both present. Partly Zn-Pb-(Ag) mineralized skarns comprise a separate and subordinate type of mineralization, probably formed after burial of the hydrothermal system to the contact-metasomatic regime.Textures and microstructures in the massive sulphide mineralization indicate that the ductile deformation and metamorphism resulted in internal mechanical and chemical remobilization of sulphide minerals. Laser ablation inductively coupled mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) analysis of the main sulphide minerals suggests, for example, that trace elements (including Au) were liberated from pyrite during metamorphism. A system of auriferous quartz veins, affected by D2 ductile strain, occurs in intensely altered and mineralized rocks on the eastern side of the deposit. It is suggested that they formed after the peak of metamorphism and prior to the completion of the D2 tectonic event, as a result of fluid-assisted remobilization of sulphides and Au in the disseminated to semi-massive Cu-Au mineralization and possibly also the massive sulphide mineralization.
|
|
