Mineral Process Chemistry
Read our general notes on Risk Assessment
6 The mineral industry in the modern world: study guide
Chapter 6 Society, environment and the mineral industry
You should bear in mind that in the exam which accompanies this course, the specification states that approximately 30% of the marks are to be allocated to the social, economic and technological aspects of the subject. This effectively means that you must expect at least some questions based on this chapter.
Section 6.1 points out that the two issues which most concern people about the mineral industry are:
• The finite nature of mineral deposits and their conservation
• Environmental considerations, including despoilation of landscapes, and waste disposal from mining operations.
Virtually the whole of the rest of the chapter is devoted to the second of these.
Notice the four headings near the beginning of section 6.2 at the bottom of page 34. In section 6.2 ,a subsection is devoted to each of the first three of these, and the fourth one, now headed ‘The role of recycling’ has a section to itself at 6.3.
Along the way there is a reference to the processing of china clay fines, with a reference back to a residue from Experiment 2.2 which was not much considered at the time.
You may find an echo of something which may have been included in your GCSE course, colloidal suspensions and their coagulation. Despite the picture on the front cover of this Special Study, which is taken in a china clay quarry, this and the study in Chapter 4 are the only serious mentions of the china clay industry.
>>A useful pdf to download from the US Department of Energy website:
Mining maps from US Dept of Energy (pdf) This has a review of future prospects for the Mining Industry
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updated: 19 December 2005
