All Geology Information

Menghitung Harga Nikel

noreply@blogger.com (Marvel) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 01:57:00 -0700

Menghitung harga jual Nikel ore dari tambang FOB Tongkang ada sedikit perhitungannya dan adalah sebagai berikut.
Misalkan harga di London Metal Exchange (LME) = US$13000/ton
Dan Nilai Kadar Nikel Ore minimum Ni = 1.8%
Maka rumusan = LME x RF x 2.20262 x Ni% x MC% x 1000
dimana :

RF = Recovery Factor
MC = Moisture Content
Ni% = Kadar Ni

RF pada Ni=1.8% = 18
RF pada Ni=2% = 19
RF pada Ni=2.2% = 20
Moisture Content umumnya 30%

Maka Contoh perhitungan :
Harga Ni = US$.13000 x 18 x 2.20262 x 1.8 x 30 x 1000
adalah = US$ 27.8 (pada Ni=1.8%)

Demikian maka tergantung LMEnya yang selalu flutuatif... namun para pengamat memprediksi bahwa di akhir 2009 harga akan mulai merangkak naik seiring dengan pengembangan proyek industry di negara negara besar China, dan di Eropa .

The Early Earth And Plate Tectonic Animation

noreply@blogger.com (Marvel) — Sun, 10 May 2009 02:31:00 -0700

value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QDqskltCixA&hl=en_US&fs=1&border=1">
The Earth is formed by accretion of spatial particulates and large masses and eventually formes an outer crust. Video follows with speculation of early plates and land masses and their movement through time. **Clip taken from National Geographics**

EAST ASIA MINERALS- Aceh Exploration Project

noreply@blogger.com (Marvel) — Sun, 8 Mar 2009 17:30:00 -0700

Abong Prospect

Barisan 1 Property – Detailed historic exploration data for the Abong sediment-hosted gold
prospect, previously worked by North Limited and Rio Tinto, has been purchased and reviewed. In addition to East Asia results, the historic data identifies five mineralized zones. The best of these is the Sarah zone, with historic channel sample results including 16.0 metres of 3.84 g/t gold, 20.0 metres of 2.04 g/t gold, and 16.0 metres of 3.68 g/t gold. At the Narara 1 prospect, historic grab samples are reported with “bonanza” epithermal gold grades, some with visible gold in hand specimen. These include 16.87g/t gold, 129.0g/t gold, 22.6g/t gold, 21.5g/t gold and 54.9g/t gold.

Preliminary rock chip sampling by East Asia has encountered grades as high as 3.52 g/t gold and 29.0 g/t silver (August 30, 2007 news release). Review of the historic data supports the previous East Asia observations that the limited past drilling did not properly test the gold anomalous surface samples. This appears to be due to the limited understanding of the structural controls to the surface mineralization (i.e. testing high grade zone away from
mapped feeder structures), and the program being terminated prematurely in 1998 due to non-technical reasons.

Miwah Project

At the Miwah epithermal gold-copper Project, previously worked by Highlands Gold, ninety-one
rock channel and grab samples were collected by East Asia from a vuggy silica and massive silica–alunite-clay breccia. Results include 6.0 metres of 3.63 g/t gold, 6.5 metres of 2.66 g/t gold, 30.0 metres of 1.12g/t gold, and 12.0 metres of 1.33g/t gold. The breccia zone hosting these gold rich samples is 600 metres by 250 metres in extent, and is essentially untested by drilling (three shallow holes at the south extreme). Elsewhere on the property ongoing
exploration is focused on improving the definition of higher grade gold in structures that are perpendicular to the historic drilling where grades outside the structures include 71.0 metres at 1.4 g/t gold and 58.0 metres at 1.1 g/t.

For more informatioan download this article.

Gold Deposits of The Pacific Rim

noreply@blogger.com (Marvel) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 17:52:00 -0800

Tectonic setting of synorogenic gold deposits of the Pacific Rim

More than 420 million oz of gold were concentrated in circum-Pacific synorogenic quartz lodes mainly during two periods of continental growth, one along the Gondwanan margin in the Palaeozoic and the other in the northern Pacific basin between 170 and 50 Ma. These ores have many features in common and can be grouped into a single type of lode gold deposit widespread throughout clastic sedimentary-rock dominant terranes. The auriferous veins contain only a few percent sulphide minerals, have gold:silver ratios typically greater than 1:1, show a distinct association with medium grade metamorphic rocks, and may be associated with large-scale fault zones. Ore fluids are consistently of low salinity and are CO2-rich.

In the early and middle Palaeozoic in the southern Pacific basin, a single immense turbidite sequence was added to the eastern margin of Gondwanaland. Deformation of these rocks in southeastern Australia was accompanied by deposition of at least 80 million oz of gold in the Victorian sector of the Lachlan fold belt mainly during the Middle and Late Devonian.
Lesser Devonian gold accumulations characterized the more northerly parts of the Gondwanan margin within the Hodgkinson–Broken River and Thomson fold belts. Additional lodes were emplaced in this flyschoid sequence in Devonian or earlier Palaeozoic times in what is now the Buller terrane, Westland, New Zealand. Minor post-Devonian growth of Gondwanaland included terrane collision and formation of gold-bearing veins in the Permian in Australia’s New England
fold belt and in the Jurassic-Early Cretaceous in New Zealand’s Otago schists.

For more information download this article.

IRON ORE :Prosedur Preparasi Bijih Besi

noreply@blogger.com (Marvel) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 12:59:00 -0800

Sampel dari Test Pit

Sampel batuan, iron ore / bijih besi dari lapangan harus ditimbang terlebih dahulu. Catat beratnya di form yang telah tersedia.
Setelah ditimbang, sampel batuan dari lapangan kemudian dicuci dengan air untuk menghilangkan tanahnya.
Sampel batuan hasil cuci, kemudian dimasukan ke wadah atau tempat yang disediakan.
Wadah yang berisi sampel batuan dimasukan kedalam open atau dijemur dibawah terik matahari.
Setelah kering, timbang beratnya. Catat beratnya di form yang telah tersedia.
Sampel batuan kemudian di screening atau dipisahkan menjadi dua ukuran menggunakan screen dengan diameter 10 mm.
Ukuran halus atau Fines Ore berukuran <>
Ukuran kasar atau Lumps Ore berukuran > 10 mm tertinggal di screen.
Timbang berat Fines ore dan Lumps Ore. Catat beratnya di form yang telah tersedia.
Masukan Fines Ore kedalam kantong plastik rangkap dua yang sudah diberi label, diikat dan disimpan ditempat yang telah disediakan.
Masukan Lumps Ore kedalam kantong plastik rangkap dua yang sudah diberi label, diikat dan disimpan ditempat yang telah disediakan
Hitung Ore Recoverynya dengan rumus sbb :
Fines Ore Recovery = Berat Fines Ore / Berat sampel dari lapangan x 100 %
Lumps Ore Recovery = Berat Lumps Ore / Berat sampel dari lapangan x 100 %
Total Ore Recovery = Fines + Lumps Ore Recovery

The Geologic Setting of Intrusion

noreply@blogger.com (Marvel) — Wed, 7 Jan 2009 17:53:00 -0800

The Geologic Setting of Intrusion-Related Hydrothermal Systems near the
Batu Hijau Porphyry Copper-Gold Deposit, Sumbawa, Indonesia

The Batu Hijau deposit,9l4 million tonnes at an average grade of 0.53 percent copper and 0.40 g/t
gold, lies within a 12 by 6 km district that contains several mineralizedd centers. The oldest rocks exposed consist of an Early to Middle Miocene andesitic volcaniclastic succession.This is sequence has been cut by several phase of intermediate o felsic intrusion, Middlle Miocene to the mid-Pliocene in age. and a late andesitic diatreme and dike complex. The volcaniclastic rocks and intrusion in the district, typically of low K, calc-alkaline affinity, form part of the Sunda-Banda magmatic arc, which is underlain by occeanic crust near Sumbawa.

The margins of easterlly elongated quartz diorite plutons focused brittle deformation,.....Download this geologic setting of intrusion complate article.

Bijih Besi : Yang menarik Hanya Besinya aja?

noreply@blogger.com (Marvel) — Tue, 6 Jan 2009 12:37:00 -0800

Beberapa tahun yang lalu diajak teman untuk menjadi saksi ahli untuk pengertian ekplorasi dan eksploitasi di kota Padang. Namun, di sini yang menarik bukan kasusnya, tetapi tipe bijih besi yang ada di daerah sengketanya. Hampir sebagian besar bijih besi di dunia dihasilkan dari endapan bertipe BIF (Banded Iron Formation), yaitu suatu bijih yang terusun oleh lapis-lapis oksida besi (hematit atau magnetit bersama-sama kuarsa). Ada beberapa tipe bijih besi yang lain yang cukup menarik, terutama di Indonesia... seperti skarn, laterit, dan sedimenter.

Tipe bijih besi di daerah sengketa sebenarnya secara pasti belum bisa ditentukan, karena keterbatasan data dan kualitas data sekunder yang tidak begitu baik. Namun, dilihat dari kandungan besinya yang tinggi, dengan kadar titanium yang rendah kemungkinan besar bijih besi ini merupakan endapan hidrotermal, misalnya skarn. Selain kandungan unsur-unsur ini, di sekitar bijih itu dijumpai beberapa bongkah-bongkah batugamping dan batuan beku (granit). Jadi, kemungkinan tipe mineralisasi besi di daerah sengketa ini hampir 70% dapat dipastikan berupa endapan skarn. Nah, selain besi adakah unsur lain yang menarik pada endapan jenis ini?

Seperti telah diketahui, granit di Sumatra sebagian besar merupkan granit pembawa timah (tin granite). Biasanya selain unsur Sn (timah putih) kemungkinan besar bisa dijumpai unsur tungsten (W) yang bernilai sangat ekonomis. Mobilitas tungsten mungkin lebih tinggi daripada Sn (cek deh di buku geokimia), sehingga ketika pembentukan skarn Sn tetap nongkrong pada batuan pembawanya, granit sedangkan W berkeliaran bersama-sama larutan hidrotermal (mungkin lho...). Makanya pada fase pembentukan skarn, Fe mestinya akan berasosiasi dengan sedikit W. Justru, W -lah yang lebih menarik di daerah ini dibandingkan dengan Fe-nya sendiri. Btw, kehadiran mineral-mineral yang mengandung tungsten belum dapat dipastikan, masih perlu dicek dengan asahan poles (mineragrafi) dan microprobe.

Nah kalau ada yang mau beli bijih besi dengan harga lumayan, jangan dijual dulu... cek lah terlebih dahulu apakah ada unsur lain yang mungkin lebih mahal daripada besi? Apakah tungsten (W), vanadium (V), titanium (Ti) ataukah emas (Au)-nya. Kalau nggak barangkali akan kecolongan yang kedua kali setelah kasus PT Freeport beberapa tahun silam.

Bijih Besi

noreply@blogger.com (Marvel) — Mon, 5 Jan 2009 11:27:00 -0800

Pendahuluan

Besi merupakan logam kedua yang paling banyak di bumi ini. Karakter dari endapan besi ini bisa berupa endapan logam yang berdiri sendiri namun seringkali ditemukan berasosiasi dengan mineral logam lainnya. Kadang besi terdapat sebagai kandungan logam tanah (residual), namun jarang yang memiliki nilai ekonomis tinggi. Endapan besi yang ekonomis umumnya berupa Magnetite, Hematite, Limonite dan Siderite. Kadang kala dapat berupa mineral: Pyrite, Pyrhotite, Marcasite, dan Chamosite.
Beberapa jenis genesa dan endapan yang memungkinkan endapan besi bernilai ekonomis antara lain :
1. Magmatik: Magnetite dan Titaniferous Magnetite
2. Metasomatik kontak: Magnetite dan Specularite
3. Pergantian/replacement: Magnetite dan Hematite
4. Sedimentasi/placer: Hematite, Limonite, dan Siderite
5. Konsentrasi mekanik dan residual: Hematite, Magnetite dan Limonite
6. Oksidasi: Limonite dan Hematite
7. Letusan Gunung Api
Dari mineral-mineral bijih besi, magnetit adalah mineral dengan kandungan Fe paling tinggi, tetapi terdapat dalam jumlah kecil. Sementara hematit merupakan mineral bijih utama yang dibutuhkan dalam industri besi. Mineral-mineral pembawa besi dengan nilai ekonomis dengan susunan kimia, kandungan Fe dan klasifikasi komersil dapat dilihat pada Tabel dibawah ini:

Tabel mineral-mineral bijih besi bernilai ekonomis

Mineral	Susunan kimia	Kandungan Fe (%)	Klasifikasi komersil
Magnetit	FeO, Fe₂O₃	72,4	Magnetik atau bijih hitam
Hematit	Fe₂O₃	70,0	Bijih merah
Limonit	Fe₂O₃.nH₂O	59 - 63	Bijih coklat
Siderit	FeCO₃	48,2	Spathic, black band, clay ironstone

Sumber : Iron & Ferroalloy Metals in (ed) M. L. Jensen & A. M. Bafeman, 1981; Economic Mineral Deposits, P. 392.

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Besi primer ( ore deposits )

Proses terjadinya cebakan bahan galian bijih besi berhubungan erat dengan adanya peristiwa tektonik pra-mineralisasi. Akibat peristiwa tektonik, terbentuklah struktur sesar, struktur sesar ini merupakan zona lemah yang memungkinkan terjadinya magmatisme, yaitu intrusi magma menerobos batuan tua. Akibat adanya kontak magmatik ini, terjadilah proses rekristalisasi, alterasi, mineralisasi, dan penggantian (replacement) pada bagian kontak magma dengan batuan yang diterobosnya.

Perubahan ini disebabkan karena adanya panas dan bahan cair (fluida) yang berasal dari aktivitas magma tersebut. Proses penerobosan magma pada zona lemah ini hingga membeku umumnya disertai dengan kontak metamorfosa. Kontak metamorfosa juga melibatkan batuan samping sehingga menimbulkan bahan cair (fluida) seperti cairan magmatik dan metamorfik yang banyak mengandung bijih.

Besi sekunder ( endapan placer )

Cebakan mineral alochton dibentuk oleh kumpulan mineral berat melalui proses sedimentasi, secara alamiah terpisah karena gravitasi dan dibantu pergerakan media cair, padat dan gas/udara. Kerapatan konsentrasi mineral-mineral berat tersebut tergantung kepada tingkat kebebasannya dari sumber, berat jenis, ketahanan kimiawi hingga lamanya pelapukan dan mekanisma. Dengan nilai ekonomi yang dimilikinya para ahli geologi menyebut endapan alochton tersebut sebagai cebakan placer.

Jenis cebakan ini telah terbentuk dalam semua waktu geologi,

tetapi kebanyakan pada umur Tersier dan masa kini, sebagian besar merupakan cadangan berukuran kecil dan sering terkumpul dalam waktu singkat karena tererosi. Kebanyakan cebakan berkadar rendah tetapi dapat ditambang karena berupa partikel bebas, mudah dikerjakan dengan tanpa penghancuran; dimana pemisahannya dapat menggunakan alat semi-mobile dan relatif murah. Penambangannya biasanya dengan cara pengerukan, yang merupakan metoda penambangan termurah.

Cebakan-cebakan placer berdasarkan genesanya:

G e n e s a			J e n i s
Terakumulasi in situ selama pelapukan			Placer residual
Terkonsentrasi dalam media padat yang bergerak			Placer eluvial
Terkonsentrasi dalam media cair yang bergerak (air)			· Placer aluvial atau sungai · Placer pantai
Terkonsentrasi dalam media gas/udara yang bergerak			Placer Aeolian (jarang)

Placer residual. Partikel mineral/bijih pembentuk cebakan terakumulasi langsung di atas batuan sumbernya (contoh : urat mengandung emas atau kasiterit) yang telah mengalami pengrusakan/peng-hancuran kimiawi dan terpisah dari bahan-bahan batuan yang lebih ringan. Jenis cebakan ini hanya terbentuk pada permukaan tanah yang hampir rata, dimana didalamnya dapat juga ditemukan mineral-mineral ringan yang tahan reaksi kimia (misal : beryl).

Placer eluvial. Partikel mineral/bijih pembentuk jenis cebakan ini diendapkan di atas lereng bukit suatu batuan sumber. Di beberapa daerah ditemukan placer eluvial dengan bahan-bahan pembentuknya yang bernilai ekonomis terakumulasi pada kantong-kantong (pockets) permukaan batuan dasar.

Placer sungai atau aluvial. Jenis ini paling penting terutama yang berkaitan dengan bijih emas yang umumnya berasosiasi dengan bijih besi, dimana konfigurasi lapisan dan berat jenis partikel mineral/bijih menjadi faktor-faktor penting dalam pembentukannya. Telah dikenal bahwa fraksi mineral berat dalam cebakan ini berukuran lebih kecil daripada fraksi mineral ringan, sehubungan : Pertama, mineral berat pada batuan sumber (beku dan malihan) terbentuk dalam ukuran lebih kecil daripada mineral utama pembentuk batuan. Kedua, pemilahan dan susunan endapan sedimen dikendalikan oleh berat jenis dan ukuran partikel (rasio hidraulik).

Placer pantai. Cebakan ini terbentuk sepanjang garis pantai oleh pemusatan gelombang dan arus air laut di sepanjang pantai. Gelombang melemparkan partikel-partikel pembentuk cebakan ke pantai dimana air yang kembali membawa bahan-bahan ringan untuk dipisahkan dari mineral berat. Bertambah besar dan berat partikel akan diendapkan/terkonsentrasi di pantai, kemudian terakumulasi sebagai batas yang jelas dan membentuk lapisan. Perlapisan menunjukkan urutan terbalik dari ukuran dan berat partikel, dimana lapisan dasar berukuran halus dan/ atau kaya akan mineral berat dan ke bagian atas berangsur menjadi lebih kasar dan/atau sedikit mengandung mineral berat.

Placer pantai (beach placer) terjadi pada kondisi topografi berbeda yang disebabkan oleh perubahan muka air laut, dimana zona optimum pemisahan mineral berat berada pada zona pasang-surut dari suatu pantai terbuka. Konsentrasi partikel mineral/bijih juga dimungkinkan pada terrace hasil bentukan gelombang laut. Mineral-mineral terpenting yang dikandung jenis cebakan ini adalah : magnetit, ilmenit, emas, kasiterit, intan, monazit, rutil, xenotim dan zirkon.

Mineral ikutan dalam endapan placer. Suatu cebakan pasir besi selain mengandung mineral-mineral bijih besi utama tersebut dimungkinkan berasosiasi dengan mineral-mineral mengandung Fe lainnya diantaranya : pirit (FeS₂), markasit (FeS), pirhotit (Fe_1-xS), chamosit [Fe₂Al₂SiO₅(OH)₄], ilmenit (FeTiO₃), wolframit [(Fe,Mn)WO₄], kromit (FeCr₂O₄); atau juga mineral-mineral non-Fe yang dapat memberikan nilai tambah seperti : rutil (TiO₂), kasiterit (SnO₂), monasit [Ce,La,Nd, Th(PO₄, SiO₄)], intan, emas (Au), platinum (Pt), xenotim (YPO₄), zirkon (ZrSiO₄) dan lain-lain.

Eksplorasi bijih besi

Penyelidikan umum dan eksplorasi bijih besi di Indonesia sudah banyak dilakukan oleh berbagai pihak, sehingga diperlukan penyusunan pedoman teknis eksplorasi bijih besi. Pedoman dimaksudkan sebagai bahan acuan berbagai pihak dalam melakukan kegiatan penyelidikan umum dan eksplorasi bijih besi primer, agar ada kesamaan dalam melakukan kegiatan tersebut diatas sampai pelaporan.

Tata cara eksplorasi bijih besi primer meliputi urutan kegiatan eksplorasi sebelum pekerjaan lapangan, saat pekerjaan lapangan dan setelah pekerjaan lapangan. Kegiatan sebelum pekerjaan lapangan ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui gambaran mengenai prospek cebakan bijih besi primer, meliputi studi literatur dan penginderaan jarak jauh. Penyediaan peralatan antara lain peta topografi, peta geologi, alat pemboran inti, alat ukur topografi, palu dan kompas geologi, loupe, magnetic pen, GPS, pita ukur, alat gali, magnetometer, kappameter dan peralatan geofisika.

Kegiatan pekerjaan lapangan yang dilakukan adalah penyelidikan geologi meliputi pemetaan; pembuatan paritan dan sumur uji, pengukuran topografi, survei geofisika dan pemboran inti.

Kegiatan setelah pekerjaan lapangan yang dilakukan antara lain adalah analisis laboratorium dan pengolahan data. Analisis laboratorium meliputi analisis kimia dan fisika. Unsur yang dianalisis kimia antara lain : Fe_total, Fe₂O₃, Fe₃O₄, TiO₂, S, P, SiO₂, MgO, CaO, K₂O, Al₂O₃, LOI. Analisis fisika yang dilakukan antara lain : mineragrafi, petrografi, berat jenis (BD). Sedangkan pengolahan data adalah interpretasi hasil dari penyelidikan lapangan dan analisis laboratorium.

Tahapan eksplorasi adalah urutan penyelidikan geologi yang umumnya dilakukan melalui empat tahap sbb : Survei tinjau, prospeksi, eksplorasi umum, eksplorasi rinci. Survei tinjau, tahap eksplorasi untuk mengidentifikasi daerah-daerah yang berpotensi bagi keterdapatan mineral pada skala regional. Prospeksi, tahap eksplorasi dengan jalan mempersempit daerah yg mengandung endapan mineral yg potensial. Eksplorasi umum, tahap eksplorasi yang rnerupakan deliniasi awal dari suatu endapan yang teridentifikasi .

Eksplorasi rinci, tahap eksplorasi untuk mendeliniasi secara rinci dalarn 3-dimensi terhadap endapan mineral yang telah diketahui dari pencontohan singkapan, paritan, lubang bor, shafts dan terowongan.

Penyelidikan geologi adalah penyelidikan yang berkaitan dengan aspek-aspek geologi diantaranya : pemetaan geologi, parit uji, sumur uji. Pemetaan adalah pengamatan dan pengambilan conto yang berkaitan dengan aspek geologi dilapangan. Pengamatan yang dilakukan meliputi : jenis litologi, mineralisasi, ubahan dan struktur pada singkapan, sedangkan pengambilan conto berupa batuan terpilih.

Penyelidikan Geofisika adalah penyelidikan yang berdasarkan sifat fisik batuan, untuk dapat mengetahui struktur bawah permukaan, geometri cebakan mineral, serta sebarannya secara horizontal maupun secara vertical yang mendukung penafsiran geologi dan geokimia secara langsung maupun tidak langsung.

Pemboran inti dilakukan setelah penyelidikan geologi dan penyelidikan geofisika. Penentuan jumlah cadangan (sumberdaya) mineral yang mempunyai nilai ekonomis adalah suatu hal pertama kali yang perlu dikaji, dihitung sesuai standar perhitungan cadangan yang berlaku, karena akan berpengaruh terhadap optimasi rencana usaha tambang, umur tambang dan hasil yang akan diperoleh.

Dalam hal penentuan cadangan, langkah yang perlu diperhatikan antara lain :

- Memadai atau tidaknya kegiatan dan hasil eksplorasi.

- Kebenaran penyebaran dan kualitas cadangan berdasarkan korelasi seluruh data eksplorasi seperti pemboran, analisis conto, dll.

- Kelayakan penentuan batasan cadangan, seperti Cut of Grade, Stripping Ratio, kedalaman maksimum penambangan, ketebalan minimum dan sebagainya bertujuan untuk mengetahui kondisi geologi dan sebaran bijih besi bawah permukaan.

IRON ORE

noreply@blogger.com (Marvel) — Fri, 5 Dec 2008 10:44:00 -0800

Hematite, Magnetite & Taconite

Iron Ore: About 98% of iron ore is used to make steel - one of the greatest inventions and most useful materials ever created. While the other uses for iron ore and iron are only a very small amount of the consumption, they provide excellent examples of the ingenuity and the multitude of uses that man can create from our natural resources. Powdered iron: used in metallurgy products, magnets, high-frequency cores, auto parts, catalyst. Radioactive iron (iron 59): in medicine, tracer element in biochemical and metallurgical research. Iron blue: in paints, printing inks, plastics, cosmetics (eye shadow), artist colors, laundry blue, paper dyeing, fertilizer ingredient, baked enamel finishes for autos and appliances, industrial finishes. Black iron oxide: as pigment, in polishing compounds, metallurgy, medicine, magnetic inks, in ferrites for electronics industry. Major producers of iron ore include Australia, Brazil, China, Russia, and India.

Magnetite -------------- Hematite

Goethite------------------ Limonite

Background
Iron (Fe) is a metallic element and composes about 5% of the Earth’s crust. When pure it is a dark, silvery-gray metal. It is a very reactive element and oxidizes (rusts) very easily. The reds, oranges and yellows seen in some soils and on rocks are probably iron oxides. The inner core of the Earth is believed to be a solid iron-nickel alloy. Iron-nickel meteorites are believed to represent the earliest material formed at the beginning of the universe. Studies show that there is considerable iron in the stars and terrestrial planets: Mars, the "Red Planet," is red due to the iron oxides in its crust.

Iron is one of the three naturally magnetic elements; the others are cobalt and nickel. Iron is the most magnetic of the three. The mineral magnetite (Fe3O4) is a naturally occurring metallic mineral that is occasionally found in sufficient quantities to be an ore of iron.
The principle ores of iron are Hematite, (70% iron) and Magnetite, (72 % iron). Taconite is a low-grade iron ore, containing up to 30% Magnetite and Hematite.
Hematite is iron oxide (Fe2O3). The amount of hematite needed in any deposit to make it profitable to mine must be in the tens of millions of tons. Hematite deposits are mostly sedimentary in origin, such as the banded iron formations (BIFs). BIFs consist of alternating layers of chert (a variety of the mineral quartz), hematite and magnetite. They are found throughout the world and are the most important iron ore in the world today. Their formation is not fully understood, though it is known that they formed by the chemical precipitation of iron from shallow seas about 1.8-1.6 billion years ago, during the Proterozoic Eon.
Taconite is a silica-rich iron ore that is considered to be a low-grade deposit. However, the iron-rich components of such deposits can be processed to produce a concentrate that is about 65% iron, which means that some of the most important iron ore deposits around the world were derived from taconite. Taconite is mined in the United States, Canada, and China.
Iron is essential to animal life and necessary for the health of plants. The human body is 0.006% iron, the majority of which is in the blood. Blood cells rich in iron carry oxygen from the lungs to all parts of the body. Lack of iron also lowers a person’s resistance to infection.

Name
The name iron is from an Old English word isaern which itself can be traced back to a Celtic word, isarnon. In time, the "s" was dropped from usage.

Sources
It is estimated that worldwide there are 800 billion tons of iron ore resources, containing more than 230 billion tons of iron. It is estimated that the United States has 110 billion tons of iron ore representing 27 billion tons of iron. Among the largest iron ore producing nations are Russia, Brazil, China, Australia, India and the USA. In the United States, great deposits are found in the Lake Superior region. Worldwide, 50 countries produce iron ore, but 96% of this ore is produced by only 15 of those countries.
Iron ore is the raw material used to make pig iron, which is one of the main raw materials to make steel. Due to the lower cost of foreign-made steel and steel products, the steel industry in the United States has had difficult economic times in recent years as more and more steel is imported. Canada provides about half of the U.S. imports, Brazil about 30%, and lesser amounts from Venezuela and Australia. 99% of steel exported from the USA was sent to Canada.

Uses
In the United States, almost all of the iron ore that is mined is used for making steel. The same is true throughout the world. Raw iron by itself is not as strong and hard as needed for construction and other purposes. So, the raw iron is alloyed with a variety of elements (such as tungsten, manganese, nickel, vanadium, chromium) to strengthen and harden it, making useful steel for construction, automobiles, and other forms of transportation such as trucks, trains and train tracks.

While the other uses for iron ore and iron are only a very small amount of the consumption, they provide excellent examples of the ingenuity and the multitude of uses that man can create from our natural resources.

Powdered iron: used in metallurgy products, magnets, high-frequency cores, auto parts, catalyst. Radioactive iron (iron 59): in medicine, tracer element in biochemical and metallurgical research. Iron blue: in paints, printing inks, plastics, cosmetics (eye shadow), artist colors, laundry blue, paper dyeing, fertilizer ingredient, baked enamel finishes for autos and appliances, industrial finishes. Black iron oxide: as pigment, in polishing compounds, metallurgy, medicine, magnetic inks, in ferrites for electronics industry.

Substitutes and Alternative Sources
Though there is no substitute for iron, iron ores are not the only materials from which iron and steel products are made. Very little scrap iron is recycled, but large quantities of scrap steel are recycled. Steel's overall recycling rate of more than 67% is far higher than that of any other recycled material, capturing more than 1-1/4 times as much tonnage as all other materials combined.

Some steel is produced from the recycling of scrap iron, though the total amount is considered to be insignificant now. If the economy of steel production and consumption changes, it may become more cost-effective to recycle iron than to produce new from raw ore.
Iron and steel face continual competition with lighter materials in the motor vehicle industry; from aluminum, concrete, and wood in construction uses; and from aluminum, glass, paper, and plastics for containers.

Gold Freeport History

noreply@blogger.com (Marvel) — Sat, 5 Jul 2008 10:14:00 -0700

In 1936 Dutch geologist Jean-Jacquez Dozy visited Indonesia to scale Jayawijaya Mountain glacier in the Irian Jaya province in western Papua. While there, he made notes of a peculiar black rock with greenishcoloring, and spent several weeks estimating the extent of the gold and copper deposits. In 1939, he filed a report about the Ertsberg (Dutch for "ore mountain"). He was working for Nederlandsche Nieuw Guinea Petroleum Maatschappij (NNGPM), an exploration company formed by Shell in 1935, with 40% Standard Vacuum Oil (Mobil) interest and 20% Far Pacific investments (Chevron subsidiary).

In March 1959 the New York Times published an article's revealing the Dutch were searching for the mountain source of alluvial gold which had been flowing into the Arafura Sea. Geologist Forbes Wilson, working for the Freeport mining company in August 1959 after reading Dozy's 1936 report, immediately prepared to explore the Ertsberg site. In 1960 the expedition, led by Forbes Wilson and Del Flint, confirmed the huge copper deposits at the Ertsberg. It was financed by Freeport Sulphur. At the time the company was implicated in a nickel stockpiling scandal under investigation in the US Senate by John F. Kennedy.[citation needed]. Its directors included Godfrey Rockefeller, Texaco chairman Augustus Long, and Robert Lovett.

With permission from the Indonesian government (though West Papua was not part of the Republic of Indonesia at the time), Freeport built the Ertsberg mine at 4,500 metres (14,000 ft) above sea level. It officially opened in 1973 (although the first ore shipment was in December 1972), and was expanded by Ertsberg East, which opened in 1981.

Steep aerial tramways are used to transport equipment and people. Ore is dropped 600 metres (2,000 ft) from the mine, concentrated and mixed with water to form a 60:40 slurry. The slurry is then pumped through pipelines to the port at Amamapare, dried and shipped. Each tonne of dry concentrate contains 317 kilograms of copper, 30 grams of gold and 30 grams of silver.

In 1977 the rebel group Free Papua Movement attacked the mine. The group dynamited the main slurry pipe, which caused tens of millions of dollars in damage, and attacked the mine facilities. The Indonesian military reacted harshly, killing at least 800 people [2].

By the mid-1980s, the original mine had been largely depleted. Freeport explored for other deposits in the area. In 1988, Freeport identified reserves valued at $40 billion at Grasberg (Dutch, "Grass Mountain", just three kilometres (two miles) from the Ertsberg mine. The winding road to Grasberg, the H.E.A.T. (Heavy Equipment Access Trail), was estimated to require $12 million to $15 million to be built. An Indonesian road-builder who had contributed to the Ertsberg road took a bulldozer and drove it downhill sketching the path. The road cost just $2 million when completed.

The 2003-2006 boom in copper prices increased the profitability of the mine. The extra consumption of copper for Asian electrical infrastructure overwhelmed copper supply and caused prices to increase from around $1500/ton to $8100/ton ($0.70/lb to $4.00/lb).

Source : en.Wikipedia.org

High-Sulphidation Deposits

noreply@blogger.com (Marvel) — Thu, 5 Jun 2008 09:16:00 -0700

High-sulphidation deposits result from fluids (dominantly gases such as SO2, HF, HCl) channeled directly from a hot magma. The fluids interact with groundwater and form strong acids. These acids rot and dissolve the surrounding rock leaving only silica behind, often in a sponge-like formation known as vuggy silica. Gold and sometimes copper-rich brines that also ascend from the magma then precipitate their metals within the spongy vuggy silica bodies. The shape of these mineral deposits is generally determined by the distribution of vuggy silica. Sometimes the vuggy silica can be widespread if the acid fluids encountered a broad permeable geologic unit. In this case it is common to find large bulk-tonnage mines with lower grades.
The acidic fluids are progressively neutralized by the rock the further they move away from the fault. The rocks in turn are altered by the fluids into progressively more neutral-stable minerals the further away from the fault. As a result, definable zones of alteration minerals are almost always are formed in shell-like layers around the fault zone. Typically the sequence is to move from vuggy silica (the centre of the fault) progressing through quartz-alunite to kaolinite-dickite, illite rich rock, to chlorite rich rock at the outer reaches of alteration. Alunite (a sulphate mineral) and kalonite, dickite, illite and chlorite (clay minerals) are generally whitish to yellowish in colour. The clay and sulphate alteration (referred to as acid-sulphate alteration) in high-sulphidation systems can leave huge areas, sometimes up to 100 square kilometers of visually impressive coloured rocks.

ALTERATION IN A HIGH-SULPHIDATION SYSTEM:

In contrast, low-sulphidation veins are formed when the fluids interact with greater amounts of groundwater as they rise from the hot magma. The protracted boiling of the fluids in low-sulphidation systems produces high grade gold (greater than one ounce gold per ton) and silver deposits. The fluids interact with the surrounding rock for a much longer period of time than the quickly channeled high-sulphidation fluids. As a result, the fluids become dilute and

neutralized and the silica dissolves. The silica is later precipitated in the veins as quartz, often sealing the fissure closed. When this occurs, the pressure of the gases underneath the sealed fault builds until the seal is ruptured, which provokes catastrophic boiling and the precipitation of gold. After this explosive boiling event, passive conditions return, and quartz precipitates once again. This cyclical process results in the well-known banded texture of the quartz-adularia veins typical of low-sulphidation vein systems. Quartz-adularia veins can contain high-grade gold (greater than one ounce gold per ton) and silver deposits, over vertical intervals of generally 300 to 600 metres. Within this vertical dimension, high gold grades can make for a large amount of easy to mine gold in a narrow compact area.

ALTERATION IN A HIGH-SULPHIDATION SYSTEM:

Epithermal Systems

noreply@blogger.com (Marvel) — Sun, 4 May 2008 08:27:00 -0700

The association of gold mineralization with volcanic and geothermal hot spring activity has long been recognized by prospectors and geologists. We now know that this association is a consequence of the hot magmas which not only produce volcanic eruptions and volcanic rocks but also are the source of the hot fluids that transport gold and other metals and may in fact be the source of gold itself. Fluids emanating from a molten magma are extremely hot and under high pressure deep below the surface. As these fluids rise, they mix with surface waters and change the composition of the rocks with which they come into contact. This process is known as alteration. Eventually the fluids breach the surface and form either acidic lakes known as fumaroles common in the craters of volcanoes or dilute, neutral hot springs like those at Yellowstone or the Geysers in California. These two different surface manifestations – acidic lakes or neutral hot springs – reflect two different fluid types that each result from the two different paths taken by the magma as it rises to the surface. Both form gold deposits and are known respectively as low- and high-sulphidation gold deposits. In both subtypes gold will largely be precipitated from 2.5 kilometers depth to surface.
Recognizing that gold precipitates near the surface in these systems, the great American geologist Waldemar Lindgren coined the term epithermal in 1933, epi meaning shallow and thermal referring to the heated fluid. The chemist Werner Giggenbach further subdivided epithermal gold deposits into low and high sulphidation types (illustrated right1). Low and high do not refer to each type’s relative amount of sulphide minerals (metal complexes of sulfur with metals). Rather the distinction is based on the different sulfur to metal ratio within the sulphide minerals of each subtype. While this discussion deals with high-sulphidation epithermal systems, it is worth mentioning that low-sulphidation systems also form economic gold deposits although they develop under vastly different chemical conditions.