scholarly journals Scarcity and Environmental Impact of Mineral Resources—An Old and Never-Ending Discussion

Resources ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Resource Depletion ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Environmental Study ◽  
World Population ◽  
Product Systems ◽  
Material Sources ◽  
Drying Up

A historical overview shows that mankind has feared the scarcity of mineral resources, especially metals, for many centuries. In the first half of the 20th century, this discussion was marked by the great military demand for raw materials, followed by the growing world population, increasing consumption and environmental awareness. From then on, there was less talk of regional shortages, but more discussion of a global scarcity or even a drying up of raw material sources worldwide. Although these forecasts are still controversially discussed today, the assessment of resource depletion has become an integral element of Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) or Life Cycle Impact Assessments (LCIA) of product systems. A number of methodological approaches are available for this purpose, which are presented and applied in a series of articles as part of a special issue of ”Resources”. The fundamental question is also addressed, namely to what extent the assessment of resource depletion in the context of an environmental study such as LCA is appropriate.

scholarly journals Specific Aspects in Assessing Economic Feasibility of Rare Earth Mining

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 138-152
Author(s):  
V. Yatsenko
Keyword(s):  
Rare Earth ◽  
Rare Earth Elements ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Rapid Change ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Economic Assessment ◽  
Economic Feasibility ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Material Sources ◽  
Wide Range

An important up-to-date feature of the resources sector development is a rapid change of types and raw material sources as well as a wide range of conditions in which the processes of mineral resources development take place. The sources of rare earth elements are not an exception because the innovative nature of their development implies the use of new knowledge, technologies and approaches. Moreover, from an economic perspective, like any investment projects, such sources of raw materials require feasibility assessment and their investment effectiveness. Based on the above, the article analyzes an economic assessment of the development of new source of rare earth elements by the example of the Burann area of the Tomtor deposit in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia).

Calculation of the Glaze Recipe for Porcelain Feldspar Products Based on their Molecular Formula Rationalization

2008 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-134
Author(s):  
Ion Teoreanu ◽  
Roxana Lucia Dumitrache ◽  
Stefania Stoleriu
Keyword(s):  
Raw Materials ◽  
Computer Programs ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
Molecular Formula ◽  
Design Equation ◽  
Material Sources

Any change of the raw material sources for glazes, economically, ecologically motivated, and also from the glaze quality point of view, is conditioned by the molecular formula rationalization and by the variation limits of the molecular formula, respectively. The proper glaze compositions are placed within their limit variation intervals with optimized processing and utilization properties. For this purpose, the rationalization criteria and procedures of molecular formulas are summarized in the present paper, as well as the results referring to their rationalization obtained in the authors� previous work. Thus, one starts from a base of raw materials that are selected, usable and also accessible for the design and producing of the glazes. On these bases the groundwork and the design equation for the glaze recipes are developed, exemplified for a single glaze. For an easy access to results, computer programs are used for an easy access to results.

scholarly journals Sustainability of Extraction of Raw Material by a Combination of Mobile and Stationary Mining Machines and Optimization of Machine Life Cycle

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (24) ◽  
pp. 10454
Author(s):  
Katarína Teplická ◽  
Martin Straka
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Simulation Method ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Optimal Distribution ◽  
Transport Costs ◽  
Scientific Discussion ◽  
Mining Companies ◽  
Conveyor Belts ◽  
The Impact

This article summarizes the arguments within the scientific discussion on the issue of using mining machines and their life cycle. The main goal of the article is to investigate the impact of a combination of mobile and stationary mining machines and their optimal distribution in the mining process to increase the efficiency of mining and processing of raw materials. The following methods of research were focused on the use of technical indicators for the valuation efficiency of the mining process: a simulation method was used for the distribution of mining machines, comparison analysis was used for the real and past state of mining machines, and a decision tree was used as managerial instrument for optimal alternatives of mining machines. The research empirically confirms and theoretically proves that optimal distribution of mining machines and machine parks is very important for mining companies. The benefit of this research for the mining company was the new location of the machines and the combination of stationary production lines and mobile equipment. The optimal layout of the machines reduced the number of conveyor belts and improved the transfer of limestone processing to mobile devices, saving time, which was reflected in transport costs. The results can be useful for other mining companies seeking to create an optimal machine park.

scholarly journals PERSPECTIVES FOR DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNICAL BUILDING STONE- LIMESTONE IN THE REPUBLIC SRPSKA

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Slobodan Majstorović ◽  
Vladimir Malbašić ◽  
Miodrag Čelebić
Keyword(s):  
Raw Materials ◽  
Production Capacity ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Building Stone ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Material Base ◽  
Standard Quality ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Fragmentation Of Production ◽  
Republika Srpska

Curent situation of raw material base and study of limestone like construction stone deposits in the Republic of Serbian were relatively poorly considered during the last decades, and the main problems are the following: low production capacity fragmentation of production, needs for raw materials homogenization and delivering of standard quality, undeveloped market, the recession of the domestic economy and the economies in the region, the relatively low level of exploration by many deposits, especially lack of knowledge of the occurrence legality for certain types and quality of raw materials and lack of complete quality indicators for raw material, which sometimes causes the utilization of only the highest quality deposit parts.This paper provides an overview of active quarries in the Republic Srpska with exploitation of limestone like technical building stone and present an attempt to determine the basic quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the raw material and the current working conditions at these quarries. The purpose of such a review would be in an effort to create a clearer picture about production, market, social and other aspects of the limestone exploitation in the Republika Srpska and the realistic possibilities of maintaining and developing of these mineral resources utilization, which can certainlybe interesting for the development of many other industries in the Republic Srpska.

scholarly journals TLS and SfM Approach for Bulk Density Determination of Excavated Heterogeneous Raw Materials

Minerals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Blistan ◽  
Stanislav Jacko ◽  
Ľudovít Kovanič ◽  
Julián Kondela ◽  
Katarína Pukanská ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bulk Density ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Terrestrial Laser Scanning ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Raw Material

A frequently recurring problem in the extraction of mineral resources (especially heterogeneous mineral resources) is the rapid operative determination of the extracted quantity of raw material in a surface quarry. This paper deals with testing and analyzing the possibility of using unconventional methods such as digital close-range photogrammetry and terrestrial laser scanning in the process of determining the bulk density of raw material under in situ conditions. A model example of a heterogeneous deposit is the perlite deposit Lehôtka pod Brehmi (Slovakia). Classical laboratory methods for determining bulk density were used to verify the results of the in situ method of bulk density determination. Two large-scale samples (probes) with an approximate volume of 7 m3 and 9 m3 were realized in situ. 6 point samples (LITH) were taken for laboratory determination. By terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) measurement from 2 scanning stations, point clouds with approximately 163,000/143,000 points were obtained for each probe. For Structure-from-Motion (SfM) photogrammetry, 49/55 images were acquired for both probes, with final point clouds containing approximately 155,000/141,000 points. Subsequently, the bulk densities of the bulk samples were determined by the calculation from in situ measurements by TLS and SfM photogrammetry. Comparison of results of the field in situ measurements (1841 kg∙m−3) and laboratory measurements (1756 kg∙m−3) showed only a 4.5% difference in results between the two methods for determining the density of heterogeneous raw materials, confirming the accuracy of the used in situ methods. For the determination of the loosening coefficient, the material from both large-scale samples was transferred on a horizontal surface. Their volumes were determined by TLS. The loosening coefficient for the raw material of 1.38 was calculated from the resulting values.

Introduction to an Approach to Performing Sustainability Quantification of Concrete Structures

2018 ◽  
Vol 272 ◽  
pp. 273-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Břetislav Teplý ◽  
Tomáš Vymazal ◽  
Pavla Rovnaníková
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Waste Recycling ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Load Bearing Capacity ◽  
Sustainability Management ◽  
The World ◽  
Whole Life Cycle

Efficient sustainability management requires the use of tools that enable the quantification, measurement or comparison of material, technological and construction variants. Tools of this kind which have been developed around the world in recent years include various indicators, indexes, etc. Generally, technical, economic, ecological and socio-cultural areas must all be included. Such a tool can be used as a powerful marketing aid and as support for the transition to the “circular economy”. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) procedures are also used, alongside other approaches. LCA is a method that evaluates the life cycle of a structure from the point of view of its effect on the environment. Processes starting with the mining of mineral resources and including their transport, production and use up to their final processing as waste (recycling) are all taken into account. In addition, consideration is given to energy and raw material costs, and to environmental impact throughout the whole life cycle – e.g. through emissions. The presented contribution focuses on the quantification of sustainability connected with the use of various types of concrete with regard to their resistance against the effect of degrading influences. Sustainability factors are also determined using information regarding service life and “eco-costs”. The aim is to present a suitable methodology which can simplify decision-making concerning the design and choice of concrete mixes from a wider perspective, i.e. not only from the aspects of load-bearing capacity or durability.

scholarly journals Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) of Sassuolo Industrial District (Italy)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davide Settembre-Blundo ◽  
Fernando E. García-Muiña ◽  
Martina Pini ◽  
Lucrezia Volpi ◽  
Cristina Siligardi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Integrated Network ◽  
Product Categories

One of the biggest challenges for European industry is to introduce sustainability principles into business models. This is particularly important in raw material and energy intensive manufacturing sectors such as the ceramic industry. The present state of knowledge lacks a comprehensive operational tool for industry to support decision-making processes geared towards sustainability. In the ceramic sector, the economic and social dimensions of the product and processes have not yet been given sufficient importance. Moreover, the traditional research on industrial districts lacks an analysis of the relations between firms and the territory with a view to sustainability. Finally, the attention of scholars in the field of economic and social sustainability, has not yet turned to the analysis of the Sassuolo district. Therefore, in this paper we introduce the Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA), as a method that can be a suitable tool to fill this gap, because through a mathematical model it is possible to obtain the information useful for decision makers to integrate the principles of sustainability both at the microeconomic level in enterprises, and at the meso-economic level for the definition of economic policies and territorial governance. Environmental and socio-economic analysis was performed from the extraction of raw materials to the packaging of the product on different product categories manufactured by the Italian ceramic industries of the Sassuolo district (northern Italy). For the first time the LCSA model, usually applied to unitary processes, is extended to the economic and industrial activities of the entire district, extending the prospect of investigation from the enterprise and its value chain to the integrated network of district enterprises.

scholarly journals Simulation of Slag–Matte/Metal Equilibria for Complex and Low-Grade Raw Materials

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 12826
Author(s):  
Pekka Taskinen ◽  
Katri Avarmaa
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Metal Production ◽  
Iron Sulphides ◽  
The Heat Balance ◽  
Nickel Lead

The depleting and increasingly complex mineral resources bring challenges into the area of metal production, bringing new boundary conditions to the smelting and refining processes. Thermodynamics of phases and equilibria are the key to the analysis of pyrometallurgical processes, enabling descriptions of their limiting boundary conditions. The raw material basis of non-ferrous metals needs an effective control of iron oxide fluxing due to the challenging fact that the targeted metal values of, e.g., copper, nickel, lead, and tin will exist as minority components in the smelter feeds compared to iron sulphides, gangue, and many harmful elements. This means more complex slag compositions and the amount of produced slag being several times that of the metal production. This feature severely impacts the heat balance of the smelting vessels where autogenous operation without external fuels becomes more and more difficult to maintain.

scholarly journals Factors of achieving and ensuring energy security in the context of national and EuroAtlantic security

2021 ◽  
Vol 342 ◽  
pp. 04011
Author(s):  
Nicolae Daniel Fîţă ◽  
Emilia Grigorie
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Energy Security ◽  
Energy Supply ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Final Conclusion ◽  
Material Sources

Energy security, alongside with industrial, food, societal, environmental and sustainable development, information, cyber, economic, defense and national order security, etc., is part of the concept of national security of a state. The level of security of a state is the ability of that state to aggregate resources internally and gain or maintain access to external economic resources. Energy security means being ensured in terms of raw material sources, control of transportation and distribution routes and alternatives. Sufficient and available raw material resources are an urgent prerequisite for achieving energy security. Any longer interruption of energy supply has a negative effect on the economic growth, the political stability and the welfare of the citizens of a state. The following elements of energy security instability can endanger a state’s energy security: risks (physical, economic, geopolitical, geostrategic, social, environmental protection, etc.); threats (terrorist action, political, industrial, economic and national instability, armed conflicts, piracy, etc.); dangers (lack of energy supply and/or raw materials, the finite nature of energy resources, use of energy as a pressure instrument or energy weapon, use of energy revenues to support undemocratic regimes, high energy costs for developing countries and global climate change) and vulnerabilities (natural and/or anthropogenic hazards). For the purpose to ensure the stability of national and EuroAtlantic security, the following factors are proposed by authors to achieve and ensure energy security: 25 proposed way to achieving energy security; 8 proposed way to ensuring energy security, and 9 proposed scenarios to quantification energy security almost complete. The final conclusion is: the energy security of a state is in fact the national security of that state.

scholarly journals Assessment of the mineral raw material potential in Denmark – methods and major findings

1969 ◽  
pp. 37-40
Author(s):  
Jakob Kløve Keiding ◽  
Per Kalvig ◽  
Claus Ditlefsen ◽  
Steen Lomholt ◽  
Peter Roll Jakobsen
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Spatial Competition ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Resource Evaluation ◽  
Mineral Raw Materials ◽  
Mineral Raw Material ◽  
Per Capita

Aggregates and other mineral raw materials are important prerequisites for the continual development of the infrastructure and economic growth of a country. Th e production of these raw materials in Denmark amounted to c. 4.5 m3 per capita in 2012, which was 57% higher than the average in EU and EFTA countries (UEPG 2014). In this perspective, it is essential to locate and assess the Danish mineral resources in order to plan future exploitation, especially in densely populated regions where both spatial competition for landuse and demands for raw materials are high. Here we present the methods used in a recent resource evaluation that for the fi rst time includes Danish resources both on land and at sea and summarises some of the main fi ndings of this analysis.

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