Estimation of copper ore deposit parameters – case study of Rudna Mine mining block R-1 (SW part of Poland) using geostatistics

Author(s):  
Barbara Namysłowska-Wilczyńska

<p>This geostatistical study investigates the variation in the basic geological parameters of the lithologically varied deposit in mining block R-1 in the west (W) part of the Rudna Mine (the region Lubin – Sieroszowice, SW part of Poland).</p><p>Data obtained from the sampling (sample size N = 708) of excavations in block R-1 were the input for the spatial analyses. The data are the results of chemical analyses of the Cu content in the (recoverable) deposit series, carried out on channel samples and drilled core samples, taken systematically at every 15-20 m in the headings.</p><p>The deposit profile comprises various rock formations, such as: mineralized Weissliegend sandstones, intensively mineralized upper Permian dolomitic-loamy and loamy copper-bearing schists and carbonate rocks: loamy dolomite, striped dolomite and limy dolomite, of various thickness. No schists formed in some parts of block R-1, which are referred to as the schistless area. The deposit series here is considerably less mineralized (comparing with other mining blocks) even though the mineralization thickness of the sandstone and carbonate rocks reaches as much as 20 m.</p><p>The variation in the Cu content and thickness of the recoverable deposit and the estimated averages Z* of the above parameters were modelled using the variogram function and the ordinary (block) kriging technique. The efficiency of the estimations was characterized.</p><p>As part of the further spatial analyses the Z<sub>s</sub> values of the analysed deposit parameters were simulated using the conditional turning bands simulation. Confidence intervals for the values of averages based on the estimated averages Z* and averages <strong> </strong>based on the simulated values (realizations) Z<sub>s</sub>, showing the uncertainty of the estimations and simulations, were calculated.</p><p>The results of the analyses clearly indicate the shifting of the mineralized zone (the mineralizing solutions), sometimes into the sandstones while spreading throughout the floor of calcareous-dolomitic formations and sometimes into the carbonate rocks, partly entering the roof layers of sandstones. It can be concluded that the process of deposit formation and copper mineralization variation had a multiphase character and the lateral and vertical relocation of the valuable metal ores could play a significant role.</p><p>The combination of various geostatistical techniques - estimation and simulation - will allow for more effective management of natural resources of mineral resources, including copper ore deposits.</p>

2017 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 01004
Author(s):  
Andrzej Grotowski ◽  
Kajetan Witecki

Shale, which occurs in the copper ore deposits belonging to KGHM Polska Miedź S.A., is the reason for a number of difficulties, at the stage of not only processing but also smelting. Gangue, in turn, getting in a feed during mining is a useless load of a concentrator and also contributes to lowering concentrating indexes. Its content in a feed is being evaluated at 15-30%. The multiple attempts to solve those issues by the methods of conventional mineral processing or even selective mining failed. In the range of work, research on the lithological composition and Cu content in 300 individual particles (selected from Rudna feed) have been carried out. Using those results, the simulation of gangue separation with an application of sorting have been done. The positive results have been received: introduction of a sorting operation causes, theoretically, removing of approximately 20-30% sorting feed mass as final tailings with Cu losses not bigger than 5-10%. It means that the capacity of Rudna concentrator can be increased proportionally. To confirm those results, industrial sorting trials are necessary, when appropriate sorters will become available. Additionally, one should take also into account that the finest classes of feed (-12.5 mm) could not be concentrated in a sorter. In the range of work, the preliminary tests of the industrial sorter (PRO Secondary Color NIR) for separation of the shale concentrate from Rudna concentrator feed have been carried out. The shale concentrates were received both from 12.5-20 mm class and +20 mm class. The concentrates produced from the coarse classes, for both technological sides had shale content at the level of 48-49%, with recovery of 52.9-60%. In the case of the finer class, shale content in the concentrates for both technological sides amounts to 30.9-35%, at the slightly lower recoveries than for coarse classes. Cu and Corg behavior in the sorting process were checked also, however, the results turned out to be not very interesting. Because the results of shale concentrate production by sorting have a significant potential for improvement, the further researches in this direction have been recommended, however, making them start off from elaboration of a technology for shale concentrate processing and calculation of a total balance of a concentrating process involving flotation and separation.


Author(s):  
Jesper Kresten Nielsen ◽  
Nils-Martin Hanken

NOTE: This article was published in a former series of GEUS Bulletin. Please use the original series name when citing this article, for example: Kresten Nielsen, J., & Hanken, N.-M. (2002). Late Permian carbonate concretions in the marine siliciclastic sediments of the Ravnefjeld Formation, East Greenland. Geology of Greenland Survey Bulletin, 191, 126-132. https://doi.org/10.34194/ggub.v191.5140 _______________ This investigation of carbonate concretions from the Late Permian Ravnefjeld Formation in East Greenland forms part of the multi-disciplinary research project Resources of the sedimentary basins of North and East Greenland (TUPOLAR; Stemmerik et al. 1996, 1999). The TUPOLAR project focuses on investigations and evaluation of potential hydrocarbon and mineral resources of the Upper Permian – Mesozoic sedimentary basins. In this context, the Upper Permian Ravnefjeld Formation occupies a pivotal position because it contains local mineralisations and has source rock potential for hydrocarbons adjacent to potential carbonate reservoir rocks of the partly time-equivalent Wegener Halvø Formation (Harpøth et al. 1986; Surlyk et al. 1986; Stemmerik et al. 1998; Pedersen & Stendal 2000). A better understanding of the sedimentary facies and diagenesis of the Ravnefjeld Formation is therefore crucial for an evaluation of the economic potential of East Greenland.


Author(s):  
I. V. Sokolov ◽  
Y. G. Antipin ◽  
N. V. Gobov ◽  
I. V. Nikitin

Based on an analysis of the design principles and practice of underground mining of ore deposits, the most significant features, trends to develop and directions to enhance of underground geotechnology in the field of opening and preparation, mining systems, filling works and ore preparation have been established. The main signs of innovation - scientific research and implementation in production in order to obtain additional value, are highlighted. Various approaches to the development of innovative underground geotechnologies are shown and a methodology for their justification is formulated based on a systematic approach implemented in the framework of the concept of integrated development of mineral resources and on the principles of economic efficiency, industrial and environmental safety, completeness of subsoil development. The experience of the IM UB RAS on the development and implementation of innovative underground geotechnologies in the design and industrial operation of a number of ore deposits is given, which significantly increased the completeness and quality of ore extraction from the subsoil, increased labor productivity in sinking and stoping works, reduced capital and operating costs for ore mining and to utilize mining and processing waste in the mined-out space.


Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1236
Author(s):  
Sylwia Svorová Pawełkowicz ◽  
Barbara Wagner ◽  
Jakub Kotowski ◽  
Grażyna Zofia Żukowska ◽  
Bożena Gołębiowska ◽  
...  

Impurities in paint layers executed with green and blue copper pigments, although relatively common, have been studied only little to date. Yet, their proper identification is a powerful tool for classification of paintings, and, potentially, for future provenance studies. In this paper, we present analyses of copper pigments layers from wall paintings situated in the vicinity of copper ore deposits (the palace in Kielce, the palace in Ciechanowice, and the parish church in Chotków) located within the contemporary borders of Poland. We compare the results with the analyses of copper minerals from three deposits, two local, and one historically important for the supply of copper in Europe, i.e., Miedzianka in the Holy Cross Mountains, Miedzianka in the Sudetes, and, as a reference, Špania Dolina in the Slovakian Low Tatra. Optical (OM) and electron microscopy (SEM-EDS), Raman spectroscopy, and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) have been used for a detailed investigation of the minute grains. Special attention has been devoted to antimony and nickel phases, as more unusual than the commonly described iron oxides. Analyses of minerals from the deposits helped to interpret the results obtained from the paint samples. For the first time, quantitative analyses of copper pigments’ impurities have been described.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tina Molodtsova ◽  
Christopher Kelley ◽  
Lénaick Menot ◽  
Les Watling

Depletion of commercially valuable minerals on land and increased need of such resources for modern electronics and manufacturing is attracting more and more attention to deep-sea mineral deposits such as cobalt crusts, manganese nodules, phosphorites, polymetallic sulfides and even deep-sea ooze. In a few years we expect intensive exploitation in the deep-sea. Being suspension feeders, corals and sponges associated with hard substrata in potential mining sites would be adversely impacted by deep-sea mining. Deep-sea corals and sponges are characterized by extremely slow growth rates and, as can be seen from fishery impacts, they may take decades to centuries to restore. At the same time, they serve as a substrate, shelter and food for a number of associated deep-sea organisms, thus increasing the cumulative impact of their loss. We summarize here the available data on coral and sponge communities of solid deep-sea ore deposits and possible mechanisms driving their diversity.


Author(s):  
William O'Brien

The Iberian Peninsula is one the most mineralized parts of Europe, with a long history of metal mining from prehistoric and Roman to modern times. The earliest evidence for copper metallurgy dates to the fifth millennium BC; however, distinctive Chalcolithic metalworking traditions did not emerge in most regions until 3000 BC onwards. There are widespread occurrences of copper mineralization in Spain and Portugal, including many areas with deposits of lead, tin, silver, and gold. Copper deposits occur in the Galician and Cantabrian mountain ranges of northern Spain, extending east to the Pyrenees. They are also numerous in central Spain, in the provinces of Madrid, Avila, Salamanca, and Segovia in the Central Range, and also in the Toledo and Betic mountains of Cordoba. Farther south, there are major copper deposits in the so-called Pyrite Belt, extending from Seville to Huelva into southern Portugal, and also in the Penibetic range from Cartagena to Malaga crossing the sierras of Almeria (Rovira 2002: fig. 3c; see Delibes de Castro and Montero Ruiz 1999 for regional surveys of copper deposits and indications of early mining; also Gómez Ramos 1999; Hunt Ortiz 2003). The widespread availability of ore deposits was a significant factor in the establishment of copper metallurgy in Iberia. How early is contentious, as is the means by which the new technology first developed in different parts of the peninsula. The older explanation of metal-seeking colonists from the east Mediterranean introducing this technology to southern Spain was replaced in the 1960s by a model that emphasized autonomous development (Renfrew 1967, 1973; Montero Ruiz 1994). This was based on the apparent antiquity of copper mining and metallurgy in Iberia and the distinctive technological processes that developed there relative to other parts of Europe. The earliest indication of copper metallurgy in Iberia may come from the settlement of Cerro Virtud in Almeria, south-west Spain. A single sherd from a metallurgical crucible used to reduce oxidized copper ore was discovered in a layer dated to the early fifth millennium BC (Montero Ruiz and Ruíz Taboada 1996; Ruíz Taboada and Montero Ruiz 1999).


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