Deck 15: Mineral Resources and the Environment

Question 1

What is the principal reason that iron and steel are recycled at such a high rate?

A)Iron and steel are highly valuable on the precious metals market.
B)The market for steel is large and widespread.
C)All sources of iron ore have been more or less exhausted.
D)Environmental regulations mandated iron and steel recycling starting in the 1950s.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Itai-Itai disease resulted from contamination of the Zintzu River basin with what types of mine wastes?

A)cyanide
B)gold and silver
C)lead, zinc, and cadmium
D)acid mine drainage

Answer 2

C

Question 3

What is the principal social impact of mining operations?

A)death of workers in mining accidents
B)boom and bust cycles that impact local economies and social structure
C)effects of soil and water degradation on public health
D)crime rates among poorly paid miners

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Why is cyanide heap leaching used to extract gold from some deposits?

A)The gold concentration is too low to be extracted using traditional methods.
B)It is safer than other methods.
C)Gold can only be extracted from finely disseminated deposits.
D)It produces fewer mine tailings than other methods.

Question 5

Most water pollution associated with mining operations has to do with

A)water passing through mine wastes
B)hazardous chemical spills
C)improper disposal of incinerator ash
D)failure of waste ponds

Question 6

The difference between a resource and a reserve mostly has to do with certainty that it can be mined.

Question 7

Weathering processes are primarily responsible for the concentration of what types of ore?

A)gold
B)cadmium
C)aluminum
D)copper

Question 8

The social and environmental impacts of mining cause those countries that exploit mineral resources to be poor and thinly populated.

Question 9

How is biotechnology helping to reduce the environmental impacts of mining?

A)through efficient treatment of mine wastes and contaminated water
B)plant uptake of precious metals permits mining of plants rather than rock
C)through the use of plants that revegetate mine waste piles
D)through better environmental regulations relating to mine waste

Question 10

The predominant mineral resources used by modern society are metals.

Question 11

Hydrothermal mineral deposits would be least expected to form in what type of plate tectonic setting?

A)transform boundary
B)oceanic divergent boundary
C)oceanic subduction zone
D)continental subduction zone

Question 12

Placer deposits are expected in what type of rock?

A)igneous
B)sedimentary
C)metamorphic
D)hydrothermal

Question 13

The concentration factor for gold is less than the concentration factor for copper.

Question 14

What does the Fossil Trace Golf Course in Golden, Colorado, have to do with mineral resources?

A)Hazardous wastes from years of mining in the area were dumped there.
B)It was constructed in a reclaimed limestone-clay quarry.
C)The fossils there contain concentrations of precious metals.
D)Mineral deposits in the rocks beneath the golf course were found to contain recoverable concentrations of zinc and iron, leading to conflict between mining and recreation.

Question 15

Affluent nations tend to be totally reliant on domestic mineral sources.

Question 16

Kimberlite pipes are sources of what mineral?

A)gold
B)silver
C)copper
D)diamond

Question 17

Smelter emissions often cause what type of adverse environmental degradation?

A)acid mine drainage
B)acid rain
C)asbestos deposition
D)global warming

Question 18

If surface mines tend to cause greater environmental impacts, why are they used?

A)Surface mines require the excavation of less rock.
B)Cyanide is not required to process ore from a surface mine.
C)Surface mines are more economical.
D)Subsurface mines are more hazardous to miners.

Question 19

What phase of mining generally causes the least environmental degradation?

A)exploration and testing
B)extraction
C)processing
D)reclamation

Question 20

A concentration of minerals that could now be legally mined at a profit is called a

A)resource
B)reserve
C)mineral deposit
D)metal

Question 21

Environmental regulation has largely failed to reduce pollution from mining.

Question 22

________ mineral deposits form through the circulation of hot, chemically active waters.

Question 23

Agricultural chemicals are typically extracted from sedimentary deposits.

Question 24

________ deposits form through the desiccation of marine basins or lakes.

Question 25

Because it is isolated from the land surface, groundwater is rarely contaminated by mining.

Question 26

Because of the low levels of energy involved, weathering processes rarely produce valuable mineral concentrations.

Question 27

________ mine drainage results from oxidation of sulfide-bearing deposits.

Question 28

The term "ore" refers to the profitability of mining a deposit.

Question 29

A(n) ________ is a resource that is currently available to be legally and economically mined.

Question 30

The ________ of a metal is a measure of its concentration necessary for profitable mining.

Question 31

Sulfide deposits of copper and iron form through seawater circulation at ________ plate boundaries.

Question 32

Biotechnology may help to reduce the use of the hazardous chemical ________ in ore processing.

Question 33

The fact that mineral resources are formed slowly over time means that mineral resources are our ________ heritage from the geologic past.

Question 34

________ ore deposits are a result of weathering processes.

Question 35

The R to C ratio defines time available to find a solution to resource depletion.

Question 36

Itai-Itai disease was prevalent in a river valley in the country of ________.

Question 37

One of the major environmental hazards of heap leach mining is the use of cyanide for gold extraction.

Question 38

Air and water pollution are only of concern while a mine is operating.

Question 39

The element ________ represents the greatest amount of recycling by volume.

Question 40

The social impacts of mining have largely to do with its environmental impacts.

Question 41

________ deposits are the result of sedimentary concentration of heavy minerals in streams.

Question 42

________ is being used to reduce the impacts of cyanide at the Homestake Mine in South Dakota.