Deck 13: Mineral Resources and Society

Question 1

What is a locally rich concentration of minerals that can be mined economically and is legally recoverable with existing technology?

A) ore
B) ore minerals
C) mineral deposits
D) mineral reserves
E) vein

Answer 1

mineral reserves

Question 2

What is a locally rich concentration of metallic minerals that can be mined economically and is legally recoverable with existing technology?

A) ore
B) ore minerals
C) mineral deposits
D) mineral reserves
E) vein

Answer 2

ore

Question 3

What is the ratio of an element's abundance in an ore deposit to its average continental-crustal abundance?

A) enrichment multiple
B) concentration factor
C) economic feasibility quotient
D) use per capita
E) Poisson's factor

Answer 3

concentration factor

Question 4

If the crustal abundance of some substance is 5% and a "good"ore deposit contains 25%, what is the concentration factor needed to economically mine this substance?

A) 0.20
B) 1
C) 2
D) 5
E) 25

Question 5

What kind of process produces banded iron formations?

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

Question 6

Which type of ore deposit originated before there was free oxygen in the atmosphere?

A) banded iron formation
B) manganese nodules
C) colcanogenic copper
D) gold placer deposits
E) bauxite

Question 7

What kind of process produces manganese nodules?

A) physical sedimentation
B) hydrothermal
C) volcanogenic
D) weathering
E) chemical sedimentation

Question 8

Most of the world's aluminum comes from which of the following?

A) quartz
B) bauxite
C) hematite
D) plagioclase
E) basalt

Question 9

Judge the following sentence according to the criteria given below: Aluminum is concentrated in the formation of bauxite ore BECAUSE it is relatively insoluble during the deep chemical weathering that occurs in hot, humid tropical climates.

A) The assertion and reason are both correct, and the reason is valid.
B) The assertion and reason are both correct, and the reason is invalid.
C) The assertion is correct and the reason is incorrect.
D) The assertion is incorrect and the reason is correct.
E) Both the assertion and the reason are incorrect.

Question 10

For which of the following non-metallic mineral resources dose the United States produce more than it consumes?

A) clay
B) gypsum
C) potash
D) salt
E) sulfur

Question 11

Which important agricultural substance comes from the atmosphere?

A) nitrate
B) phosphate
C) potassium
D) potash
E) calcium

Question 12

For which of the following mineral resources is the United States most dependent on imports?

A) nickel
B) copper
C) chromium
D) graphite
E) tin

Question 13

Under which act or law was the EPA's superfund developed for cleanup of the worst toxic or hazardous waste sites?

A) The General Mining Law of 1872
B) CERCLA
C) SMCRA
D) NEPA
E) BLM

Question 14

What is an EIR?

A) Extraordinary Igneous Resource
B) Engineering Industry Report
C) Environmental Impact Report
D) Extractable Industrial Resource
E) Environmentally Irreversible

Question 15

What is the name given to broken fragments of waste rock removed during mining operations?

A) till
B) drift
C) regolith
D) spoil
E) talus

Question 16

Judge the following sentence according to the criteria given below: Economically exploitable deposits of aluminum are restricted to a few highly localized geological sites BECAUSE bauxite only forms when volcanic activity vents fluids to the surface as black smokers.

A) The assertion and the reason are both correct, and the reason is valid.
B) The assertion and the reason are both correct, but the reason is invalid.
C) The assertion is correct, but the reason is incorrect.
D) The assertion is incorrect, but the reason is correct.
E) Both the assertion and the reason are incorrect.

Question 17

Why is crushed limestone used in the remediation of sulfide waste rock?

A) The limestone forms a highly impermeable barrier.
B) The limestone neutralizes the acid that forms.
C) The limestone converts to marble and can be sold.
D) Native grasses and plants grow directly out of the limestone.
E) The sulfide waste rock will oxidize into limestone.

Question 18

Which of the following statements regarding mineral resources is false?

A) Mineral resources occur only in particular places.
B) Mineral resources form due to unique geologic conditions.
C) Mineral resources are nearly inexhaustible.
D) Mineral resource exploitation has environmental consequences.
E) Mineral resource exploitation requires a long-term investment.

Question 19

Exploitation of which of the following gold deposits did NOT pollute the environment with cyanide?

A) Zortman-Landusky Mine, Montana
B) Omai Mine, Guyana
C) Amazon Basin, Brazil
D) Summitville, Colorado
E) Baia Mare, Romania

Question 20

Which environmental impact of underground mining is considered to be the most serious?

A) underground explosions
B) underground flooding
C) acid mine drainage
D) ground subsidence
E) overburden collapse

Question 21

Toxic heavy metals are naturally present in mineralized areas all over the West, but the runoff water is not contaminated.

Question 22

Low-grade ore deposits are those that are not economically exploitable.

Question 23

Mining operations can have a deadly effect on fish and wildlife.

Question 24

Bauxite forms as the result of intense weathering in tropical areas.

Question 25

A placer is a mining marker used to indicate a claim.

Question 26

"Black smokers"are a type of volcanic eruption.

Question 27

Hydrothermal deposits come from the action of hot mineral-rich fluids that come from cooling magma bodies.

Question 28

Pegmatites can contain extremely large crystals.

Question 29

About 70% of diamonds used as abrasives are artificial.

Question 30

A "mother load"belt is commonly an accumulation of veins.

Question 31

Due to the long history of environmental damage from acid-mine drainage, present-day mines can no longer be developed in a sulfide ore body.

Question 32

Rare-earth elements are called that because they are very rare.

Question 33

Rare-earth elements are a necessary component in the production of electric- and hybrid-automobiles.

Question 34

The General Mining Law of 1872 was the first law drafted with intent to help regulate mining in terms of environmental impacts.

Question 35

There is no specific fund for cleanup of noncoal mines on state and private lands, but there is a fund available under SMCRA for states that have implemented its safeguards and standards for coal mining.

Question 36

One of the consequences of gold mining in the Amazon Basin has been the release of 100 tons of mercury each year.

Question 37

Columbium and tantalum in your mobile phone helped to finance the decade-long war in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Question 38

The metal copper is only deposited by igneous processes at convergent plate margins.

Question 39

The United States is self-sustaining in metal reserves but not in non-metals.

Question 40

In 2002, the Bush Administration changed federal regulations to allow mining companies to dump hazardous materials into streams and lakes as long as it is considered fill.

Question 41

Consider the following statement: A good aluminum ore deposit is defined at this time as one that contains about 35% aluminum. What is the significance of the words "at this time"in this statement?

Question 42

What factors contributed to the current boom in gold mining in the U.S.?

Question 43

Reclamation bond money is routinely collected from mining companies with the idea that this money will insure that the mined areas will be cleaned up and made safe once mining ceases? What actually happens when a mining operation goes bankrupt? Who ends up paying the bill?

Question 44

What are some difficulties that must be overcome before deep-ocean floor mining can take place?

Question 45

What are some pros and cons of the surface mining of coal?

Question 46

What are the three most far-reaching effects of underground mining?

Question 47

What is the primary advantage of hydraulic mining, and what are its drawbacks?

Question 48

What are the four primary methods of separating ore minerals from nonvaluable minerals?

Question 49

What is the safety consideration behind why cyanide, in heap-leach recovery operations, is kept at very low concentrations and kept highly alkaline?

Question 50

What is meant by the following quote? "Historically, the environment has borne a great deal of the cost of extracting raw materials; the consumer has paid only part of the real cost."