The Impact of the Energy Transition and Sustainable Development Goals on Mineral Resource Availability in Africa

Understanding and predicting the impact of the global energy transition and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on global mineral demand and African supply is challenging. This study uses a resource nexus approach to investigate and analyze the impact of this transition on energy and water demand and CO2 emissions using three annual material demand scenarios. The results indicate that African mining will consume more energy by 2050, leading to an increase in cumulative demand for energy (from 98 to 14,577 TWh) and water (from 15,013 to 223,000 million m3), as well as CO2 emissions (1318 and 19,561 Gg CO2e). In contrast, only a modest increase in energy demand (207 TWh) will be required by 2050 to achieve the SDGs. Therefore, the African mining industry should reduce its energy consumption and invest more in the renewable energy sector to support the global energy transition.

Geologic and economic potentials of minerals and industrial rocks in Jordan

This work discusses status of the geologic and economic potentials of minerals and industrial rocks in Jordan. The major mineral resources are presented in details and the paper is designed to cover the lack of published data in this field. Geologically, the structural framework of Jordan is controlled largely by Arabian Nubian Shield in the south, block—faulted areas in the east, upwarping in north and east, and Wadi Araba-Dead Sea Transform Fault in the western part. The geologic environments include Precambrian crystalline basement (Late Proterozoic) of Arabian Nubian Shield (ANS) that is composed of igneous and metamorphic rocks at south-western part. Paleozoic rocks at southern and southeastern part consist of clastic minerals which are dominated by sandstone, whereas Mesozoic sedimentary rocks are widespread throughout southwestern, northern to southeastern parts of the country. They mainly consist of major industrial rocks and minerals such as phosphate, oil shale, limestone, dolomite, chalk, marble, gypsum, diatomite and tripoli. Cenozoic Era is composed of sedimentary and volcanic rocks in different parts of Jordan. There are more than twenty nonmetallic minerals and four main metallic deposits within the various geologic environments. This paper summarizes their distribution, chemical and mineralogical characteristics, in addition to their production statistics.

Mineral Industry in Egypt-Part I: Metallic Mineral Commodities

This The mineral potential in Egypt is quite high. Almost all sorts of industrial minerals such as metallic and non-metallic commodities exist in commercial amounts. However, Egypt imports many of the mineral commodities needed for the local mineral industries. The main reason for this is that the investors, either the governmental or the private sectors, refrain from investing into the mineral industry for prospecting, evaluation, and developing the mining and mineral processing technologies. This is because the return on investment in the mining industry is generally low and the pay back period is relatively long compared with easy-to-get money projects. Another reason is the disarray of the mining laws and regulations and lack of administrative capability to deal with domestic and international investors and solve the related problems. Also, lack of skilled personnel in the field of mining and mineral processing is an additional factor for the set back of the mining industry in Egypt. This is why the mining technology in Egypt is not very far from being primitive and extremely simple, with the exception of the underground mining of coal, North of Sinai, and Abu-Tartur phosphate mining, where fully automated long wall operations are designed. Also, the recent gold and tin-tantalum-niobium projects are being designed on modern surface mining and mineral processing technologies. The present review presents an overview of the most important metallic mineral commodities in Egypt, their geological background, reserves and production rates. A brief mention of the existing technologies for their exploitation is also highlighted.

Mineralogical and Geochemical Assessment of Clay Properties of Edda, Afikpo Sub Basin Nigeria for Possible Use in the Ceramics Industry

Clay samples from selected part of Edda were analyzed to identify the clay mineral types present,their chemical and physical properties with a view to appraising their industrial suitability as ceramic materials.The mineralogical and geochemical analyses were done using the principles of X-Ray diffraction and X-ray fluorescence respectively.A total of seven clay samples were used for the study,other tests such as plasticity,bulk density,shrinkage,loss on ignition(LOI)and water absorption capacity was carried out to determine the amount of water absorbed under specified conditions.The basic industrial properties assessment showed that more than 70%of the clays are fine-grained.The clays exhibited low to moderate plasticity,moderate shrinkage and bulk density,low to moderate values of both loss on ignition and water absorption capacity.The clays are buff to yellowish in colour.The results of x-ray fluorescence revealed that the mean concentration of major oxide in the clays is shown as follows:SiO_(2)(62.78%),Al_(2)O_(3)(20.25%),total Fe(6.09%),CaO(0.56%),MgO(3.21%),Na_(2)O(0.47%),K_(2)O,(1.44%)and TiO_(2)(0.52%).The samples have high silica content,low alumina and low oxide content.The results of x-ray diffraction revealed that kaolinite is the dominant clay mineral with illite and montmorillonite occurring in subordinate amounts,while quartz and feldspar are the non-clay components present.The characteristics of the clays for each parameter were compared with industrial standards.These properties are appropriate for the Afikpo clays to be useful in the manufacturing of ceramics.However,since the silica content of the clays is high further beneficiation is recommended.

Non Destructive 3D, 4D Microscopy and Mineral Phase Characterization in Industrial Minerals, Composites to Construction Materials

Conventional electron and optical microscopy techniques require the sample to be sectioned, polished or etched to expose the internal surfaces for imaging. However, such sample preparation techniques have traditionally prevented the observation of the same sample over time, under realistic three-dimensional geometries and in an environment representative of real-world operating conditions. X-ray microscopy (XRM) is a rapidly emerging technique that enables non-destructive evaluation of buried structures within hard to soft materials in 3D, requiring little to no sample preparation. Furthermore in situ and 4D quantification of microstructural evolution under controlled environment as a function of time, temperature, chemistry or stress can be done repeatable on the same sample, using practical specimen sizes ranging from tens of microns to several cm diameter, with achievable imaging resolution from submicron to 50 nm. Many of these studies were reported using XRM in synchrotron beamlines. These include crack propagation on composite and construction materials; corrosion studies; microstructural changes during the setting of cement; flow studies within porous media to mention but a few.

Determination of Optimal Hormone and Mineral Salts Levels in Tissue Culture Media for Callus Induction and Growth of Industrial Hemp (<i>Cannabis sativa</i>L.)

Historically, industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) has been a valuable source of metabolites and compounds, such as cannabidiols. There is a need for large amounts of plant tissue to be grown under controlled environments, and plant tissue culture is one unique way to yield this tissue. The purposes of this study were to determine: 1) the optimal concentrations (μM)/ratios of auxin:cytokinin in media and;2) the optimal mineral salts formulation for callus induction and callus growth in select hemp cultivars. To find the optimal concentration/ratios, 16 different combinations of auxin:cytokinin and three different mineral salts formulations were evaluated. The three mineral salts formulations tested were MS salts, MB5D1K and an MTSU formulation. The top performing hormone formulations were determined to be equal concentrations (1:1, 2:2, 3:3 μM) of auxin and cytokinin. The top performing media hormone formulations for callus induction were determined to be 2:1, 2:2, 2:3, and 3:2 μM (auxin:cytokinin). The optimal mineral salts formulation was determined to be MD5D1K. Therefore, the overall optimal media formulation for hemp callus production would be MB5D1K salts with the concentration/ratio of 2:2 μM (auxin:cytokinin).

Physicochemical Characterisation for Potential Uses as Industrial Mineral of Bauxite from Débélé, Guinea

Assessing the potential uses as industrial mineral, bauxite from Débélé, Guinea, has been characterised by chemical and mineralogical analyses, the determination of the amorphous content, the rate of portlandite consumption in an aqueous solution, the strength activity index, and the thermal behaviour up to 1200°C. It was evidenced that the raw sample is gibbsite-rich type bauxite with about 45.06 wt% of alumina, 23.80 wt% of iron oxide, and 1.74 wt% of silica. It meets the chemical composition required for bauxites used for refractory cement. During heating, the raw bauxite undergoes high densification with low linear shrinkage, motivating a potential use in dense ceramic compositions with high thermal stability. Also, the heating at only 600°C gives a significant pozzolanic activity in combination with Portland cement. The correlation between the pozzolanicity, the amorphous phase content, and the specific surface area indicated that the raw and the calcined materials present an interesting reactivity for using them in alternative cement formulations.

Study the Physical, Chemical, Mineralogical, and Geo-technical Properties of Soils Used in Pottery Industries, Kurdistan-lraq

The study area is located in Duhok and Sulaimania province in Kurdistan region, lraq. Study soils developed from parent material that has derived from limestone. Randomize, composed and disturbed surface soil samples were collected. The bulk soils were air dried, crushed and passed through 2 mm sieve. Standard methods were used for chemical, physical, geotechnical and mineralogical analyses of soil samples. The results indicated that the study soils texture were clay to loam clay, this texture was considered as suitable for ceramic and pottery industries as a result of increasing clay contents that ranged between 301 g/kg and 676 g/kg. Soil consistence depending on geotechnical properties increased the ability of study soils for resistance rapture and deformation. Existence the high amount of cementing agents in study soils such as organic matter, iron oxides and particularly total carbonate （247.2-308.8 g/kg） act to reduce the bad effect of the smectite minerals group （high shrinkage） in soils of study locations through increasing the resistance of these soils for rupture and deformation. The existing of Kaolinite, palygorskite and chlorite allows clay to be dried in ceramic and pottery industries without cracking from shrinkage. Study soils were different in their colors as a result of existence, different pigmentation materials that led to coloring soils with different colors in turn caused coloring of pottery and ceramic materials. Since, there are no available academic studies or researches about this subject in Kurdistan region in addition the clay pottery and ceramic sector still has a good market at the same time using this type of soils for arts, therefore, this study was conducted.

Province-scale commonalities of some world-class gold deposits:Implications for mineral exploration

Discovery rates for all metals, including gold, are declining, the cost per significant discovery is increasing sharply, and the economic situation of the industry is one of low base rate. The current hierarchical structure of the exploration and mining industry makes this situation difficult to redress. Economic geologists can do little to influence the required changes to the overall structure and philosophy of an industry driven by business rather than geological principles, However, it should be possible to follow the lead of the oil industry and improve the success rate of greenfield exploration, necessary for the next group of lower-exploration-spend significant mineral deposit discoveries. Here we promote the concept that mineral explorers need to carefully consider the scale at which their exploration targets are viewed. It is necessary to carefully assess the potential of drill targets in terms of terrane to province to district scale, rather than deposit scale, where most current economic geology research and conceptual thinking is concentrated. If orogenic, IRGD, Carlin-style and IOCG gold-rich systems are viewed at the deposit scale, they appear quite different in terms of conventionally adop- ted research parameters. However, recent models for these deposit styles show increasingly similar source-region parameters when viewed at the lithosphere scale, suggesting common tectonic settings. It is only by assessing individual targets in their tectonic context that they can be more reliably ranked in terms of potential to provide a significant drill discovery. Targets adjacent to craton margins, other lithosphere boundaries, and suture zones are clearly favoured for all of these gold deposit styles, and such exploration could lead to incidental discovery of major deposits of other metals sited along the same tectonic boundaries.

Rapid Large Volume 3D Mineral Processing and Liberation Characterization Technique to Sub Micron Resolution

We describe a novel lab based X-ray computed tomography system based on the architecture of X-ray Microscopes (XRM) used in synchrotron radiation facilities to be adapted for mineral processing and mineral liberation analysis. As this is a tomographic technique performed with an XRM, it is non-destructive and does not require complex preparation of polished sections typical of SEM-EDS techniques (such as MLA and QEMSCAN). It complements these existing techniques by providing 3D information and mineral liberation of multi-phase particles with much larger sample volume statistics but at a fraction of the time. In several applications, the technique is superior. These include the characterization of tailing loss in precious minerals; the characterization of porosity, particle size distribution, crack and pore network analysis during comminution, heap leaching and for texture and exposure/lock class analysis for floatation.

10 Towards a Safer Environment:(7)How apatite minerals remediate Pb,Zn and Mn from wastewater?

To evaluate the effectiveness of apatite mineral in removing different contaminants from low quality water in the industrial city of abha,Asir region,southwestern of Saudi Arabia two phosphatic clay dominated by apatite mineral were selected.In situ remediation experiment proved that apatite mineral has the highest affinity for Pb and removed more than 94% from initial Pb concentration.The rest of contaminants followed the descending order of:Zn>Mn>Cu>Co>Ni.The sorption of Pb,Zn and Mn onto apatite mineral was well characterized by the Langmuir model.Ternary-metal addition induced competitive sorption among the three metals,with the interfering effect of Pb>Zn>Mn.During metal retention by apatite mineral calcium and phosphate were determined in equilibrium solution.Calcium increased and phosphate decreased with increasing metal disappearance.The greatest increase of calcium and the largest phosphate reduction were found with Pb+2 sorption. This is suggested that Pb+2 retention by apatite was through the dissolution of apatite which mean release of Ca and P into solution and formation of pyromorphite(lead phosphate)as consuming of P.Obtained results suggested that there are two general mechanisms for the ability of apatite mineral to take up Pb2+,Zn+2 and Mn+2.The first is (ion-ion exchange mechanism)concerned with adsorption of ions on the solid surface followed by their diffusion into apatite mineral and the release of cations originally contained within apatite.The second is (dissolution- precipitation mechanism)concerned to the dissolution of apatite in the aqueous solution containing Pb2+,Zn+2 and Mn+2 followed by the precipitation or coprecipitation.Pb+2 desorption responding to solution pH may indicate that not all the Pb+2 was chemisorbed and fraction of Pb+2 was weakly adsorbed or complexed on the surface of apatite mineral.

Technological Characterization and Industrial Application of Tunisian Clays from Makthar Area (Central Tunisia) in the Ceramic Industry

This study focused on the geochemical, mineralogical and technological characterization of clays in Makthar area (Central of Tunisia) of Cretaceous-Paleogene. Its aims are to identify and promote use in the field of ceramics industry. The result of the mineralogical analysis of clays showed a dominance of illite with a percentage higher than 65%, of kaolinite and smectite with percentages of 15%. Geochemical analysis of the major elements of clay showed a SiO2 content exceeding 29% and a percentage of Al2O3 higher than 7.5%. The Fe2O3 percentage was ranging from 3% to 8%. The percentage of CaO was between 22.5% and 28% while that of K2O is 4%. The percentages of SO4, MgO and NaO2 were in very small fractions. Granulometric and microgranulometric analysis showed that the clay fraction (<2 μm) varies from 30% to 37%. The plasticity index showed the plasticity character of clays which presented a specific surface area ranging from 112 m2/g to 178 m2/g reflecting illite dominance. Drying behavior indicated that clay mixture had a drying shrinkage less than 7%, while the firing shrinkage didn’t exceed 2% giving the possibility of clay using in the ceramics field.

新质生产力与矿产资源新格局

根据矿产资源安全巨系统理论,科技子系统是原始动力,驱动经济子系统变化,经济子系统变化又会驱动地缘政治子系统变化,同时,自然子系统的变化也会引起其他子系统变化,各子系统变化均会对矿产资源子系统产生重大影响。本文以矿产资源安全巨系统理论为指导,分析了新质生产力、气候变化、地缘政治等对全球矿产资源格局的影响,认为:新质生产力发展正改变工业化发展模式,后发国家承接产业转移的难度加大,现有矿产资源消费中心地位或将巩固,新的消费中心出现难度加大;新质生产力将改变人类矿产资源使用的终极形态,化石能源不再作为能源而是作为材料利用,金属成为能源之母;人工智能对能源的需求将大幅增长,各国对能源的争夺会愈演愈烈;美国脱钩断链正在破坏全球矿产资源安全,现有矿产资源储量难以满足未来需求,资源问题将成为制约各国生产力发展的重要约束。建议世界各国采取措施保障供应:一是加强国际间资源合作;二是加大勘查力度;三是加强矿产资源循环利用;四是加大低品位、共伴生资源的开发利用;五是大力加强资源节约利用。

试论稀散金属矿产与新质生产力

稀散金属(锗、镓、铟、铊、铼、镉、硒、碲)并不被社会大众所熟悉,但在我国却属于优势矿产资源。稀散金属在传统产业中的用途比较局限,用量也不大,有的金属全世界一年也就用十几吨。但是,这8种金属个个“身怀绝技”,对战略性新兴产业和未来产业至关重要。比如,镓在液态金属、锗和铟在电子工业、镉在军工领域、铼在战机发动机、碲和硒在光电产业、硒和铊在生物医学领域都具有不可限量的发展潜力。战略性新兴产业和未来产业又是国际竞争的关键环节和焦点领域,需要新质生产力来支撑。加快形成与稀散金属密切相关的新质生产力,是实现高质量发展、构建新发展格局的重要路径,也是保障国家经济安全的客观需要。稀散金属也是我国矿产资源领域安全保障体系的重要组成部分。因此,加强对稀散金属矿产资源的勘查、开发与管理,理清稀散金属与新质生产力之间的内在逻辑,探索关键矿产找矿工作部署的战略构想,通过创新引领,加快新一轮找矿突破战略行动的实施步伐,加深社会各界对于稀散金属重要性的认知程度,鼓励全社会加大地质找矿投入的力度,对于保障能源资源安全、增强发展新动能具有重要的意义。

CO_(2) mineralization by typical industrial solid wastes for preparing ultrafine CaCO_(3): A review

Mineral carbonation is a promising CO_(2) sequestration strategy that can utilize industrial wastes to convert CO_(2) into high-value CaCO_(3).This review summarizes the advancements in CO_(2) mineralization using typical industrial wastes to prepare ultrafine CaCO_(3).This work surveys the mechanisms of CO_(2) mineralization using these wastes and its capacities to synthesize CaCO_(3),evaluates the effects of carbonation pathways and operating parameters on the preparation of CaCO_(3),analyzes the current industrial application status and economics of this technology.Due to the large amount of impurities in solid wastes,the purity of CaCO_(3) prepared by indirect methods is greater than that prepared by direct methods.Crystalline CaCO_(3) includes three polymorphs.The polymorph of CaCO_(3) synthesized by carbonation process is determined the combined effects of various factors.These parameters essentially impact the nucleation and growth of CaCO_(3) by altering the CO_(2) supersaturation in the reaction system and the surface energy of CaCO_(3) grains.Increasing the initial pH of the solution and the CO_(2)flow rate favors the formation of vaterite,but calcite is formed under excessively high pH.Vaterite formation is favored at lower temperatures and residence time.With increased temperature and prolonged residence time,it passes through aragonite metastable phase and eventually transforms into calcite.Moreover,polymorph modifiers can decrease the surface energy of CaCO_(3) grains,facilitating the synthesis of vaterite.However,the large-scale application of this technology still faces many problems,including high costs,high energy consumption,low calcium leaching rate,low carbonation efficiency,and low product yield.Therefore,it is necessary to investigate ways to accelerate carbonation,optimize operating parameters,develop cost-effective agents,and understand the kinetics of CaCO_(3) nucleation and crystallization to obtain products with specific crystal forms.Furthermore,more studies on life cycle assessment(LCA)should be conducted to fully confirm the feasibility of the developed technologies.

矿产勘查推动新质生产力发展路径初探

发展新质生产力是推进高质量发展的战略选择,是实现中国式现代化的必由之路。矿产勘查通过发现和查明矿产资源,为现代产业体系构建提供所需的能量和物质,夯实形成产业发展新质生产力的物质基础,同时又是现代产业体系的一部分,自身生产力的提升也是发展新质生产力的重要内容。矿产勘查既是新质生产力的重要组成,又是推动新质生产力发展的重要力量。支撑产业发展新质生产力形成与增长,矿产勘查需要瞄准三个方向:支撑绿色低碳产业发展,加强低碳/零碳新能源和能源金属勘查;支撑新兴产业与未来产业发展,加强战略性矿产或关键矿产勘查;支撑传统产业优化升级,需持续开展大宗紧缺矿产勘查,保持一定数量的后备资源。形成与发展矿产勘查新质生产力,需要推进包括劳动者、劳动对象、劳动资料等矿产勘查要素及其优化组合的跃升。当前应重点推进矿产勘查基础理论与技术创新、加强新区新领域矿产勘查、完善矿产勘查市场机制体制、强化基础性地质调查与服务等。

“双碳”战略下ESG水平对矿产行业企业绩效影响研究——基于2017—2021年我国A股矿产行业上市公司的数据

2020年我国提出“双碳”目标以来,矿产行业迎来转型和升级,企业实现可持续发展是必然选择。为探讨企业环境保护、社会责任和公司治理(ESG)水平如何影响企业绩效,以我国A股矿产行业上市公司为样本,选取了2017—2021年的相关数据,以市场绩效(TobinQ)和财务绩效(EVA)为被解释变量,ESG水平(ESG)为解释变量,企业规模(SIZE)和政策发布时间(POLICY)为调节变量,运用固定效应模型进行实证研究。结果表明:在矿产企业中,ESG对TobinQ、EVA均有积极影响,且SIZE和POLICY有正向调节作用。根据研究结论并结合矿产行业面临的挑战,从管理、制度、评级等角度出发为企业、政府和中介机构提出相应建议,以求改善企业ESG水平,加快实现“双碳”目标。

巴西矿业投资的机遇与挑战

巴西矿产资源丰富,铁矿、铝土矿、铌钽、锡、锰等为其优势矿产,开发潜力巨大,与我国矿产资源需求格局高度互补,中巴矿业投资合作对于我国资源安全保障具有重要意义。巴西地质勘查工作程度总体水平居拉丁美洲各国之首,2023年,矿业勘查投入达到历史高位,其中,外资投入占比过半,中资企业也加快了与巴西矿业合作的步伐。巴西矿产资源开发利用程度较高,优势矿产资源年产量全球占比位居前列。在域内域外多重力量助推下,中资企业在巴西矿业投资环境机遇与挑战并存:中巴政治互信持续升温、人民币结算破局、矿业政策相对稳定等使得矿业投资迎来机遇;金融环境欠佳、关键矿产资源战略持续深化、产业链本土化进程加剧、积极参与国际矿产联盟态势显现等使得矿业投资面临一定挑战。因此,本文建议深化中巴矿业战略合作;充分利用政策利好契机,布局我国紧缺战略性矿种投资;强化风险管控意识,提高风险预警能力;输出我国优势产能,回应巴西矿业产业链本土化发展诉求。

蒙古国矿业开发现状研究

蒙古国位于“中蒙俄经济走廊”的中间地带,大地构造位置处于中亚造山带的中心部位,成矿条件好,铜、煤、金、铀、萤石等矿产资源丰富。截至2016年,蒙古国1∶5万地质填图仅覆盖全境33.7%,地质工作进展缓慢,矿产开发程度较低。中蒙关系稳定,经贸合作基础扎实,开展矿业开发合作潜力巨大。受资源储量及开发技术条件限制,蒙古国矿业开发主要集中于煤、铜、金、铁、石油、铅锌、萤石等矿种,且矿业开发中受到基础设施薄弱、生产技术条件落后、政策法规缺乏稳定性等制约。建议中资企业应认真研究该国政策法律法规,发挥资金、技术等优势参与开发和利用矿产资源,并关注矿产品深加工领域和锂矿资源开发领域的合作等。

中国铼资源特征及其勘查开发利用现状

铼(Re)是重要的战略性新兴产业矿产,在现代国防和工业及新兴领域具有广泛的用途。本文在《中国矿产地质志·稀散金属矿卷》研编的基础上,对中国铼矿资源特征和勘查开发利用情况进行进一步总结,认为我国铼矿资源分布比较集中,具有较大的成矿潜力和找矿空间。近年来,铼的矿产勘查取得了重要成果,据不完全统计,截至2021年底,共获得铼查明资源储量787.41 t。从世界上看,铼的规模生产开始于1930年。与世界相比,中国铼工业发展并未形成规模,仍处于初级阶段,且其开发利用严重依赖寄主矿床的开发利用。借鉴国外铼资源的开发利用史,铼的应用从添加剂到催化剂到航空发动机再到量子计算,每一次技术革新都带来对铼资源需求的增长。预测未来10~20 a国内铼的应用将更加多元化,需求也将达到高峰期,铼资源保障程度有待于进一步提高。建议开展全国铼矿资源潜力评价,查明铼的可用资源量和潜力,加强铼资源综合利用和回收产业化,建立铼的战略储备机制。