Primary & secondary resources towards an integrated perspective

Transkript

1 Primary & secondary resources towards an integrated perspective World Resources Forum WRF: Workshop Urban Mining Challenges and Opportunities Beijing, October, 23rd, 2012 Dr. Rainer Kündig, Swiss Geotechnical Commission SGTK ETH-Zurich CH-8092 Zurich New perceptions Raw materials in Switzerland? where, when, how much... Raw materials & technologies Environmental aspects Classification & criticalities Knowledge transfer Coupling effects 1

2 Expo 1883: Swiss national exhibition 1. official map on mineral resources in Switzerland Raw material groups > categories > actual situation & trends Direct application e.g. gravel, sand, building stones, gypsum Ore mining e.g. ore, energy resouces, industrial minerals Past (in Switzerland) Manufacturing (major technical process) e.g. cement, bricks, ceramics Actual & future (secondary materials) e.g. reuse, recycling, recovery, waste to resource 2

3 Reserves Today: economic, profitable Resources extractable with appropriate technology Today: known economic feasibility Resource base decreasing geological knowledge Neither reserves nor resources represent a fixed quantity! They predominantly reflect the intensity of geological exploration activities, driven by economic development and technical progress, which results in a continuous transformation from resources to reserves. Reserves Today: economic, profitable Resources extractable with appropriate technology Today: known economic feasibility Resource base decreasing geological knowledge Neither reserves nor resources represent a fixed quantity! They predominantly reflect the intensity of geological exploration activities, driven by economic development and technical progress, which results in a continuous transformation from resources to reserves Figures (internet) from: Karen Hanghøj Head of Department of Petrology and Economic Geology Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) 3

4 Last «discovery of gold» in Switzerland... ca. 100 ppm Gold! KEZO Hinwil (ZH)! June, 2011! The mines of the future... «in-use stocks» versus «in-ground resources» 4

5 Reserves Environment Restrictions How much? Quality Availability Processing Mineral resources & statistics... British Geological Survey (Web) Pictures courtesy of Prof. Armin Reller, University Augsburg GER Gravel resources in Switzerland: past & future -> are we heading towards an end point? Gravel resources as mentioned in 1850 theoretical (geological) resources (reserves) forest construction zones, other land planning reserves traffic environmental protection zones groundwater protection 2012! demand, consumption (gravel) Reduction due to extraction «Reduction» due to environmental protection after Jäckli et. al. (1985): Beiträge zur Geologie der Schweiz, geotechnische Serie 68 PS: this slide was published first in 1985! 5

6 Question: Are there some hidden Swiss mercury mines? Answer: Recycling, reuse, sampling of specific waste (e.g. dentists, amalgam fillings) Example Shortage on (national) ballast material in Switzerland 15. Nov. 2009, NZZ am Sonntag production of ballast in Swisss quarries Construction of the track bed 6

7 Source: where the minerals are Criticality... Figure (internet) from: Karen Hanghøj Head of Department of Petrology and Economic Geology Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) supply risk > Figure after «Critical raw materials for the EU, Report of the Ad-hoc Working Group on defining critical raw materials» economic impact > 7

8 Common language? a walk through the material cycle... classic way of «geological thinking» vs. open minded recognition/comparision of primary and secondary resources/cycles ore minerals, ore grade, extractability, occurrence, dissemination/dissipation,... establishing of analogies Deposits and Occurrences? Deposits: those natural accumulations of usable minerals and rocks, which are in size and content sufficient for an economic recovery. Mineral and rock bodies that are too small or too poor to ever be mineable, called occurrences. > precious stones / elements / material > locally above average accumulation of substances in the earth's crust enrichment factors: Ø Iron content, earth s crust: 4.3% ---> Iron deposit (app. 60%) ---> factor 15 Ø Copper content, earth s crust: % ---> Copper deposit (app. 1%) ---> factor 400 Ø Gold content, earth s crust: g/t ---> Gold deposit (app. 10 g/t) ---> factor 5000 Gold in dry incinerated bottom ash ---> up to 300 g/t!!! dynamic interaction of the core, mantle and crust of the earth and the hydrosphere, biosphere and atmosphere. complex interaction of different boundary conditions and processes complex interaction of secondary materials, life cycles, society and technology 8

9 Occurences of mineral resources in Switzerland! Element or mineral paragenesis (association) Morphology Dimension, importance and classification quarry, extraction (e.g. limestone & marl) fabrication (e.g. cement factory) 9

10 Common vocabulatory? geological vs. technical processes public perception equivalence of primary and secondary resources ecological impact & ecological backpack

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