ORE DEPOSITIS, INDUSTRIAL MINERALS AND GEOMATERIALS
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2016/2017
- Teacher
- CARMELA VACCARO
- Credits
- 6
- Didactic period
- Primo Semestre
- SSD
- GEO/09
Training objectives
- The course aims at giving the student a basic understanding the nature of mineral resources, ore geology in order to learn the origin of ore and industrial minerals related to the main ore -forming processes and mineral deposits in their geodynamic settings.
The course is intended to outline some major topics related to the study of metallic minerals both when concentrated in ore deposits (“ore minerals”) and as accessory phases in mineralized rocks (“opaque” minerals).
Students will be able to:
a) Knowledge of major natural processes in order to understand basic principles of the ore -forming processes,
b) apply the main methods for the macroscopic identification and recognition of classification of mineral deposits.
c) apply principles important in understanding the various physical -chemical characteristics of the mineralizing fluids
d) to characterize the main metallic minerals by means of ore mineralogy
e) provide a genetic framework of ore deposits and their evaluation of the relative economical aspects.
f) provide specific skills related to the ore deposits prospecting, mining methods with particular attention to the environmental protection Prerequisites
- Basic knowledge of geology, geochemistry, mineralogy, petrology and volcanology
Course programme
- The course of 54 h comprises two parts:
1) The class lectures (42 hours)
The topics of the class lectures are meant to outline the ore forming processes. Classifications of ore deposits and genetic models. To provide a genetic framework of ore deposits and their evaluation of the relative economical aspects. Mineral deposits related to:
-Diamond deposits in kimberlites and lamproites (2 hours)
-The carbonatite alkaline igneous ore environment (2 hours)
-The pegmatitic environment (2 hours)
-Orthomagmatic deposits of Cr-Pt-Ti and Fe associated with basic and ultrabasic complexes(2 hours)
-Orthomagmatic deposits of Cu-Ni-Fe associated with basic and ultrabasic complexes (2 hours)
-Volcanic axhalative sedimentary processes (4 hours)
-Disseminated and stockwork deposits associated with plutonic intrusives (2 hours)
-Hydrothermal deposits (2 hours)
-Strata-bound deposits (4 hours)
-Sedimentary deposits (4 hours)
-Residual deposits (2 hours)
- the ore deposits prospecting, mining methods with particular attention to the environmental protection (14 hours)
2) practical part in laboratory (12 h): This practical part of the course devoted to the study of opaque and ore minerals (from rocks and ore deposits) and their associations and microtextures by means of reflected light microscopy on polished sections. It is devoted to the identification and description of the most common and economically significant opaque and ore minerals. It will be descriptive knowledge of the major textures in relationships by means of metallographic, reflected-light microscopy. Practice is acquired by examining numerous high-quality polished sections from the main types of ore deposits inside and outside Italy. Didactic methods
- The course is organized as follows:
• lectures on all subjects;
• exercises to define and recognize macroscopically rock samples through the application of the methods to recognize the rocks. Learning assessment procedures
- Oral examination with the objective to verify the level of knowledge concerning theoretical and practical aspects covered during the course .
Reference texts
- Teacher’s handouts
Specific topics can be further developed in the following texts:
Zuffardi P.– Giacimentologia e prospezione mineraria, Pitagora Editrice, Bologna.
"An Introduction to ore geology" di Anthony M. Evans Blackwell Scientific Publications, Boston
EVANS, Ore Geology and Industrial Minerals. An Introduction. IIIrd Ed., Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, 1993. SELLEY & SONNENBERG, Elements of Petroleum Geology. Academic Press, Elsevier, 2015.
Giacimenti Minerari, Ed. italiana a cura di B. De Vivo e F. Ippolito, Liguori ed., Napoli.
