Lecture: Industrial Minerals and Why They Are Important to Us
Speaker:
Date and Time
19:30 -
Location
Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, 16-18 Queen Square, Bath BA1 2HN
Lecture Description
Topics discussed in this talk include diamonds - the hardest mineral, a diamond mine in Canada and an industrial application of diamonds in mineral exploration. We move onto talc - the softest mineral and consider how mineral resources were estimated at a mine in France. We look at the complexities of talc - chlorite production and its many uses. Heavy mineral sand dunes are mined by dredging in South Africa to yield minerals such as ilmenite, which is processed to yield titanium dioxide, used in high-quality white paint. Vermiculite is another African export, from weathered igneous complexes. Potash, used in fertilizer, is mined from marine evaporite deposits. In contrast, Trona, or sodium carbonate is one of many evaporite deposits from a lacustrine setting. Being soluble, this mineral may be mined by solution mining, and we look at how the trajectories of drillholes may be steered to achieve this. Borates are another group of lacustrine evaporites, mined by open pit. Lithium minerals may also occur as lacustrine deposits, and we will briefly consider a controversial occurrence in Europe.
About the speaker: Mark Howson’s career as a mining geologist spans over 40 years, including working with copper deposits, projects and mines on six continents. He also has experience with other base and precious metals and several industrial minerals. After graduating in Mining Geology at the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College of Science and Technology in 1977, Mark lived and worked at a copper mine in Zambia, before working with Rio Tinto plc for 31 years where he was involved with many world-class projects and operations. Since 2013 he has worked as an independent consultant and is now semi-retired, but undertakes some work to ‘keep his hand in‘ in what is an exciting and enjoyable profession.
Attending via Zoom
This is a hybrid meeting: you can attend in person or join online via Zoom.
Bath Geological Society Members: Free of charge. Joining instructions and the Zoom link are sent to members by email prior to the lecture.
Visitors & Non-Members: (including members of the Geologists' Association and affiliated societies) Please book via Eventbrite to receive Zoom access (see the Entry Fee details above).
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For any queries about joining online, please contact [email protected].