Basic concepts in three-part quantitative assessments of undiscovered mineral resources

Since 1975, mineral resource assessments have been made for over 27 areas covering 5×10⁶ km² at various scales using what is now called the three-part form of quantitative assessment. In these assessments, (1) areas are delineated according to the types of deposits permitted by the geology,(2) the amount of metal and some ore characteristics are estimated using grade and tonnage models, and (3) the number of undiscovered deposits of each type is estimated.Permissive boundaries are drawn for one or more deposit types such that the probability of a deposit lying outside the boundary is negligible, that is, less than 1 in 100,000 to 1,000,000.     

Quantitative assessment of future development of cooper/silver resources in the Kootenai National Forest,Idaho/Montana: Part I—Estimation of the copper and silver endowments

Faced with an ever-increasing diversity of demand for the use of public lands, managers and planners are turning more often to a multiple-use approach to meet those demands. This approach requires the uses to be mutually compatible and to utilize the more valuable attributes or resource values of the land. Therefore, it is imperative that planners be provided with all available information on attribute and resource values in a timely fashion and in a format that facilitates a comparative evaluation.The Kootenai National Forest administration enlisted the U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Bureau of Mines to perform a quantitative assessment of future copper/silver production potential within the forest from sediment-hosted copper deposits in the Revett Formation that are similar to those being mined at the Troy Mine near Spar Lake. The U.S. Geological Survey employed a quantitative assessment technique that compared the favorable host terrane in the Kootenai area with worldwide examples of known sediment-hosted copper deposits. The assessment produced probabilistic estimates of the number of undiscovered deposits that may be present in the area and of the copper and silver endowment that might be contained in them.Results of the assessment suggest that the copper/silver deposit potential is highest in the southwestern one-third of the forest. In this area there is an estimated 50 percent probability of at least 50 additional deposits occurring mostly within approximately 260,000 acres where the Revett Formation is thought to be present in the subsurface at depths of less than 1,500 meters. A Monte Carlo type simulation using data on the grade and tonnage characteristics of other known silver-rich, sediment-hosted copper deposits predicts a 50 percent probability that these undiscovered deposits will contain at least 19 million tonnes of copper and 100,000 tonnes of silver. Combined with endowments estimated for identified, but not thoroughly explored deposits, and deposits that might also occur in the remaining area of the forest, the endowment potential increases to 23 million tonnes of copper and 190,000 tonnes of silver.     

Regional development,redistribution and the extraction of mineral resources: The Western Australian Goldfields as a resource bank

The first decade of the twenty-first century was one of the most prosperous in Australia's history. The boom was led by a buoyant minerals and energy resource sector, contributing to high levels of economic growth, rising real wages and low unemployment. Yet, as with the nation's previous resources booms, there were marginal transformations in the economies of those regions from which the minerals were extracted. Overwhelmingly, the wealth generated by the resource boom has concentrated in the cities. Moreover, public expenditure in resource regions also remains comparatively low, and indeed tend to reproduce a development framework oriented towards extraction rather than diversification. This paper employs elements of Innis' staples thesis to help explain this pattern of regional development, and in particular the relatively low levels of reinvestment in resource peripheries. Drawing on the notion of a 'resource bank', we contend that resource regions are often viewed as a reserve of latent wealth that can be drawn upon for the benefit of the urban 'core'. Yet, we also highlight emerging strategies aimed at overcoming this and that seek to return a greater proportion of wealth to those regions from which it was extracted.     

广东石门台国家级自然保护区及毗邻区域 “假林线”时空变化特征

基于3S技术,利用2011和2015年2期不同时相高分辨率QuickBird影像和DEM数据,研究了广东石门台国家级自然保护区及毗邻区域“假林线”的时空变化特征。结果表明：1）该区域“假林线”分布的海拔介于317~1 569 m,其中80%集中分布在700~1 200 m的范围内。2）与2011年相比,2015年“假林线”在不同坡度和坡向上分布的平均海拔总体呈上升趋势,但变化不显著（P＞0.1）。3）“假林线”主要分布在5°~35°的坡度,极少出现在＜2°的平地或＞55°的垂直坡上。不同坡向“假林线”海拔分布存在很大差异（P＜0.001）,呈现出北坡高于南坡,东坡略高于西坡的特点。各坡向上“假林线”海拔分布的最大值出现在西北坡,最小值出现在南坡。     

基于适宜性和安全性评价的干旱区绿洲后备耕地资源开发——以渭干河—库车河三角洲绿洲为例

选择典型干旱区渭干河—库车河三角洲绿洲为研究区,基于遥感、地理信息系统技术和相关应用软件,在详实的野外实测数据、土地利用数据和遥感数据支持下,应用空间插值、叠置分析、逐步回归、神经网络、层次分析等方法,建立评价模型,进行自然、生态、土地利用和综合适宜性评价,相应确定后备耕地资源开发的适宜性等级、适宜度及其分布;提取三期遥感影像信息并进行分类,根据后备耕地资源利用/覆被类型的特征,构建后备耕地资源开发的安全性指数计算模型,加入水源保证条件限制,构建综合安全性评价模型,进行后备耕地资源开发综合安全性的时空分析;基于适宜性与安全性评价,进行叠置分析、综合性分级。研究表明：后备耕地资源开发综合性等级的区域分布呈现环状特征,适合后备耕地资源开发的区域面积与禁止开发的区域面积数量相差十倍。最后提出后备耕地资源开发的举措建议。     

西溪国家湿地公园模式的实践与探索

作为首个国家湿地公园,杭州西溪国家湿地公园全力探索“西溪模式”,寻求科学保护与适度利用之间的平衡点,努力走出一条保护与利用的“双赢”之路。在建设西溪国家湿地公园的过程中,主要抓住“规划、保护、管理、研究”4个环节建设好西溪湿地天堂。坚持规划先行,构筑区域性人与自然和谐发展的规划体系;实施科学保护,调整并规划区内人类活动的强度与容量;注重精心管理,实现湿地生态环境、生态资源的科学保护和合理利用;做好深入研究,努力为湿地保护利用提供决策依据和理论指导。     

基于地质遗迹保护利用的国家地质公园协调性运作--以翠华山山崩景观国家地质公园为例

根据我国国家地质公园建设中出现的若干问题，结合翠华山国家地质公园的运作实践，提出国家地质公园的主要任务是在保护好地质遗迹资源的前提下，发挥地质遗迹资源的多种功能，坚持“保护与利用相结合，保护第一，利用第二，在保护中利用，以利用促保护”的地质公园建设原则；分析了保护与利用、主景与配景、科普宣传中的科学性与通俗性、地质遗迹景观与生态环境等需要协调的七大问题，分别提出了切实可行的协调措施。