Geometallurgical Modeling at Olympic Dam Mine, South Australia

Modeling of geometallurgical variables is becoming increasingly important for improved management of mineral resources. Mineral processing circuits are complex and depend on the interaction of a large number of properties of the ore feed. At the Olympic Dam mine in South Australia, plant performance variables of interest include the recovery of Cu and U₃O₈, acid consumption, net recovery, drop weight index, and bond mill work index. There are an insufficient number of pilot plant trials (841) to consider direct three-dimensional spatial modeling for the entire deposit. The more extensively sampled head grades, mineral associations, grain sizes, and mineralogy variables are modeled and used to predict plant performance. A two-stage linear regression model of the available data is developed and provides a predictive model with correlations to the plant performance variables ranging from 0.65–0.90. There are a total of 204 variables that have sufficient sampling to be considered in this regression model. After developing the relationships between the 204 input variables and the six performance variables, the input variables are simulated with sequential Gaussian simulation and used to generate models of recovery of Cu and U₃O₈, acid consumption, net recovery, drop weight index, and bond mill work index. These final models are suitable for mine and plant optimization.     

Hydrology of hillslope‐wetland streams,Polar Bear Pass,Nunavut, Canada

Polar Bear Pass is a large High Arctic low‐gradient wetland (100 km²) bordered by low‐lying hills which are notched by a series of v‐shaped valleys. The spring and summer hydrology of two High Arctic hillslope‐wetland catchments, a first‐order stream, 0·2 km² Landing Strip Creek (LSC) and a larger second‐order basin, 4·2 km² Windy Creek (WC), is described here. A water balance framework was employed in 2008 to examine the movement of water from upland reaches into the low‐lying wetland. Snowcover was low in both basins (<50 mm in water equivalent units), but they both exhibited nival‐type regimes. After the main snowmelt season ended, runoff ceased in the smaller catchment (LSC), but not at the larger basin (WC) which continued to flow throughout the summer. Both basins responded to summer rains in different ways. At LSC, late‐summer continuous streamflow occurred only when rainfall satisfied the large soil moisture deficit in the upper bowl‐shaped zone of the basin. At WC, the presence of thinly thawed, ice‐rich polygonal terrain within the stream channel and in the upper reaches of the catchment likely limited infiltration in these near‐stream zones and enhanced runoff in response to both moderate and high rainfall. Subsequently, seasonal runoff ratios differed between the two sites (0·19 vs 0·68) as did the seasonal storage + residual (+16 vs ?50 mm). This suggests that the post‐snowmelt season runoff response to summer precipitation is very much modified by the unique basin characteristics (soil‐type, vegetation, ground ice) and their location within each stream order type. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Beach Litter Sampling Strategies: is there a ‘Best’ Method?

Ten methods for sampling beach litter were tested on 16 beaches located around the Firth of Forth, Scotland in order to ascertain the effectiveness of the various methods. Both fresh and/or accumulated litter were sampled. Some methods were more effective for recording gross amounts of litter. Maximum litter counts could be obtained by surveying the top boundary of the beach (e.g. vegetation line, retaining wall, rocks). Lowest amounts were obtained by surveying one five metre wide belt transect from the vegetation line to the shore. Some bias towards highlighting particular litter types was shown by specific methods. It was concluded that there were advantages and disadvantages for each method and that the aims of the study would in the end determine the method.     

Petrological cannibalism: the chemical and textural consequences of incremental magma body growth

The textures of minerals in volcanic and plutonic rocks testify to a complexity of processes in their formation that is at odds with simple geochemical models of igneous differentiation. Zoning in plagioclase feldspar is a case in point. Very slow diffusion of the major components in plagioclase means that textural evidence for complex magmatic evolution is preserved, almost without modification. Consequently, plagioclase affords considerable insight into the processes by which magmas accumulate in the crust prior to their eventual eruption or solidification. Here, we use the example of the 1980–1986 eruptions of Mount St. Helens to explore the causes of textural complexity in plagioclase and associated trapped melt inclusions. Textures of individual crystals are consistent with multiple heating and cooling events; changes in total pressure (P) or volatile pressure ( $P_{{{\text{H}}_{ 2} {\text{O}}}}$ P H 2 O ) are less easy to assess from textures alone. We show that by allying textural and chemical analyses of plagioclase and melt inclusions, including volatiles (H₂O, CO₂) and slow-diffusing trace elements (Sr, Ba), to published experimental studies of Mount St. Helens magmas, it is possible to disambiguate the roles of pressure and temperature to reconstruct magmatic evolutionary pathways through temperature–pressure–melt fraction (T– $P_{{{\text{H}}_{ 2} {\text{O}}}}$ P H 2 O –F) space. Our modeled crystals indicate that (1) crystallization starts at $P_{{{\text{H}}_{ 2} {\text{O}}}}$ P H 2 O  > 300 MPa, consistent with prior estimates from melt inclusion volatile contents, (2) crystal cores grow at $P_{{{\text{H}}_{ 2} {\text{O}}}}$ P H 2 O  = 200–280 MPa at F = 0.65–0.7, (3) crystals are transferred to $P_{{{\text{H}}_{ 2} {\text{O}}}}$ P H 2 O  = 100–130 MPa (often accompanied by 10–20 °C of heating), where they grow albitic rims of varying thicknesses, and (4) the last stage of crystallization occurs after minor heating at $P_{{{\text{H}}_{ 2} {\text{O}}}}$ P H 2 O  ~ 100 MPa to produce characteristic rim compositions of An₅₀. We hypothesize that modeled $P_{{{\text{H}}_{ 2} {\text{O}}}}$ P H 2 O decreases in excess of ~50 MPa most likely represent upward transport through the magmatic system. Small variations in modeled $P_{{{\text{H}}_{ 2} {\text{O}}}}$ P H 2 O , in contrast, can be effected by fluxing the reservoir with CO₂-rich vapors that are either released from deeper in the system or transported with the recharge magma. Temperature fluctuations of 20–40 °C, on the other hand, are an inevitable consequence of incremental, or pulsed, assembly of crustal magma bodies wherein each pulse interacts with ancestral, stored magmas. We venture that this “petrological cannibalism” accounts for much of the plagioclase zoning and textural complexity seen not only at Mount St. Helens but also at arc magmas generally. More broadly we suggest that the magma reservoir below Mount St. Helens is dominated by crystal mush and fed by frequent inputs of hotter, but compositionally similar, magma, coupled with episodes of magma ascent from one storage region to another. This view both accords with other independent constraints on the subvolcanic system at Mount St. Helens and supports an emerging view of many active magmatic systems as dominantly super-solidus, rather than subliquidus, bodies.     

Snowmelt variability in Polar Bear Pass,Nunavut, Canada,from QuikSCAT: 2000–2009

Snowmelt onset and end date estimates are made from QuikSCAT scatterometer measurements in the Canadian High Arctic wetland of Polar Bear Pass (PBP) and the surrounding region of Bathurst Island, Nunavut. In situ data within PBP is used to validate QuikSCAT snowmelt onset/end date estimates. Results indicate that within PBP from 2000 to 2009, the mean snowmelt onset date was Year Day (YD) 162, the mean snowmelt end date was YD179, and the mean snowmelt duration was 17 days. More interannual variability was apparent in snowmelt end date and duration compared with onset, and only snowmelt end date was significantly correlated with mean June air temperature at ?0.78. Cooler air temperatures in 2004 contributed to a long snowmelt duration of 24 days, and the very short snowmelt duration in 2007 of just 11 days was caused by rapid and sustained increases in air temperature. For snowmelt end date and duration the mean spatial pattern revealed two centres of later snowmelt end date/longer snowmelt duration over Bathurst Island. They were separated by early snowmelt end date/short snowmelt duration in PBP. These patterns are in agreement with the spatial distribution of mean May to July air temperature over Bathurst Island and are likely influenced by the local‐scale topography of Bathurst Island. Given the correlation between air temperature and snowmelt end date, we might expect quicker snowmelt under increased warming. The latter process may have implications for the sustainability of the PBP wetland under a warmer climate. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Genesis and continuity of quaternary sand and gravel in glacigenic sediment at a proposed low-level radioactive waste disposal site in east-central Illinois

The Illinois Department of Nuclear Safety has characterized the Martinsville Alternative Site (MAS) for a proposed low-level radioactive waste disposal facility. The MAS is located in east-central Illinois approximately 1.6 km (1 mi) north of the city of Martinsville. Geologic investigation of the 5.5-km² (1380-acre) site revealed a sequence of chiefly Illinoian glacigenic sediments from 6 to 60 m (20–200 ft) thick overlying two major bedrock valleys carved in Pennsylvanian strata. Relatively permeable buried units include basal, preglacial alluvium; a complex of intraglacial and subglacial sediment; englacial deposits; and supraglacial fluvial deposits. Postglacial alluvium underlies stream valleys on and adjacent to the site. In most areas, the buried sand units are confined by low-permeability till, lacustrine sediment, colluvium, and loess. The distribution and thickness of the most extensive and continuous buried sand units have been modified considerably by subglacial erosion, and their distributions have been influenced by the buried bedrock valleys. The most continuous of the various sand units were deposited as preglacial and postglacial alluvium and are the uppermost and lowermost stratigraphic units at the alternative site. Sand units that were deposited in englacial or ice-marginal environments are less continuous. Aquifer pumping tests, potentiometric head data, and groundwater geochemistry analyses indicate minimal interaction of groundwater across localized interconnections of the permeable units.     

The representative concentration pathways: an overview

This paper summarizes the development process and main characteristics of the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs), a set of four new pathways developed for the climate modeling community as a basis for long-term and near-term modeling experiments. The four RCPs together span the range of year 2100 radiative forcing values found in the open literature, i.e. from 2.6 to 8.5 W/m². The RCPs are the product of an innovative collaboration between integrated assessment modelers, climate modelers, terrestrial ecosystem modelers and emission inventory experts. The resulting product forms a comprehensive data set with high spatial and sectoral resolutions for the period extending to 2100. Land use and emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases are reported mostly at a 0.5?×?0.5 degree spatial resolution, with air pollutants also provided per sector (for well-mixed gases, a coarser resolution is used). The underlying integrated assessment model outputs for land use, atmospheric emissions and concentration data were harmonized across models and scenarios to ensure consistency with historical observations while preserving individual scenario trends. For most variables, the RCPs cover a wide range of the existing literature. The RCPs are supplemented with extensions (Extended Concentration Pathways, ECPs), which allow climate modeling experiments through the year 2300. The RCPs are an important development in climate research and provide a potential foundation for further research and assessment, including emissions mitigation and impact analysis.