• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.323-336
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• 2023

We investigated the nickel potential and genesis of ultramafic rocks in the Yugu area to secure nickel resources in South Korea. The Yugu ultramafic rocks, located in the southwest of the Gyeonggi Massif, are characterized by spinel peridotite and exhibit strong serpentinization along their boundaries. The serpentinization is observed as olivine transformed to antigorite and chrysotile, while pentlandite, the nickel sulfide mineral, altered into millerite and awaruite. Serpentine displays distinct foliation, aligning subparallel to the ultramafic rock boundaries and foliation of Yugu gneiss. This suggests that the uplift of ultramafic rocks resulted in hydrothermal infiltration likely sourced from the Yugu gneiss metamorphism. The Yugu ultramafic rocks are residues after 5~18% partial melting of abyssal peridotite. Enriched light rare earth elements and Eu imply secondary metasomatism. Geochemistry suggests a link between the formation of Yugu ultramafic rock and the Triassic collision of the North and South China continents. The nickel content is around 0.17~0.21%, mainly contained in olivine and serpentine. Hence, in addition to the mineral processing study on the sulfide minerals, focused studies on oxide minerals for enhanced nickel recovery within the Yugu ultramafic rock are strongly suggested.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.3 s.49
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• pp.129-138
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• 2006

In this study, we identified the secondary precipitates from Samsan-jeil and Sambong mine, Goseong, Gyeongnam by means of scanning electron microscopy, electron probe microanalysis and X-ray powder diffraction analysis. Copper sulfide minerals had been produced from the mines during last few decades, however they are not worked. White and blue precipitates were found at the downstream of mine rock dump at Sambong mine and green one was at Samsan-jeil mine. The white precipitate covered the host rock surface with thickness of $30{\mu}m$, and is a kind of diatom with $10{\mu}m$ in length and $3{\mu}m$ in width. It is a species Fragilaria constuens, which is contained a order Pennales(pennate diatom) and lives in fresh water. The blue precipitate is the alteration product of chalcopyrite. It resultes in the increase in the ratio Cu:Fe from 5 to 13. The green precipitate has worm-like morphology with $10{\sim}20nm$ in diameter and $200{\sim}300nm$ in length. It is mainly composed of secondary copper sulfate such as woodwardite. However, it could be formed by the activity of microorganism, because the copper content is more than any secondary copper sulfate reported in copper sulfide mine. In order to identity the green precipitate exactly, the further research is needed.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.131-145
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• 1994

The Daehung and Pyeongan talc mines are located in the Yoogoo area, Chungcheongnam-Do. These deposits occur as the complex vein type in the ultramafic rocks which intruded Precambrian gneiss. The talc ore formed from sepentinitt: originated from ultramafic rocks but some of those from hornblende gneiss. The talcification processes were considered here on the basis of the mineral assemblages, paragenesis, and geochemistry. It appears that there are five processes in talcification ; serpentine$\rightarrow$talc, phlogopite$\rightarrow$chlorite$\rightarrow$talc, phlogopite$\rightarrow$talc, hornblende$\rightarrow$chlorite$\rightarrow$talc, and hornblende$\rightarrow$talc. Among them, the most dominant alteration path is serpentine to talc in these deposits. EPMA data suggest that there might be interstratified minerals were in between parent mineral and talc such as serpentine and talc, and phlogopite and talc. It can be found that tremolite exists in between the inner and outer most part of talcified serpentinite blocks coated with phlogopite. Some of tremolites has been altered to talc. The quartz veins and carbonate minerals were found in the talc ore zone. It indicates that the hydrothermal solution played an important role in talcification. The hydrothermal alteration occured after sepentinization. Ore zones can be divided into two zones; talc-serpentine zone preserving a pseudormorph of olivine (mesh texture) and talc-phlogopite zone showing talcification from phlogopite directly or through chlorite. It can be concluded that the formation of major talc ore body was due to talcification of serpentinite and phlogopite by hydrothermal solution. A nature of hydrothermal solution was relatively pure water at the beginning of serpentinization, and was getting richer in silica composition. There was a large amount influx of K and AI with hydrothermal solution in the later stage, and increased $P_{CO_{2}}$ also. It suggests that phlogopite formed in later stages as a secondary mineral. So, the major part of the talc ore body was formed from one parents rocks, serpentinite originated from ultramafic rocks, by hydrothermal solutions at several times.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.395-402
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• 2010

Mineralogical characterization was performed for the mineral assemblages precipitated at the boundary between limestone bedrock and bat guano deposits in the Gossi Cave, Korea. Francoanellite, taranakite, ardealite, brushite and monetite are observed as phosphate minerals and gypsum and a small amount of barite as sulfate minerals in the guano deposits. With the increase of depth, phosphates are changed as following sequence: taranakite ${\rightarrow}$ francoanellite ${\rightarrow}$ ardealite ${\rightarrow}$ brushite ${\rightarrow}$ monetite. This sequence indicates that the major parameters controlling the physico-chemical conditions under which these mineral assemblages were deposited are pH and relative humidity.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.19-31
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• 2011

This study had been carried out to investigate spatial and temporal variations of the concentrations of trace metals for contaminated surface water in creek affected by leachate from the tailings impoundment of the Yeonhwa II mine for about 2 years. It was also to ascertain the metal removal efficiency for potentially deleterious metals by the artificial and natural attenuation processes such as retention ponds and hydrologic mixing of uncontaminated tributaries. The concentrations of As, Pb, Cd, and Cu for leachate in the rainy season were not detected. On the other hand, the concentrations of Zn, Fe, Mn, Al, and $SO_4^{2-}$ in the rainy season for leachate were 2-66 times higher than those in the dry season, due to the oxidation of the sulfide minerals and the dissolution of the secondary minerals. The concentrations of Zn and Cd for leachate and surface water of the upper creek in the rainy season exceeded the criteria of River Water Quality and Drinking Water Quality but in the dry season, those of analyzed all the metals (As, Pb, Cd, Cu, Zn, Cd, Fe, Mn, and Al) for surface water sampled at the study area were below the criteria of River Water Quality and Drinking Water Quality. In regard of the attenuation efficiency for the concentrations of metals, Fe, Mn, Al, Zn, Cd, As, and Cu were removed highly at retention ponds, while the removal efficiency for major cations and sulfate ($SO_4^{2-}$) were related to mixing of the uncontaminated tributaries. Therefore, the major attenuation processes of the metal and sulfate contents in creek affected by leachate from a tailing dump were precipitation (accompanied by metal co-precipitation and sorption), water dilution, and neutralization.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.121-136
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• 2023

Microstructural characterization, identification of mineral assemblages, and K-Ar age dating of fault gouges from five Quaternary fault sites segmented along the northern Yangsan Fault, SE Korea were performed to understand formation condition and multiple activity of faults. The mean and median sizes of particles of bulk gouges vary among the studied faults: 1.75 ㎛ and 1.43 ㎛ for the Danguri Fault, 1.94 ㎛ and 1.79 ㎛ for the Yukjae Fault, 5.57 ㎛ and 4.16 ㎛ for the Yugye Fault, and 5.55 ㎛ and 2.31 ㎛ for the Bogyeongsa Fault. Fault gouges contain abundant secondary minerals, including smectite, chlorite, illite, kaolinite, laumontite, and mordenite, which are found in association with quartz and feldspar. K-Ar dating of the fault gouges (both bulk samples and separate size fractions) yields ages ranging from 59.1 to 18.8 Ma, with bulk ages of 47.6 Ma for the Yukjae Fault, 59.1 Ma for the Ansim Fault, 39.4 Ma for the Yugye Fault, and 22.6 Ma for the Bogyeongsa Fault. The finer fractions generally have younger K-Ar ages compared with the coarser fractions, and the finest fraction (<0.2 ㎛) is the youngest for each fault. Hydrothermal alteration of the gouges is considered to have occurred under low-temperature (100~200℃) conditions during faulting. Microstructural features and clay mineral assemblages of fault gouges and brecciated rocks should be considered when interpreting fault events and reactivation, in addition to age dating of faulting.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.47-62
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• 2024

Abu Gurdi area is located in the South-eastern Desert of Egypt which considered as volcanic massive sulfide deposits (VMS). The present work aims at investigating the ore mineralogy of Abu Gurdi region in addition to the effectiveness of the hydrometallurgical route for processing these ores using alkaline leaching for the extraction of Zn, Cu, and Pb in the presence of hydrogen peroxide, has been investigated. The factors affecting the efficiency of the alkaline leaching of the used ore including the reagent composition, reagent concentration, leaching temperature, leaching time, and Solid /Liquid ratio, have been investigated. It was noted that the sulfide mineralization consists mainly of chalcopyrite, sphalerite, pyrite, galena and bornite. Gold is detected as rare, disseminated crystals within the gangue minerals. Under supergene conditions, secondary copper minerals (covellite, malachite, chrysocolla and atacamite) were formed. The maximum dissolution efficiencies of Cu, Zn, and Pb at the optimum leaching conditions i.e., 250 g/L NaCO₃ - NaHCO₃ alkali concentration, for 3 hr., at 250 ℃, and 1/5 Solid/liquid (S/L) ratio, were 99.48 %, 96.70 % and 99.11 %, respectively. An apparent activation energy for Zn, Cu and Pb dissolution were 21.599, 21.779 and 23.761 kJ.mol^-1, respectively, which were between those of a typical diffusion-controlled process and a chemical reaction-controlled process. Hence, the diffusion of the solid product layer contributed more than the chemical reaction to control the rate of the leaching process. High pure Cu(OH)₂, Pb(OH)₂, and ZnCl₂ were obtained from the finally obtained leach liquor at the optimum leaching conditions by precipitation at different pH. Finally, highly pure Au metal was separated from the mineralized massive sulfide via using adsorption method.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.3-18
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• 2019

Due to the increasing demand for clean energy, the consumption of lithium ion batteries (LIBs) is expected to grow steadily. Therefore, stable supply of lithium is becoming an important issue globally. Commercially, most of lithium is produced from the brine and minerals viz., spodumene, although various processes/technologies have been developed to recover lithium from other resources such as low grade ores, clays, seawaters and waste lithium ion batteries. In particular, commercialization of such recycling technologies for end-of-life LIBs being generated from various sources including mobile phones and electric vehicles(EVs), has a great potential. This review presents the commercial processes and also the emerging technologies for exploiting minerals and brines, besides that of newly developed lithium-recovery-processes for the waste LIBs. In addition, the future lithium-supply is discussed from the technical point of view. Amongst the emerging processes being developed for lithium recovery from low-grade ores, focus is mostly on the pyro-cum-hydrometallurgical based approaches, though only a few of such approaches have matured. Because of low recycling rate (<1%) of lithium globally compared to the consumption of lithium ion batteries (56% of lithium produced currently), processing of secondary resources could be foresighted as the grand opportunity. Considering the carbon economy, environment, and energy concerns, the hydrometallurgical process may potentially resolve the issue.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.219-229
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• 2022

Bentonite is being considered as a candidate for buffer material in geological disposal systems for high-level radioactive wastes. In this study, the effect of cement-bentonite interactions on bentonite alteration was investigated by reviewing the literature on studies of cement-bentonite interactions. The major bentonite alteration by hyperalkaline fluids produced by the interaction of cementitious materials with groundwater includes cation exchange, montmorillonite dissolution, secondary mineral precipitation, and illitization. When the hyperalkaline leachate from the reaction of the cementitious material with the groundwater comes into contact with bentonite, montmorillonite, the main component of bentonite, is dissolved and a small amount of secondary minerals such as zeolite, calcium silicate hydrate, and calcite is produced. When montmorillonite is continuously dissolved, the physicochemical properties of bentonite may change, which may ultimately causes changes in bentonite performance as a buffer material such as adsorption capacity, swelling capacity, and hydraulic conductivity. In addition, the bentonite alteration is affected by various factors such as temperature, reaction period, pressure, composition of pore water, bentonite constituent minerals, chemical composition of montmorillonite, and types of interlayer cations. This study can be used as basic information for the long-term stability verification study of the buffer material in the geological disposal system for high-level radioactive wastes.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.123-133
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• 2011

The lab scale experiments to investigate the geochemical reaction among supercritical $CO_2$-mineral-brine which occurs at $CO_2$ sequestration sites were performed. High pressurized cell system (l00 bar and $50^{\circ}C$) was designed to create supercritical $CO_2$ in the cell, simulating the sub-surface $CO_2$ storage site. From the high pressurized cell experiment, the surface changes of Ca-feldspar, amphibole (tremolite) and olivine, resulted from the supercritical $CO_2$-mineral-brine reaction, were observed and the dissolution of minerals into the brine was also investigated. The mineral slabs were polished and three locations on the surface were randomly selected for the image analysis of SPM and the surface roughness value (SRV) of those locations were calculated to quantify the change of mineral surface for 30 days. At a certain time interval, SPM images and SRVs of the same mineral surface were acquired. The secondary minerals precipitated on the mineral surfaces were also analyzed on SEM/EDS after the experiment. From the experiments, the average SRV of Ca-feldspar increased from 2.77 nm to 20.87 nm for 30 days, suggesting that the dissolution of Ca-feldspar occurs in active when the feldspars contact with supercritical $CO_2$ and brine. For the amphibole, the average SRV increased from 2.54 nm to 8.31 nm and for the olivine from 0.77 nm to 11.03 run. For the Ca-feldspar, $Ca^{2+}$, $Na^+$, $Fe^{2+}$, $Si^{4+}$, $K^+$ and $Mg^{2+}$ were dissolved in the highest order and $Si^{4+}$, $Ca^{2+}$, $Fe^{2+}$ and $Mg^{2+}$ for the amphibole. Fe (or Mg) - oxides were precipitated as the secondary minerals on the surfaces of amphibole and olivine after 30 days reaction. Results suggested that $Ca^{2+}$, $Fe^{2+}$ and $Mg^{2+}$ rich minerals would be significantly weathered when it contacts with the supercritical $CO_2$ and brine at $CO_2$ sequestration sites.