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Igneous rocks are formed from the cooling of lava or magma either above or below the surface of the Earth. There are two types of igneous rocks. If an igneous rock is formed above the surface of the Earth they are called Extrusive Rocks. If they are formed below the surface of the Earth they are called Intrusive Rocks. An igneous rock formed from lava spilling from an underwater volcano is also classed as an Extrusive Rock.

Extrusive Igneous Rock: Igneous rock that forms when lava cools above the Earth’s surface

Intrusive Igneous Rock: Igneous rock that forms when magma cools below the Earth’s surface

Sedimentary rocks are formed from weathered rock that has been deposited due to erosion. Grains of sediment are cemented together under pressure in layers to form a solid rock. Others can be formed when water evaporates from a substance or from deposits of sea organisms such as shellfish and corals.

This is how sedimentary rocks are formed:

This is an animation on how sedimentary rocks are formed.

Examples of Metamorphic Rocks: Marble, Slate and Gneiss

Unfortunately the drawing I did on PowerPoint did not turn up well on this so I had to use my template.

Weathering and erosion work together to change rocks and the environment. Weathering breaks things down and can be physical, mechanical or chemical. Erosion moves the sediment that weathering leaves behind away. Weathering and erosion are the two forces that help to create metamorphic and sedimentary rocks.

PHYSICAL WEATHERING:

• Breaks down rocks with water.

• Wears away things with wind

• Scorch or freeze the earth with temperature cracking and breaking it apart

CHEMICAL WEATHERING:

• Chemicals in the air mix with water to create acid rain that eats away at limestone rocks

• Oxygen reacts with iron and forms rust

MECHANICAL WEATHERING:

• Rocks are broken down without any change in the chemical nature of the rocks

• The rocks are torn apart by physical force and not by chemical breakdown

Erosion:

• Flow of water that moves rocks and sand

• The wind that carries sediment away

Only about 2,000 tonnes of gold a year is mined from the earth. Gold is very flexible however. One troy ounce (31.16 grams) of gold can be hammered into gold leaf so thin that it will cover 134 square metres. It can also be drawn into a fine wire about 80 kilometres long.

The Super Pit Gold Mine is the largest open pit mine in Australia and the 9th largest in the world. It produces up to 850,000 ounces of gold every year. The Super Pit has an underground mine named Mt Charlotte. Ore from underground mine is transported to the coarse ore stockpile on 4km long conveyor belt.

1.

• Exploration Geologists look very carefully at the rock core to see if they can see any gold. The gold can be found in white quartz veins. The geologists have special machines called XRFs that can see inside the rock.

2.

• Computers are used to make 3D digital models of in and around the mine. Geologists use GPS and coloured tape to show the miners where the ore is.

3.

• Large trucks pump ‘ANFO’ explosive down the holes. Then detonators go in the top of the holes.

4.

• Large boulders are also drilled and loaded with explosives. All the blast holes are connected with pink electrical cable.

5.

• They load up trucks with the ore. Then tell the trucks which shovels to go to, and where to take their loads of ore and waste rock.

6.

• The trucks tip their loads of ore into crushers. Crushers break the ore into little pieces.

7.

• All the crushed ore is transported to a Coarse Ore Stockpile. Then the ore is treated in a Processing Plant.

Interesting Facts:

• The mine operates 24x7, 365 days a year.

A whole new crew of workers arrives at 6pm when night shift begins. They work all the way through the night to 6am.

• The Super Pit is so big it can be seen from space!

It is 3.6km long, 1.5km wide and over 500m deep.

• Sometimes in summer it is over 60⁰C in the Super Pit!

• The Komatsu PC8000 shovel has an enormous bucket. Each scoop of rock weighs about 80 tonnes. It only takes 3 scoops to fill a Caterpillar 793 truck. Each truck can carry about 230 tonnes of rock. That’s the same as about 110 large family cars!

• Each tyre on the trucks costs over $35,000!

Deforestation:

Large areas of forest are being cleared so that the land can be dug into by miners. Because of this large-scale deforestation is being carried out in areas where people are mining.

Land Destruction:

Large portions of mountains or earth are blasted away in explosions using ‘ANFO’ so as to get to the ore from which they can extract the gold.

Loss of Biodiversity:

The forests that are cleared for mining are the home of a large number of organisms. Clearing of the forests leads to loss of habitat of a large number of animals.

Pollution of Land:

Even though measures are being taken to release chemical waste into nearby rivers a large amount of the chemicals still leak onto the land. This changes the chemical composition of the land.

Pollution of Water:

Chemicals like mercury, cyanide, sulphuric acid, arsenic and methyl mercury are used in the different stages of mining. Most chemicals are released into nearby water bodies, therefore causing water pollution.

Loss of Aquatic:

Releasing toxic chemicals into the water is very harmful to the flora and fauna of the water bodies.

Disease:

Sometimes the liquid waste that is generated after the metals or minerals have been extracted is disposed in a mining pit. As the pit gets filled up by the mine tailings, they become a still pool of water. This becomes a breeding ground for water-borne diseases. Thus being the cause for insects and organisms like mosquitoes to flourish.

The Super Pit Gold-Mine wants to rehabilitate waste rock dumps and tailings storage facilities as soon as the areas needed are available. This is part of progressive rehabilitation.

Natural ecosystems in the region are studied to determine the best range of plants for soils and slopes on the new landforms. This is reflected in the mixes of plant seed for the rehabilitation. The rehabilitation done by the Super Pit Gold-Mine is trying to establish plant communities for a long-term period of time.

The Super Pit and the Environment

The Environment

How the Super Pit is Helping the Environment:

Most gold left on Earth is believed to exist as traces buried in remote corners of the Earth. New discoveries of gold are getting rarer and rarer because as soon as people (miners) find traces of gold they will dig it up. This then becomes a massive problem as more and more of the Earth is being destroyed with the mining of gold.

Effects on the Environment

The Formation of Rocks

This is a simple diagram of the rock cycle

The Super Pit Gold Mine

Igneous Rocks

Metamorphic Rocks

A metamorphic rock is formed from an igneous or sedimentary rock that has been under great pressure or heat or both. Metamorphism is what this process of change is called. The rocks that are formed from these changes are called metamorphic rocks.

The changes that take place during the formation of metamorphic rock depend on:

• The original type of rock

• The amount of heat the original rock was exposed to

• The amount of pressure caused by the weight of the rocks above

• How quickly the changes took place.

Examples of Igneous Rocks: Pumice, Scoria, Basalt

Slate

Pumice

How They Extract the Gold:

Marble

Example of how metamorhpic rocks are formed:

Sedimentary Rocks

Examples of Sedimentary Rocks:

Coal

Chalk

Sandstone

Table of Contents

Rocks, Minerals and Mining Project

1. The Formation of Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic Rocks

2. Weathering and Erosion

3. The Formation of Gold

4. The Super Pit Gold Mine

5. The Super Pit and the Environment

The Formation of Gold

BY CONNOR DOES 8J

AU is the symbol of gold

Weathering and Erosion

Gold is a shiny yellow substance with extreme value. It is one of the most valuable minerals in the world. The symbol on the periodic table for gold is ‘AU.’ The most common method of concentration of gold is through the ancient action of hot fluid inside the Earth's crust. Fluids deep in the crust are heated by the Earth's internal heat. As they move towards the surface they cool down.

REFERENCES:

http://www.miningiq.com/mining/articles/environmental-and-social-impacts-of-gold-mining/

http://www.superpit.com.au/Environment/Rehabilitation/ProgressiveRehabilitation/tabid/138/Default.aspx

http://www.siemensscienceday.com/support-center/pdf/5-Minute_weatheringanderosion.pdf

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/57264699/The-Formation-of-Igneous-Rocks

http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/rocks-minerals-landforms/weathering-and-erosion.htm

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/57264699/The-Formation-of-Igneous-Rocks

http://www.greenkarat.com/education/gold-labels/gold-mining.asp

http://www.kidsgeo.com/geology-for-kids/0060-weathering.php

http://www.miningaustralia.com.au/news/the-world-s-ten-largest-gold-mines

http://www.miningiq.com/mining/articles/environmental-and-social-impacts-of-gold-mining/

http://science.nationalgeographic.com.au/science/earth/the-dynamic-earth/weathering-erosion-article/

http://www.superpit.com.au/

http://content.jacplus.com.au/faces/pages/ebookviewer.xhtml?isbn=1742460577&chptr=7880&sectionNo=3&pageType=1&view=01&cb=3584666272366

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/how-does-mining-affect-the-environment.html

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