Introduction to Environmental Geology, 5e (Keller)
Chapter 15 Mineral Resources and the Environment
15.1 Multiple-Choice Questions
1) What does the Fossil Trace Golf Course in Golden, Colorado, have to do with mineral
resources?
A) Hazardous wastes from years of mining in the area were dumped there.
B) It was constructed in a reclaimed limestone-clay quarry.
C) The fossils there contain concentrations of precious metals.
D) Mineral deposits in the rocks beneath the golf course were found to contain recoverable
concentrations of zinc and iron, leading to conflict between mining and recreation.
2) A concentration of minerals that could now be legally mined at a profit is called a
A) resource
B) reserve
C) mineral deposit
D) metal
3) Hydrothermal mineral deposits would be least expected to form in what type of plate tectonic
setting?
A) transform boundary
B) oceanic divergent boundary
C) oceanic subduction zone
D) continental subduction zone
4) Kimberlite pipes are sources of what mineral?
A) gold
B) silver
C) copper
D) diamond
5) Placer deposits are expected in what type of rock?
A) igneous
B) sedimentary
C) metamorphic
D) hydrothermal
6) Why is cyanide heap leaching used to extract gold from some deposits?
A) The gold concentration is too low to be extracted using traditional methods.
B) It is safer than other methods.
C) Gold can only be extracted from finely disseminated deposits.
D) It produces fewer mine tailings than other methods.
7) Most water pollution associated with mining operations has to do with
A) water passing through mine wastes
B) hazardous chemical spills
C) improper disposal of incinerator ash
D) failure of waste ponds
8) If surface mines tend to cause greater environmental impacts, why are they used?
A) Surface mines require the excavation of less rock.
B) Cyanide is not required to process ore from a surface mine.
C) Surface mines are more economical.
D) Subsurface mines are more hazardous to miners.
9) What is the principal social impact of mining operations?
A) death of workers in mining accidents
B) boom and bust cycles that impact local economies and social structure
C) effects of soil and water degradation on public health
D) crime rates among poorly paid miners
10) Itai-Itai disease resulted from contamination of the Zintzu River basin with what types of
mine wastes?
A) cyanide
B) gold and silver
C) lead, zinc, and cadmium
D) acid mine drainage
11) How is biotechnology helping to reduce the environmental impacts of mining?
A) through efficient treatment of mine wastes and contaminated water
B) plant uptake of precious metals permits mining of plants rather than rock
C) through the use of plants that revegetate mine waste piles
D) through better environmental regulations relating to mine waste
12) Smelter emissions often cause what type of adverse environmental degradation?
A) acid mine drainage
B) acid rain
C) asbestos deposition
D) global warming
13) What is the principal reason that iron and steel are recycled at such a high rate?
A) Iron and steel are highly valuable on the precious metals market.
B) The market for steel is large and widespread.
C) All sources of iron ore have been more or less exhausted.
D) Environmental regulations mandated iron and steel recycling starting in the 1950s.
14) What phase of mining generally causes the least environmental degradation?
A) exploration and testing
B) extraction
C) processing
D) reclamation
15) Weathering processes are primarily responsible for the concentration of what types of ore?
A) gold
B) cadmium
C) aluminum
D) copper
1) The social and environmental impacts of mining cause those countries that exploit mineral
resources to be poor and thinly populated.
2) The difference between a resource and a reserve mostly has to do with certainty that it can be
mined.
3) The concentration factor for gold is less than the concentration factor for copper.
4) The predominant mineral resources used by modern society are metals.
5) Affluent nations tend to be totally reliant on domestic mineral sources.
6) Air and water pollution are only of concern while a mine is operating.
7) The term “ore” refers to the profitability of mining a deposit.
8) One of the major environmental hazards of heap leach mining is the use of cyanide for gold
extraction.
9) Because it is isolated from the land surface, groundwater is rarely contaminated by mining.
10) Environmental regulation has largely failed to reduce pollution from mining.
11) The social impacts of mining have largely to do with its environmental impacts.
12) The R to C ratio defines time available to find a solution to resource depletion.
13) Because of the low levels of energy involved, weathering processes rarely produce valuable
mineral concentrations.
14) Agricultural chemicals are typically extracted from sedimentary deposits.
1) The fact that mineral resources are formed slowly over time means that mineral resources are
our ________ heritage from the geologic past.
2) A(n) ________ is a resource that is currently available to be legally and economically mined.
3) The ________ of a metal is a measure of its concentration necessary for profitable mining.
4) ________ mineral deposits form through the circulation of hot, chemically active waters.
5) ________ ore deposits are a result of weathering processes.
6) Sulfide deposits of copper and iron form through seawater circulation at ________ plate
boundaries.
7) ________ deposits form through the desiccation of marine basins or lakes.
8) Biotechnology may help to reduce the use of the hazardous chemical ________ in ore
processing.
9) The element ________ represents the greatest amount of recycling by volume.
10) Itai-Itai disease was prevalent in a river valley in the country of ________.
11) ________ mine drainage results from oxidation of sulfide-bearing deposits.
12) ________ is being used to reduce the impacts of cyanide at the Homestake Mine in South
Dakota.
13) ________ deposits are the result of sedimentary concentration of heavy minerals in streams.