Environmental and Economic Relevance of Georesources

A.Y. 2024/2025
6
Max ECTS
48
Overall hours
SSD
GEO/09
Language
Italian
Learning objectives
The course aims at providing a basic knowledge of the most common mineral commodities (georesources), their availability in nature, their global distribution (and in particular in Italy), the most common mining methods, market of the mineral commodities, environmental effects of mining activities and mineral processing, management of georesources within the framework of circular economy, and the Italian mining law.
Expected learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding: Students should demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the subject matters and, with the support of advanced textbooks, reach a level of proficiency including leading edge aspects of this field. By the end of this course, students are expected to master the essentials of: raw materials deposits; the main mineral commodities, their market, uses and relevant industrial transformation processing; the most common exploration, mining and production methods.
Making judgements: Students should develop the ability to gather and interpret data to make independent judgements, being also aware of the relevant economic, social, scientific or ethical consequences;
Communication skills: Students are expected to learn how to communicate information, ideas, raise problems and propose solutions to both specialist and non-specialist audiences;
Learning skills: Students should develop the necessary learning skills for them to undertake further studies with a high degree of autonomy.
Single course

This course can be attended as a single course.

Course syllabus and organization

Course provided every other year. Not activated in a.y. 2024/2025

Responsible
Lesson period
First semester
Course syllabus
Georesources and mineral deposits
· General introduction on basic concepts of Earth Science relevant to the course topic.
· Introduction and definitions on georesources: natural resource, georesource, mineral deposit, mineralization
· Classification of georesources: metallic and industrial minerals and georesources for the energy production
· The flow chain of georesources
o Exploration
o Evaluation
o Mining
o Beneficiation
· Economy of georesources with examples: cutoff, evaluation, resources and reserves. The examples of copper and lithium
· Environmental impact of mining
o Speciation and bioavailability
o Acid Mine Drainage
o Remediation and reclamation
o Case studies especially on reclaimed dismissed mining areas
· Types and relevance of georesources
o Metallic minerals
o Industrial Minerals
o Energetic georesources
o Case studies
Sustainability of georesources
· Critical raw materials
· Conflict metals
· Environmental Sustainability
· Environmental risk
· Secondary recovery from wastes and tailings
Prerequisites for admission
The course is designed to be attended by students with different academic background and, therefore, there are no specific prerequisites, except for basic notions of chemistry.
Teaching methods
Will be adopted: lectures, discussion of case studies, exercises (especially at the end of the course using online tools as PollEverywher followed by collegial discussions). A daily excursion at a dismissed mining area will be evaluated.
Teaching Resources
Lecture notes provided by teachers and uploaded on Ariel and Microsoft Teams websites
Assessment methods and Criteria
The evaluation criteria include a brief student presentation on a pertinent topic agreed upon with the teachers, followed by an oral interview. The assessment focuses on the ability to effectively organize the acquired knowledge in the spoken language, demonstrate critical thinking skills when facing problems or case studies, exhibit competency and precision in language use, ensure coherence and accuracy of acquired knowledge, and deliver a clear and precise presentation.
GEO/09 - MINING RESOURCES, MINERALOGIC AND PETROGRAPHIC APPLICATIONS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND FOR CULTURAL HERITAGE - University credits: 6
Lessons: 48 hours