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Minerals
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New Economy Minerals
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New Economy Minerals

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Deposits".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2023) | Viewed by 4588

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Rick Valenta

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Guest Editor
W.H.Bryan Mining & Geology Research Centre, Sustainable Minerals Institute, University of Queensland, 40 Isles Road, Indooroopilly, Brisbane, QLD 4068, Australia
Interests: ore forming systems; mineral exploration; geophysics
Dr. Nathan Fox

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
W.H.Bryan Mining & Geology Research Centre, Sustainable Minerals Institute, University of Queensland, 40 Isles Road, Indooroopilly, Brisbane, QLD 4068, Australia
Interests: mineral deposit systems and exploration; total/ore deposit knowledge, geometallurgical and geoenvironmental characterisation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

New economy minerals (NEMs) represent the sources of a suite of elements essentially required for the development of advanced and emerging technologies, including renewable energy generation and storage, electric vehicles, high-tech industries (including space), and consumer electronics (including smart phones). These elements, often referred to as “critical” due to their strategic importance and relative scarcity, include Li, Co, V, Ga, Ge, In, W, and rare earth elements (e.g., Ce, Nd, Dy). While NEMs may occur as primary deposits (e.g., Ni-Co deposits), the by-product potential for NEMs is being increasingly realized through detailed characterisation of the sources of mainstream commodities (e.g., Cu, Au, phosphate, and coal deposits). Understanding the geological environment of the formation of NEMs is critical to ensuring future supply to these growing sectors through further exploration, characterization, and methods for processing and extracting these elements. 

In this Special Issue, we invite contributions that investigate the geological occurrence of NEMs, including tectonic setting, mineralization processes, geophysical and geochemical expression, and exploration methods including illustrative case histories. We also encourage contributions that document the mineralogical and chemical characterisation of NEMs in both primary deposits and existing ore and waste streams, addressing the geometallurgical understanding of the occurrence and mineral processing opportunities for this significant group of elements.

Prof. Dr. Rick Valenta
Dr. Nathan Fox
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • new economy minerals
  • critical metals
  • rare earth elements
  • lithium
  • cobalt
  • ore forming systems/mineral deposits

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 7995 KiB  
Article
A Method for Assessing the Thickness of Cobalt-Rich Crust on Seamounts and Its Application on the Il’ichev Guyot
by Shijuan Yan, Xinyu Shi, Gang Yang, Dewen Du, Yonggang Liu, Jun Ye, Xiangwen Ren, Zhiwei Zhu and Yue Hao
Minerals 2022, 12(12), 1538; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/min12121538 - 29 Nov 2022
Viewed by 1113
Abstract
Seamount cobalt-rich crusts are rich in cobalt resources and are sought after worldwide. Among different affecting parameters, crust thickness is the most important in evaluating cobalt-rich crust resources in seamounts. Generally, there are two challenges to crust thickness evaluation: firstly, due to high [...] Read more.
Seamount cobalt-rich crusts are rich in cobalt resources and are sought after worldwide. Among different affecting parameters, crust thickness is the most important in evaluating cobalt-rich crust resources in seamounts. Generally, there are two challenges to crust thickness evaluation: firstly, due to high operating costs, most geological stations for seamount exploration have sparse sampling distributions so there are insufficient data to estimate the crust thickness distribution; secondly, a single evaluation method has advantages and disadvantages, and it is not feasible to benefit from the advantages only. These methods cannot simultaneously make full use of the sampling data in local areas, providing a more appropriate evaluation of the whole area. As a result, the estimated results cannot fully reflect the thickness distribution. Based on the thickness data of the station survey and topographic data, geostatistical units are divided, and a comprehensive crust thickness assessment scheme is established on the ArcGIS platform. To this end, the adjacent area method is applied to calculate the crust thickness within the influence range of the station. Combined with the station buffer radius and Thiessen polygon method, the crust thickness within 1.5 km of the survey station was estimated. Then the “slope–distance” Kriging interpolation method was used to calculate the crust thickness in the study area, and the crust thickness in the optimal effective radius area was given to compensate for the missing part in the first step. Finally, the geological blocks were divided using the topographic classification method, and the crust thickness of the remaining unassigned regions was estimated using the mathematical expectation method. The proposed method was applied to evaluate the Il’ichev Guyot’s crust thickness and reasonable results were achieved. It was found that the thickness estimation of the area near the station is consistent with the measured values. Since finer topographic data are used in the calculation, the thickness estimation result is more detailed. In this regard, a simple and effective calculation method was established on the ArcMap platform. The mathematical expectation estimation method of the crust thickness, based on the topographic and geomorphological classification from the perspective of the mineralization mechanism, compensates for the drawbacks of the first two methods originating from the lack of data points. The results show that the proposed method is an appropriate scheme to evaluate seamount crust thickness without comprehensive investigation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Economy Minerals)
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23 pages, 4090 KiB  
Article
Distribution of Trace Elements in K-Feldspar with Implications for Tracing Ore-Forming Processes in Pegmatites: Examples from the World-Class Kolmozero Lithium Deposit, NW Russia
by Lyudmila Morozova, Dmitry Zozulya, Ekaterina Selivanova, Pavel Serov and Aya Bazai
Minerals 2022, 12(11), 1448; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/min12111448 - 16 Nov 2022
Viewed by 2483
Abstract
This study utilizes LA-ICP-MS-determined minor and trace element contents of megacrystic blocky K-feldspar to reveal the chemical variability and fractionation degree of albite-spodumene and barren feldspar pegmatites of the Kolmozero lithium deposit in the Kola region, Russia. K-feldspar from albite-spodumene pegmatite is represented [...] Read more.
This study utilizes LA-ICP-MS-determined minor and trace element contents of megacrystic blocky K-feldspar to reveal the chemical variability and fractionation degree of albite-spodumene and barren feldspar pegmatites of the Kolmozero lithium deposit in the Kola region, Russia. K-feldspar from albite-spodumene pegmatite is represented by two generations: early microcline-I and late microcline-II. Rb, Cs, Li, and Tl are the most typical impurity elements in K-feldspar that replace K in its crystal lattice. Microcline-II differs from microcline-I: (i) relatively high contents of Rb (6520 and 4490 ppm, respectively), Cs (146 and 91 ppm), and Li (86 and 68 ppm), Tl (34 and 28 ppm); and (ii) low contents of Ba (13 and 29 ppm), Sr (8 and 24 ppm), and Pb (14 and 26 ppm). K-feldspar from feldspar pegmatites of the Kolmozero pegmatite field differs from those in the Kolmozero Li deposit in (i) low contents of Rb, Cs, Li, Tl, and an orthoclase component; and (ii) high contents of Sr, Ba, Pb, and an albite component. K/Sr, K/Ba, Rb/Ba, and Rb/Sr element ratios increase, while K/Rb, K/Cs, K/Tl, and K/Li element ratios decrease in K-feldspar, from feldspar pegmatites to albite-spodumene pegmatites. These trends reflect different fractionation degrees of pegmatite evolution. The implications of the detected trace element variations in K-feldspar are discussed in respect of tracing the rare element enrichments in pegmatite systems. A model is proposed for the formation of the Kolmozero pegmatites by differentiation from a hypothetical parental granite, rather than by anatexis of the host rock. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Economy Minerals)
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