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- Azurite (Arizona) GEO 3331
Azurite (Arizona) GEO 3331
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Fabric by the Yard
Azurite
(Arizona)
GEO 3331
Azurite
(Arizona)
GEO 3331
For all you geology nerds like me... (In reference to the photos of the mine) "Mineralization is high-grade copper carbonates with minor lead and zinc carbonates in irregular replacement orebodies. Cuprite (red) is commonly found as an oxidation product of copper sulphides in the upper zones of veins, often associated with native copper, azurite, malachite limonite and chalcocite. A fibrous form of Cuprite is known as chalcotrichite. Workings include a shafts and open pit operations. A maze of workings connecting with the surface through four working shafts and several other less-used openings. The area thoroughly intersected by drifts and crosscuts covers nearly half a square mile, while the extreme vertical range is about 950 feet. The shaft names are the Czar, Queen inclined, Holbrook, Spray, Gardner, and Hayes. This was the original copper mine of the district. Produced several thousand tons of ore in the early years. Averaged production of 3,000,000 lbs. Cu per year." (mindat.org).
As a result of mining... POLLUTION - CONTAMINATION... Mining and Processing Ores that contain copper in the U.S. are typically mined in large, open-pits. Copper processing facilities are usually located near mining or extraction sites. Significant waste volumes are associated with copper production. Mine wastes may contain radionuclides due to their natural presence in ores and can be a source of TENORM. Uranium, which may be co-located with copper ore, may also be recovered as a side stream, if economical. However, in the United States this is not a general practice. Learn more about uranium mining.
The production of copper typically includes the following processes are leaching, solvent extraction and smelting.
Leaching
There are two main leaching methods: heap leaching and in-situ leaching. Heap leaching is the most common method used in the U.S. When processing copper through heap leaching, vast quantities of ore and what is called overburden are mined. (Oveburden is soil and rocks that have been moved out of the way to get to the ore. In. the area where there are high concnetraiotnss of radiouclides in the rock, overbrden may have some enghanced radioactivity. The overburden is separated and either hauled to the waste site or stockpiled for future site reclamation. The ore is crushed and stacked into specially designed pads. The pads are lined with synthetic or natural materials such as polyethylene or compacted clay. Acids are introduced to copper-bearing ore, seeping through and dissolving copper and any other metals, including radionuclides. The liquid that “leaches” through the rocks is collected. This liquid contains the dissolved copper, known as a pregnant leach solution (PLS). The copper present in this liquid is collected and later processed.
A second method is in-situ leaching. Groundwater and certain geochemical conditions must be present in order to utilize this method. During in-situ leaching, rather than physically mining and removing overburden to reach copper deposits, chemicals are introduced into ore bodies using injection wells. The PLS is then captured in production wells, collected and later processed.
Solvent extraction
Once PLS is leached, it is sent to a solvent extraction plant to remove the copper. The PLS is mixed with an organic solvent that binds to the copper and chemically separates the copper from the rest of the liquid. Then, the copper-bearing liquid is combined with another acid to precipitate the copper from the organic material. Another process, called electrowinning, uses electricity to extract copper out of the PLS onto thin metal sheets.
The remaining liquid is known as raffinate, a waste product. Raffinate can contain concentrated amounts of TENORM.
Smelting
Copper smelting involves three steps:
Waste Generation Copper mining wastes make up the largest percentage of metal mining and processing wastes generated in the United States. There is a broad range of TENORM concentrations in copper mining wastes.
Mining and extraction of copper by surface or underground methods can concentrate and expose radionuclides in the waste rock and tailings (which is the remaining portions of a metal-bearing ore after some or all of a metal such as uraninum has been extracted. Leaching and solvent extraction/electrowinning processes, as well as the practice of recycling raffinate at copper mines, may extract and concentrate soluble radioactive materials. In some cases, levels up to two orders of magnitude over background have been measured. View the report, TENORM in SW Copper Belt of Arizona, on the tenorm.
Because the pyrite and sulfide minerals are in tailings piles, which have an exposed surface area, they may be susceptible to leaching of radionuclides. If pyrites and sulfides are exposed to the air and water, they may form sulfuric acid that will mobilize many metals including uranium, which is highly soluble in acid. This chemical reaction produces acid mine drainage (AMD), a pollutant that is present at many abandoned mine sites.
Copper mining waste storage piles may be as large as 1,000 acres and typically include three types of waste; tailings, dump and heap leach wastes, and waste rock and overburden.
The amount of marketable copper produced is small compared to the original material mined. Several hundred metric tons of ore must be handled for each metric ton of copper metal produced, thus generating large waste quantities. For example:
For detailed information and publications about copper mining and production, including statistics about domestic and international mining and use, see the U.S. Geological Survey Copper Information webpage.
What is Superfund?Thousands of contaminated sites exist nationally due to hazardous waste being dumped, left out in the open, or otherwise improperly managed. These sites include manufacturing facilities, processing plants, landfills and mining sites.
In the late 1970s, toxic waste dumps such as Love Canal and Valley of the Drums received national attention when the public learned about the risks to human health and the environment posed by contaminated sites.
In response, Congress established the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) in 1980.
CERCLA is informally called Superfund. It allows EPA to clean up contaminated sites. It also forces the parties responsible for the contamination to either perform cleanups or reimburse the government for EPA-led cleanup work.
When there is no viable responsible party, Superfund gives EPA the funds and authority to clean up contaminated sites.
Superfund’s goals are to:
This is what we do...
With environmental consciousness in mind, our fabrics are all printed using completely water-based inks. This means no chemicals or solvents are used. We transfer those images onto luxurious fabric using ecologically safe transfer sublimation inks that provide vibrant color. The printing process uses no water and uses non-toxic bio-degradable inks. Our heat fixing procedure fixes the colors and prints, avoiding the downsides of steaming, such as excess or contaminated water returning into the waste system. The textile industry is rife with sustainability problems: from the use of toxic inks and wasteful practices for materials and water, to a race to utilize the cheapest materials such as vinyl—no matter the environmental impact. Our print-on-demand process is designed to minimize fabric and ink waste. Reducing the use of materials, energy and water by choosing a pigment printing process instead of reactive dye.
Making use of stone that we personally collect, cut and polish to a mirror finish, coupled with high powered lenses, we transport the viewer into a microscopic world, far beyond what the naked eye perceives. The diversity, originality and beauty of what is revealed defy description. Those images are then transferred onto a variety of mediums. Consider textiles that are transformed into decor including decorative pillows, bedding, table linens, for both home and commercial use. And fabrics for the fashion world. GEO originals has opened the door to a realm of beauty crossing all genres with endless applications.
Choose your favorite(s) images, choose your fabric and let us know how many yards! We will also provide additional custom order fabrics upon request (please contact GEO originals).
This image is for illustrative purposes only.
The colors shown are accurate within the constraints of lighting, photography and the color accuracy of your screen.
All of our macro photographs are of our own stone; cut and polished, exposing the natural beauty inside.
(All photos shown are watermarked for online viewing. The purchased art will not show watermark.)
©Light the Earth, All Rights Reserved
Copyrighted. No Usage Without Permission
As a result of mining... POLLUTION - CONTAMINATION... Mining and Processing Ores that contain copper in the U.S. are typically mined in large, open-pits. Copper processing facilities are usually located near mining or extraction sites. Significant waste volumes are associated with copper production. Mine wastes may contain radionuclides due to their natural presence in ores and can be a source of TENORM. Uranium, which may be co-located with copper ore, may also be recovered as a side stream, if economical. However, in the United States this is not a general practice. Learn more about uranium mining.
The production of copper typically includes the following processes are leaching, solvent extraction and smelting.
Leaching
There are two main leaching methods: heap leaching and in-situ leaching. Heap leaching is the most common method used in the U.S. When processing copper through heap leaching, vast quantities of ore and what is called overburden are mined. (Oveburden is soil and rocks that have been moved out of the way to get to the ore. In. the area where there are high concnetraiotnss of radiouclides in the rock, overbrden may have some enghanced radioactivity. The overburden is separated and either hauled to the waste site or stockpiled for future site reclamation. The ore is crushed and stacked into specially designed pads. The pads are lined with synthetic or natural materials such as polyethylene or compacted clay. Acids are introduced to copper-bearing ore, seeping through and dissolving copper and any other metals, including radionuclides. The liquid that “leaches” through the rocks is collected. This liquid contains the dissolved copper, known as a pregnant leach solution (PLS). The copper present in this liquid is collected and later processed.
A second method is in-situ leaching. Groundwater and certain geochemical conditions must be present in order to utilize this method. During in-situ leaching, rather than physically mining and removing overburden to reach copper deposits, chemicals are introduced into ore bodies using injection wells. The PLS is then captured in production wells, collected and later processed.
Solvent extraction
Once PLS is leached, it is sent to a solvent extraction plant to remove the copper. The PLS is mixed with an organic solvent that binds to the copper and chemically separates the copper from the rest of the liquid. Then, the copper-bearing liquid is combined with another acid to precipitate the copper from the organic material. Another process, called electrowinning, uses electricity to extract copper out of the PLS onto thin metal sheets.
The remaining liquid is known as raffinate, a waste product. Raffinate can contain concentrated amounts of TENORM.
Smelting
Copper smelting involves three steps:
- Roasting: First, ore concentrates are roasted or heated to remove sulfur and moisture.
- Smelting: Then, copper concentrates are mixed with silica (sand) and limestone and heated in a furnace to form two naturally-separating layers. One layer is a waste containing iron and silica compounds and is discarded as waste.
- Approximately 75 percent of the copper concentrate ends up as slag. The other layer, called "matte copper," consists of copper, iron sulfide and other metals.
- Converting: Finally, matte copper is converted into a copper-rich slag, which is then returned to the leaching process and separated from “blister copper," which is sent to another furnace for casting.
Waste Generation Copper mining wastes make up the largest percentage of metal mining and processing wastes generated in the United States. There is a broad range of TENORM concentrations in copper mining wastes.
Mining and extraction of copper by surface or underground methods can concentrate and expose radionuclides in the waste rock and tailings (which is the remaining portions of a metal-bearing ore after some or all of a metal such as uraninum has been extracted. Leaching and solvent extraction/electrowinning processes, as well as the practice of recycling raffinate at copper mines, may extract and concentrate soluble radioactive materials. In some cases, levels up to two orders of magnitude over background have been measured. View the report, TENORM in SW Copper Belt of Arizona, on the tenorm.
Because the pyrite and sulfide minerals are in tailings piles, which have an exposed surface area, they may be susceptible to leaching of radionuclides. If pyrites and sulfides are exposed to the air and water, they may form sulfuric acid that will mobilize many metals including uranium, which is highly soluble in acid. This chemical reaction produces acid mine drainage (AMD), a pollutant that is present at many abandoned mine sites.
Copper mining waste storage piles may be as large as 1,000 acres and typically include three types of waste; tailings, dump and heap leach wastes, and waste rock and overburden.
The amount of marketable copper produced is small compared to the original material mined. Several hundred metric tons of ore must be handled for each metric ton of copper metal produced, thus generating large waste quantities. For example:
- In-situ leaching can transport uranium and thorium into groundwater or surface water at the processing site. High levels of TENORM have been found in the PLS of two in-situ leach operations in Arizona.
- Copper smelting and refining facilities produce 2.5 million metric tons (MT) of smelter slag and 1.5 million MT of slag tailings per year. This is a large volume of slag, however, it is very small compared to comparable waste volumes from mining and crushing operations.
For detailed information and publications about copper mining and production, including statistics about domestic and international mining and use, see the U.S. Geological Survey Copper Information webpage.
What is Superfund?Thousands of contaminated sites exist nationally due to hazardous waste being dumped, left out in the open, or otherwise improperly managed. These sites include manufacturing facilities, processing plants, landfills and mining sites.
In the late 1970s, toxic waste dumps such as Love Canal and Valley of the Drums received national attention when the public learned about the risks to human health and the environment posed by contaminated sites.
In response, Congress established the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) in 1980.
CERCLA is informally called Superfund. It allows EPA to clean up contaminated sites. It also forces the parties responsible for the contamination to either perform cleanups or reimburse the government for EPA-led cleanup work.
When there is no viable responsible party, Superfund gives EPA the funds and authority to clean up contaminated sites.
Superfund’s goals are to:
- Protect human health and the environment by cleaning up contaminated sites;
- Make responsible parties pay for cleanup work;
- Involve communities in the Superfund process; and
- Return Superfund sites to productive use.
This is what we do...
With environmental consciousness in mind, our fabrics are all printed using completely water-based inks. This means no chemicals or solvents are used. We transfer those images onto luxurious fabric using ecologically safe transfer sublimation inks that provide vibrant color. The printing process uses no water and uses non-toxic bio-degradable inks. Our heat fixing procedure fixes the colors and prints, avoiding the downsides of steaming, such as excess or contaminated water returning into the waste system. The textile industry is rife with sustainability problems: from the use of toxic inks and wasteful practices for materials and water, to a race to utilize the cheapest materials such as vinyl—no matter the environmental impact. Our print-on-demand process is designed to minimize fabric and ink waste. Reducing the use of materials, energy and water by choosing a pigment printing process instead of reactive dye.
Making use of stone that we personally collect, cut and polish to a mirror finish, coupled with high powered lenses, we transport the viewer into a microscopic world, far beyond what the naked eye perceives. The diversity, originality and beauty of what is revealed defy description. Those images are then transferred onto a variety of mediums. Consider textiles that are transformed into decor including decorative pillows, bedding, table linens, for both home and commercial use. And fabrics for the fashion world. GEO originals has opened the door to a realm of beauty crossing all genres with endless applications.
Choose your favorite(s) images, choose your fabric and let us know how many yards! We will also provide additional custom order fabrics upon request (please contact GEO originals).
This image is for illustrative purposes only.
The colors shown are accurate within the constraints of lighting, photography and the color accuracy of your screen.
All of our macro photographs are of our own stone; cut and polished, exposing the natural beauty inside.
(All photos shown are watermarked for online viewing. The purchased art will not show watermark.)
©Light the Earth, All Rights Reserved
Copyrighted. No Usage Without Permission