Natural resources of USA and their details

CONTENTS

 

Introduction…………………………………………………………..……   2

I. Natural resources of USA and their details………………………...……   4

II.  The World natural resources…………………………………………… 11

III. Conclusion  …...……………………..………………………………...  19

IV List of the literature……………………………………………………  20

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

USA provided by oil, natural gas, uranium ores, iron, titanium, vanadium, copper, lead, zinc, molybdenum, tungsten, beryllium, lithium, gold, silver, phosphates, potassium salts, boron, fluorite, sulfur, barite. At the same time, the country has almost no own reserves of manganese and chrome ore, gas, bauxite ores of nickel, cobalt, mercury, antimony, tin, tantalum and niobium, asbestos. Reserves of copper, manganese, nickel, cobalt, etc. can be significantly increased through the use of low-grade ores and ores from the ocean floor. With 40 main kinds of minerals only 18 US self-sufficient in 50% or more. The US economy is dependent on imports of 68 kinds of raw materials, and this trend is obviously will be saved in the future.

Natural resources of USA in 1999

Natural resources	Reserves		The proportion of the world, %
	The confirmed	Prospective
The platinum metals group, t	310		0,5
Diamonds, mln. carat. - Natural - Jewelry		1,8 1	0,1 0,2
Bauxite, mln t	20	297	0,1
Barite, thous. t	28000	50000	8,3
Berylliums oxide, thous. t	47	102	20,7
Tungsten, thous. t	140	200	5,4
Iron ore, mln t	16000	25000	9,3
Gold, t	4950	9350	10,1
Cobalt, thous. t	2	14
Copper, thous. t	77516	117559	11,6
Molybdenum, thous. t	2529	3905	28,4
Oil, mln. t	2970,6		2,2
Nickel, thous. t	43	280	0,1
A tin, thous. t	10	20
Natural gas, billion. M3	4711		3,2
Quicksilver, thous. t		0,5	0,4
Lead, thous. t	11391	25391	9,4
Silver, thous. t	52550	82690	9,6
Antimony, thous. t	80	90	1,8
Coal, million tonnes	450000	1570300
Phosphorite, mln t	256	902	4,85
Chromium, mln t	17,1		0,38
Zinc, thous. t	22868	49368	8,3
Uranus, thous. t	110	110	4,3

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Natural resources of USA and their details

 

Hydrocarbons

The United States has large reserves of oil and gas. As proven oil reserves, the country ranks third in the Americas (after Venezuela and Mexico), the proven gas reserves - 1st place (1997). Oil and gas in the US is related to the oil and gas bearing 38 and 14 suspected oil and gas basins. 75% of all discoveries located within the country's three major basins - the Gulf of Mexico oil and gas basin (especially mine Monroe), Perm oil basin (in particular, the field Vosson) and Western domestic oil and gas basin. Open (in the 1990s.) More than 22,500 oil and gas-oil and about 14,000 gas, gas condensate and oil and gas delivery, 5 of which are unique to the initial prom. reserves of more than 300 million tons of oil (Prudhoe Bay, East Texas Oil Field, Wilmington, Midway-Sunset), or more than 500 billion cubic meters of gas (Panhandle-Hyugoton and Prudhoe Bay), about 200 large (oil reserves of 30-300 million tonnes and gas reserves of 30-500 billion cubic meters), about 400 medium (oil and gas reserves of 10-30 million tons of oil and 10-30 billion cubic meters of gas).

The last number of discoveries are small reserves. In the 60 major oils and 35 childbirth gas reserves of each of the more than 50 million tons of oil and 50 billion cubic meters of gas, focused respectively 36 and 30% of the initial proven reserves of oil and gas country. In the waters of the Atlantic, the Pacific and North. Arctic oceans opened about 600 oil and gas delivery, the overwhelming majority of them - in the Gulf of Mexico. OK. 43% of the country's oil reserves and 39% of gas reserves are associated with Paleozoic sediments, 20% of oil reserves and 16% of gas reserves from the Mesozoic, 37% of oil reserves and 45% of gas reserves from the Cenozoic near 60% of the initial proven oil reserves and 45% of gas reserves are concentrated at a depth of 3 km.

The proven reserves of oil and gas condensate richest Texas (26% of the reserves of the country), Alaska (24%), California (15.6%). Projected reserves of natural gas are estimated by the Committee for gas resources (US Potential Gas Committee) on 01.01.1999, at 25.36 trln.m 3 (on 1.01.1997 the city - 26.06 trln.m 3). In addition, inferred resources of gas of coal deposits are estimated at 4 trln.m 3. Natural gas resources are located in the main gas-bearing regions: Gulf of Mexico - 7513.6 trillion m 3; Alaska - 5484.5 trillion cubic meters; basins of the Rocky Mountains - 4,245,000,000,000,000 m 3; Inner West NSA (Midcontinent) - 3455.4 trillion m 3; Atlantic Coastal region - 2940.4 trillion m 3; Pacific - 1052.8 trillion m 3. There is a trend of increasing natural gas reserves in the United States. According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), only in 2001, reserves of gas (dry gas) increased 644 bcm Stocks open deposits totaled 101.26 billion cubic meters, an increase due to more accurate inventory of known deposits - 463.55 billion cubic meters of reserves of new deposits in old fields - 79.24 bcm The increase in reserves exceeded production by 31% [Petroleum Economist. 2002. V.69, number 11].

According to British Petroleum in 2003, US oil reserves are 30 billion barrels. The share of the world - 3%, the level of consumption of the future productive period - '11 Gas reserves (bln. M3), the proportion of the world and years of production left for the United States, respectively, 5 (3%) 7 years.

 

Coal

The United States has the world's largest proven reserves of coal of all types. Estimated total reserves of coal in the United States - 3.6 trillion tons, including suitable for modern methods of production - 461 billion tons [Coal Int. - 2000 - 248, № 5. - P. 191-193, 195-197]. Stone (bituminous) coal and anthracite concentrated in coal basins of the eastern and central parts of the country: Appalachian (states Pennsylvania - Pennsylvania coal basin, Ohio, West Virginia, Tennessee, Alabama, eastern Kentucky), Illinois (Illinois, western Kentucky, Indiana ), Inner West (Iowa, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska) and Pennsylvania (the western part of Pennsylvania, anthracite). Pools with brown and subbituminous coal are situated in the western part (states of North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico), as well as in the south (Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama). A number of well-known underdeveloped basin in Alaska, in particular pool Lisburn carboniferous coal deposits is confined to (Pennsylvania), Cretaceous and Paleogene. Coal basins associated with large platform syncline (Illinois, Inner West, Fort Union), the advanced troughs later Hercynides (Appalachian, Pennsylvania) and epiplatformnim orogenic (Uinta Mountains, the San Juan River Green River, and others.) . The coal reserves in the United States are characterized by mainly gently dipping strata (average power - about 1 m) at a shallow depth, the spread over large areas, the stability of wall rocks, moderate amounts of water and gas, as well as a wide variety of coal types and generally high quality.

 

Uranus

On stocks of uranium ore US included in the top 8 countries in the world (after Australia, South Africa, Canada and Brazil, Russia, Kazakhstan, Namibia, 1999). Prom. uranium reserves are concentrated in the West areas of the country, in three main ore provinces in the regions of the Colorado Plateau ore Grants, Yuravansky belt, Lisbon Valley et al.), in the intermountain basins pieces. Wyoming (ore districts Shirley Basin, Gas Hills, Powder River, etc.), In the western part of the coastal plain of the Gulf (of Felder, Panna Maria et al.). A number of medium-scale deposit. There is also in the Cordilleras Basic uranium ore reserves (over 95%) are concentrated in epigenetic infiltration births occurring in the clastic rocks Triassic-Jurassic and Neogene (Eocene) at depths ranging from 0 to 1200 m. Avg. content in the ores of 0,1-0,3% U3O8. Ch. ore minerals: Cofino, uranium oxides, carnotite, sometimes complex ore, uranium-vanadium (1,25-1,5% V2O5). A small part of the reserves lies in hydrothermal vein deposits of the Neogene.

 

Iron

In the US iron ore reserves rank first in the Americas (1999). In the US, there are large deposit iron ore, capable of providing the raw material needs of the country. Ch. type iron deposit - Reservoir and lenticular bodies of magnetite-hematite ores in Precambrian ferruginous quartzites (taconite). Large deposit this type are located in the north of the United States near the border with Canada, in the area of ​​the lake. Top. As part of the pool is 89% of the total reserves of the United States. The largest reserves are deposit Mesabi (12 billion tons of ore with gray. Fe content of 49%), Marquette (ore reserves of 5 billion tons, the content of 41%), Menominee (reserves of 5 billion tons, the content of 33%) and Kuyun (reserves 370 million tons, including 176 million tons of iron-manganese ore with Fe content of 30% Mn 10,5%).

At the beginning of the XXI century a large part of the reserves of rich ore already mined in the United States. According to various estimates, proven reserves of low-grade ores, the remaining amount to 2.6-6 billion tonnes. Significant reserves of iron ore (0.9-2 billion tons) are concentrated in the fields of the Birmingham area. Ores consist mainly of hematite oolites and contain an average of 35% iron.

The United States has significant reserves of uranium ore, prisoners deposit ilmenite, moreover, supplies a counted deposit rutile. All reserves of rutile and ilmenite reserves 60% - deposits, represented by ancient and modern coastal marine and river sediments (Fla., New Jersey, Tennessee, Georgia, South and North. Carolina et al.). More v - Trail Ridge in pieces. New Jersey, with reserves of over 300 million tons of ilmenite sand, which contains about 2,0-2,5% TiO 2 and other smaller placer (Lakehurst, Green Cove Springs, Highland, and others.). Ser. rutile TiO2 content in the alluvial deposits of 0.5-3.0% and 1.0-5.0% ilmenite. Indigenous deposit Titanium presented ilmenite-magnetite ores in the massifs of ultramafic-mafic rocks. Big deposit this type is associated with gabbro-anorthosite massif Tegavus in pieces. New York (29 million tonnes of TiO 2 content in the ore at 18-20%). Other inventories are more than the poor (up to 14% TiO 2) ilmenite-magnetite ores in the states of Alaska, Wyoming, New York and others.

 

Gold

According to Russian sources, the US gold ore reserves are second in the Western world after South Africa (1999) and third in the world (after South Africa and Russia). Bureau of Mines and the Geological Survey of the United States base of gold reserves estimated somewhat differently: South Africa - 38 ths. Tons, the United States - in the 6 th. Tons, Australia - 4.7 thous. Tons, Canada and Russia - by 3.5 thous. Tons, world base - 72 thous. m. According to the same source, for gold resources the United States ranked fifth in the world; comparative picture is as follows: South Africa - up to 60 thousand. tons, Russia - more than 25 thousand. tons, China and Brazil - 7-10 thous. tonnes each, USA - 5-7 ths. tons. deposit gold are characterized by a wide variety of geol.-prom. types. Basic. fundamental importance deposit gold ore. (55% of reserves) accounted for 8% and 37% of placer gold-on (35% copper-porphyry and 2% - polymetallic). Gold-bearing areas are located along the western. and south-east. coast (respectively around 63 and 2% of reserves) to the center. part of the country (19%) and Alaska (13%). Ch. gold-bearing region (California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Idaho) is confined to the Mesozoic-Cenozoic folded system of the Cordillera. In the center. part of the country is allocated two gold district: Black Hills (large deposit Gomsteyk) and ore belt of Colorado. In 1998 shares Au Alaska were increased to 1925.3 tons, of which 690.5 tons of deposit Dongling Creek, Pebble, Pogo and shotgun.

 

Lead

As of 1999 the total reserves of lead ores United States took first place, and in proven - 3rd place (after Australia and Kazakhstan) in the world. There are about 100 deposit lead ores, in DOS. central and western. parts of the country's largest mining regions: pivd.-skh. PC. Missouri (approx. 70% of reserves), Coeur dAlen (4%), upper Mississippi (3%), Alaska (10%) and three-Steyts (approx. 1%). On the other numbers. areas account for 10-15% of the reserves of ores. Basic. reserves (approx. 80%) are in the stratiform deposit such as "Mississippi Valley" certainly localized in the shallow sea. carbonate and clastic sediments of the Lower. Paleozoic. The average content of lead ores of 3-8%, 0.5-1.5% zinc, 0.1% copper. Impurities: nickel, cobalt, cadmium, silver, germanium, bismuth and indium.

 

Silver

As stocks of silver ores United States ranked second in the world (after Poland, according to the year 2000). Deposit of silver ores are different geol.-industrial types: the actual silver with associated lead and zinc (approx. 35% of stocks in the 1990s), deposit nonferrous metals, silver (64.5%), gold-silver (0.5%). Among the actual silver`s deposit all core deposit of silver with lead and zinc (approx. 80% of reserves). Geographically, they are located in Coeur dAlen, pcs. Idaho. The vein ore bodies are controlled by large faults, including argillite and quartzite of the Precambrian. The richest ores contain up to 750-1100 g / t silver. In other silver content of 80-500 g / t. Among deposit non-ferrous metals c. 50% of the ore reserves of silver contained in the copper-porphyry deposit (Eg., Bingham), 28% - for polymetallic vein (Butte), 17% - stratiform lead-zinc and 5% - other. Types.

 

As of 2000 in the US to 45% of total reserves and about 65% of the annual production of silver falls on hydrothermal deposits of silver and gold and silver ores. The deposits of silver ores Coeur, Galena ore cluster in Coeur d`Alen, Sunshine, Rochester, Silver Valley proven reserves of silver ranging from 1000 to 2500 at a content in the ores of 400-800 g / t. The deposits of gold and silver ores maxi- Coe Cove, Round Mountain, Kinross-Delamare, Denton-Rawhide proven reserves of silver is 300-1400 m in the silver content 40-400 g / t. The fields midnoporfirovogo type Mison, Bingham, Morensi et al. are concentrated to 28% of the total reserves and produces 22% of the silver of the country. These deposits are characterized by large proven reserves of silver (2.5 7 th. Tons) when its content in the ore, as measured by the top ten grams per tonne. A smaller role in the mineral resource base of the United States play a polymetallic silver lead-zinc deposits in Red Dog, Greens Creek, Montana Tannels. Proven reserves of silver in ores of these deposits constitute 1.5-10 thousand. T silver at a content of 60-600 g / t. The provision of the country's total reserves of silver at the current level of production - 13 years.

Antimony

Stocks stibievyh ores in numerous small deposit types: vein quartz-antimonite (Thompson Falls, Montana), silver-vein complex stibievih (Sunshine pieces. Idaho) and stratiform lead-antimony ("Lead times" on pivd.-skh. pcs. of Missouri) More Reserves deposit Sunshine in the ore district Coeur d`Alen in ores which contain about 0,3% Sb. Phosphorites US has the largest resources of P 2 O 5 (23.7% of the world). Resources Basin of the Rocky Mountains in the United States according to some estimates account for 7.55 billion tonnes P2O5, other sources give lower values. In the bowels of the United States are concentrated 6.1% of the world's total reserves of phosphorus. In reserves of phosphate rock country ranks second in the world (after Morocco, 2003). Basic. phosphorite reserves in the US (95%) are concentrated in two large regions of phosphorite in the Eastern American Province phosphorite (Florida, North. and South. Carolina) and the Rocky Mountains (Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Montana). Prospects for increasing reserves of phosphate rock in the United States related to the bass. Atlantic coastal plain.

 

 

Barite

In reserves of barite United States ranked third in the world (after Kazakhstan and China, 1999). Projected reserves of barite categories P1 + P2 are 150 million tons (Mineral Commodity Summaries - http://minerals.er.usgs.gov/minerals/). Main barite deposits of the United States are concentrated in the piece. Nevada, where he developed as a reservoir and vein deposits. The largest of them - Graystone Mine, Argenta Mine, Mountain Springs, Rossi Mine.

 

The main types of deposits: stratiform (approx. 50% of reserves), core (30%) and the remainder (20%). According to others approx. 80% of proven reserves of barite accounted for stratiform delivery, approx. 20% - in the vein. Stratiform mestorozhd. are gray. Paleozoic localized in chert-shale sequences and presents reservoir bodies with the capacity of 1-15 m area of ​​several. km², barite content reaches 50-95%. Largest deposite known pieces. Nevada, small - in Arkansas, California, Georgia and Missouri. Main deposit include multiple, often small cluster of barite associated with karst cavities and other origin in the lower limestones and dolomites. Paleozoic. They are distributed in the states of Missouri, Alabama, Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, and others. Residual deposit formed at the erosion of rocks containing primary barite body. The power of residual deposits of 3-5 m (pcs. Of Missouri) to 50 m (m-of Cartersville, Ga.). The content of barite ores in the middle. 120-180 kg / m³.

 

Asbestos

Stocks of asbestos in the United States are concentrated in deposits Quebec chrysotile type associated with serpentinite massifs and ultramafic rocks serpentinizovanih to spare. country, within the Cordillera and to the east, in the Appalachians. The most significant deposite - Kopperopolis and Santa Rita in pieces. California. They represent a cross stockworks of fibrous asbestos, sir. the content of which is approx. 10 % of deposit Arizona type are asbestos zones in limestone. The most famous of them - deposit Chrysotile is in pieces. Arizona provides a high-quality long-fiber asbestos.

The United States has numerous deposit non-metallic industrial raw materials and d. materials (bentonite, clay, facing stones, marble, sand, gravel, crushed stone, and so on. d.). A number of precious and semi-precious stones, of which the most important are turquoise, tourmaline, sapphire, beryl, petrified wood, rose quartz and jade Large turquoise province is located in the states of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California are related to weathering crusts granitoids and acid formation efuziviv porphyry top. Cretaceous-Oligocene with polymetallic sulfide mineralization in the piece. Montana is a big deposit. Its sapphire-Galsh submitted longest (8 km away) in dike lamprophyre low carbon limestone formations Edison largest deposits jewelry tourmaline kunzite and pink beryl: Pala, San Diego, Himalaya (Calif.). Jewelry stones occur in dikes miarolitic microcline-albite pegmatites with lepidolite, lying in close contact with a gabbro South California granite massif similar tourmaline pegmatites known in pieces. Maine. Peridot is also in alkaline olivine basalts of Pliocene in pieces. Arizona (San Carlos Apaches in the district), agate - in rhyolite in pieces. Oregon (Jefferson County, USIC and Crook), ornamental petrified wood - in the Triassic conglomerates (Formations Shinarump and Chaynl in Ariz.), Jade, jade and jade - in serpentinite in pieces. Wyoming, Alaska and California.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. The World natural resources

 

Natural resources are natural materials found on earth that is useful for humans in some way (Kleeman 1997) They can be divided into categories. Diagram 1 shows the 4 types of natural resources and an example of each. From the above we can see that coal is an example of an exhaustible resource, this means there exists a finite stocks. These resources are non renewable in the ascertainable future. Renewable resources, have the potential to be renewed.

Forests will be replenished over time after they have been harvested for human needs either naturally if left alone to do so, or with human help in the form of plantations in an alternate area. Renewability is then often dependent on proper management over time. Recyclable resources are also renewable but can recycled indefinitely through reprocessing. These resources will not always come back in the same form after undergoing recycling. Glass bottles can be recycled into furniture, windows, ornaments, etc. Continuous resources are continually renewable. Solar energy will always exist and can be harnessed and used without concern for recycling or replenishment time. It can be said that it will never be finite and the supply will always be greater than the demand.

 

Natural Resource: Uranium

A variety issues arise when uranium is found, extracted, processed, consumed, and disposed of. Management strategies are in place to combat these issues. Environmental Issues The use of uranium produces waste has an impact on the environment. Waste produced is radioactive and therefore hazardous, depending on the waste’s level of radioactivity and half life it will remain hazardous for a long period of time. The environmental issue effecting uranium is waste disposal. The view below is from Pangia Resources, a US company that seeks to dispose of nuclear waste in outback Australia. “nuclear waste is a problem that won’t go away, that the best known way of dealing with it is putting it somewhere in stable   rocks, that these rocks must be away from population centres.

The burial of waste, in the short term has been a suitable method but in the long term proves to be uncertain. There are always risks of the radioactive waste leeching out into the soil and impact on the biophysical environment.

Unless a proven long term method of waste disposal is developed, uranium will loose resource value as demand decreases due to environmental and concerns.

Social Issues The Mirrar of the Northern Territory are concerned about the Jabaluka uranium development, and any development that impacts on their cultural sacred sites and traditional way of life.