Prerequisite: GY311
Course status: Core
Credit Rating: 8 credits
Total hours spent: 80 hours[30 hours lectures, 30 hours practicals, 20 hours independent study]
Course Objective(s)
o To equip students with sound knowledge and skills for recognition, characterization, and identification of common ore minerals encountered in different metallic ores, using the principles of ore microscopy and petrography; and
o To enable students understand the practical use of ore microscopy in geological studies and industrial applications.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
o Confidently set up and operate an ore- microscope for petrographical examination of metallic ores.
o Systematically determine key optical properties of common ore minerals in polished sections and identify individual minerals under the microscope.
o Recognize and distinguish primary and secondary mineral textures and their bearing/implication in ore genesis and mineral processing; and
o Elucidate the use of ore microscopy in geological studies and industrial applications.
Course Structure
General Introduction-Ore microscopy Principles and Techniques; Polished Sections under the Microscope: Ore and Gangue Minerals; Ore Minerals Characterization - Qualitative & Quantitative Properties; Morphological and Structural Properties; Qualitative Properties Dependent on Hardness; Properties Dependent on Mineral-Light Interaction – Optical Properties; Ore Mineral Textures; Ore Mineral Paragenesis; Ore Microscopy Complimentary Techniques; and Applications of Ore Microscopy.
Course Content
Introduction-Ore microscopy Principles and Techniques; Sample Preparation for Ore Microscopy; Effects of Light Interaction with Ore Minerals in Polished Sections; Qualitative and Quantitative Properties of Ore Minerals and Their uses in Mineral Identification; Morphological and Structural Properties: Crystal form and habit; Cleavage and parting; Twinning: growth, inversion, deformation twinning; Properties Dependent on Hardness: polishing hardness, scratch hardness, micro-indentation hardness; Optical Properties of Ore Minerals under Plane Polarized Light and Crossed Polars: reflection colour, pleochroism, reflectance, bireflectance, anisotropism, internal reflections; Ore Mineral Textures and Paragenesis: primary and secondary textures, magmatic, sedimentary and metamorphic textures; determination of mineral paragenesis; Ore Microscopy Complimentary Techniques: Electron Microprobe EDS and WDS analysis; Ore Microscopy Applications: geological studies and ore genesis, mineral beneficiation and other industrial applications.
Assessment
Coursework 40%, Final Examination 60%.
Key Textbooks:
1. Craig J.R. and Vaughan J.D. (1994). Ore Microscopy and Ore Petrography (2nd Ed.) John Wiley and Sons, New York; 448 p.
2. Ineson P.R. (2013). Introduction to Practical Ore Microscopy (Longman Earth Science Series, 1st Ed.); Routledge Publishers, New York, USA; 192p.
3. Pracejus B. (2016). The Ore Minerals under the Microscope (2nd Ed.) An Optical Guide-Textures, Optical Characteristics and Mineral Descriptions, pp. 9-51. Elsevier B.V., Netherlands.
4. Uytenbogaardt U., Burke E.A.J. (1985). Tables for Microscopic Identification of Ore Minerals. Courier Corporation, 430p.
5. Ramdohr P. (1969). The Ore Minerals and their Intergrowth. Elsevier; 1174p.
6. Augustithis S.S. (1995). Atlas of the Textural Patterns of the Ore Minerals and Metallogenic Processes. Walter de Gruyer and Co., Berlin.