Nanoscale geochemistry of critical elements; applications for mineral exploration and recovery from secondary sources

Global demand for critical elements is rapidly increasing, driven by the need to transition to renewable forms of energy and combat anthropogenic climate change. Critical element demand can be met through two sources; mining new ore deposits, and recovery from secondary sources including waste. The development of new analytical methods can lead to the discovery of new ore deposits, as well as improve characterization of potential secondary sources. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the nanogeochemistry of critical elements in both mineral exploration and resource recovery contexts. Single particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (spICP-MS) is employed in Chapter 2 to improve characterization of mineral nanoparticles with respect to their size distributions and elemental compositions. A proof of concept study is presented in Chapter 3, which demonstrated that gold and silver NPs could be detected in stream sediments by spICP-MS, and were related to upstream mineralization. This work is expanded in Chapter 4, where a stream sediment survey of the concealed Sundance gold deposit was conducted, and results of conventional geochemistry are compared with spICP-MS. In Chapter 5, the multi-elemental capability of spICP-Time-of-Flight-MS is employed to investigate mineral chemistry in nanoparticles in a mineral exploration context. Chapters 6 and 7 present studies related to critical element recovery from two secondary sources; acid mine drainage, and dredged material. Continued study of critical element nanogeochemistry, and development of spICP-MS can further efforts to explore for both conventional and unconventional resources.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Chemistry

Grantor dc:publisher

Colorado School of Mines. Arthur Lakes Library

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Goodman, Aaron J.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Ranville, James F.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Singha, Kamini
• Navarre-Sitchler, Alexis K.
• Doherty, Mary
• Chang, Zhaoshan

• acid mine drainage
• dredged material
• mineral chemistry
• mineral exploration
• nanogeochemistry
• single particle ICP-MS

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright of the original work is retained by the author.

Language dc:language.iso

eng, English

Dc Identifier Other

T 9729

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.mines.edu:11124/179339