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Geology News
Metals Current Events

Uranium is enriched using a centrifuge, where the heavier uranium is removed. The more enriched the metal is, the easier it becomes to remove any remaining heavy atoms. This article briefly explains the process and why it is pertinent to Iran’s current enrichment activities.

PNL.gov Image

Some bacteria have iron respiration, meaning they “inhale” iron instead of oxygen. These bacteria could be used in a variety of applications, such as creating energy from organic waste, or to remove uranium and oil pollution.

Revisit the top ten archaeological stories of 2009, as featured in Archaeology magazine. Topics include artifacts in Ucupe, Peru; ancient irrigation canals near Tucson, Arizona; a treasure trove of silver and gold war items in Staffordshire, England; the Popol Veh panels of El Mirador, Guatemala; the Egyptian menagerie at Hierakonpolis; Phanagorian coins, and more.

Some analysts believe that the price of gold could go to $2000 in 2010, fueled by inflationary fiscal policies, strong central bank demand, strong investor demand, a weak dollar and a decline in gold mine production.

Nanotechnology has made it possible to turn a regular piece of paper into a battery. Miniscule tubes and wires can be combined with ink and applied to the paper to create a light and flexible battery with many possible applications. This article includes a short video that explains the process.

Rising gold prices have excited the public about owning the metal. The US Mint produces a one ounce gold coin and sells it to the public for a few hundred dollars over the price of contained gold. They can’t keep them in stock.

Related Article: Uses of Gold

The price of gold rose above $1130 an ounce for the first time ever today. A decline in the value of the dollar is thought to be the trigger for higher prices for gold and other precious metals.

On Friday, the price of gold rose to $1,101.90, an all-time record high. Some investors speculate that foreign banks may be purchasing gold to reduce their risk of holding US dollars.

“A financial analysis of the global copper market predicts uncertainty in the short term but the possibility of “severe shortages and much higher prices” in the longer term.” Quoted from the Arizona Geology Blog.

Scott Kleine of Great Basin Minerals shares a few photos from his visit to a working gold trommel at a location near Sumpter, Oregon.

Related: Uses of Gold.

Lots of people are extremely interested in uranium exploration and mining projects in Arizona and Colorado. Lee Alison links to a number of news articles here, and here, and here from his Arizona Geology Blog.

Kuensel Online, Bhutan’s daily news site, reports that the Department of Geology and Mines in Bhutan is in discussions with foreign interests who would like to have exploration rights to the entire country.

Mercury is a global pollutant that ultimately makes its way into every aquatic ecosystem through the hydrologic cycle. USGS published a study that examined mercury in top-predator fish, bed sediment, and water from streams across the United States.

Some locations in Asia and Africa are being used as dump sites for other countries’ unwanted electronics. This is causing contamination issues in these areas, as well as health problems for people who explore the dumps in search of precious metals.

An X-ray laser was successfully able to cause an aluminum sample to become transparent. While the effect lasted only briefly, scientists believe they have created a new form of matter.

The United States Government is looking for a place to store thousands of tons of mercury. There are suitable locations in Washington, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, South Carolina, Nevada, and Texas – but not surprisingly, most people don’t want a toxic substance in their area.

An article at GSA Journals (pdf) reports that United States universities do not have a vigorous program for economic geology. Many economic geology professors are no longer active in the field and fewer than 40 graduate-level economic geologists are graduating each year. That is the status for a nation that has a very high demand for metals and a declining resource base.

USGS has published a Fact Sheet on copper. It includes information on the uses of copper, how it forms, supply, demand and future projections.

Did you know that copper consumption in the United States is declining but consumption in India and China is rising rapidly?

A 2,000-year-old bronze sculpture, found underwater off the coast of Croatia, is helping scientists learn more about biomineralization. This article has in-depth information on the chemical processes that have affected it over the years.

The shapes and colors that you see in an aerial fireworks display do not happen by chance. They are deliberately produced by clever people who apply principles of art, chemistry, physics and math.

The banded iron formations are thought to contain twenty times more oxygen than is currently in Earth’s atmosphere – yet these formations were deposited when Earth’s atmosphere was not rich in oxygen. How did this occur?

This picture slideshow features 10 famous shipwrecks. Some of the treasures found in the ships include copper ingots, elephant tusks, gold coins, silver coins, pearls, satin, silks, and more.

Diamonds sometimes acquire trapped traces of platinum group elements such as platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, osmium and iridium when they are formed. “When these elements are encapsulated as mineral inclusions in diamonds, their unique isotopic ’signatures’ help geologists determine where the diamonds were formed and how old they are.” Quoted from the NSF release.

The Iron Mountain Mine in California was one of the largest copper mines in the world in the early 1900’s. Since then it has discharged some of the world’s worst water. Now there could be superfund money to clean it up.

Manganese and iron, along with other useful metals, are prevalent on Earth’s seabeds. This article explains how these materials formed nodules and crusts by biomineralization.