Search

Resource managers and agencies involved with planning for future federal land needs are required to complete an assessment of and forecast for future land use every ten years. Predicting mining activities on federal lands is difficult as current regulations do not require disclosure of exploration results. In these cases, historic mining claims may serve as a useful proxy for determining where mining-related activities may occur. We assess the utility of using a space-time cube (STC) and associated analyses to evaluate and characterize mining claim activities around the McDermitt Caldera in northern Nevada and southern Oregon. The most significant advantage of arranging the mining claim data into a STC is the ability to visualize and compare the data, which allows scientists to better understand patterns and results. Additional analyses of the STC (i.e., Trend, Emerging Hot Spot, Hot Spot, and Cluster and Outlier Analyses) provide extra insights into the data and may aid in predicting future mining claim activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the history, geology and mineralogy of the fissure veins of Keweenaw County in the Michigan Copper County. The deposits in the fissure veins that established the discovery and development of the amygdaloidal and conglomerate loads, is the precursor of the first mining rush in the U.S. The mining site, before its closure produced million pounds of copper in its 132-year of operation. Other details about Keweenaw County as a mining site are also presented.

Cadmium is intimately connected to Idaho through mining practices and other emissions of this toxic metal into the environment. Since aquatic organisms can serve as bioindicators to assess the possible impact of heavy metal contaminants, we used liver (AlLW1), gonadal (RTG-2), and gill (RTgiIl-W1) cell lines derived from rainbow trout to investigate cadmium-induced cytotoxicity. We hypothesize RTgill-W1 cells, which are frequently exposed to heavy metal contaminants, are more resistant to cadmium compared to RTL-W1 or RTG-2 cells. Cells were exposed to 200 pM or 500 pM cadmium chloride (CdCI2) for 0, 3, 12, 24 or 48 hours. Parameters assessed were cell morphology by phase-contrast microscopy, loss of adherence, and viability using a trypan blue exclusion assay. RTgill-W1 cells were more resistant to 200 pM CdCl2 compared to RTL-W1 and RTG-2 cells. When exposed to 500 μM CdCl2, RTgillWi remained more resistant (29.2 % viability), followed by RTG-2 (8.4% viability), and RTL-W1 cells (1.0% viability) at 48 hours. For comparison, we examined the effect of cadmium exposure on primary gill cells isolated from live rainbow trout to the lRTgill-W1 cell line. There was no difference in viability between RTgill-W1 and primary gill cells exposed to 200 pM CdCl2. When exposed to 500 pM CdCl2, primary gill cells were more resistant compared to RTgill-W1 cells. Collectively, RTgill-W1 and primary gill cells are more resistant to cadmium than RTL-W1 or RTG-2. This differential sensitivity to cadmium provides a model for elucidating the intracellular mechanisms by which cells respond to and protect against cadmium's toxic action. Furthermore, this research illustrates the importance of using multiple cell lines to access cytotoxicity in response to heavy metal contaminants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accurate determination of the transport and fate of pollutants through an aquifer begins with a complete understanding of the complexities of the hydraulic conductivity in that aquifer. Slug tests have been a popular method to define in situ hydraulic conductivity in an aquifer. However, traditional slug tests will provide information about the hydraulic conductivity across the entire screened interval of a well and not provide information about variations that may exist in the vertical direction. Equipment was developed that allowed multi-level slug tests to be conducted at discrete intervals within fully screened 5-cm (2 in) diameter wells. Ten such wells at the Geohydrologic and Experiment Monitoring Site were tested in order to provide a more complete spatial definition of the hydraulic conductivity and to determine the utility of the double-packer apparatus for such studies. Results from multi-level slug tests produced vertical profiles of hydraulic conductivity throughout each well's screened interval. These vertical profiles provided information about spatial variations in hydraulic conductivity, when they were incorporated into cross-sections and a 3-D fence diagram. This research determined the greatest complexity in hydraulic conductivity in a northeast to southwest trend across the study site. Techniques presented here are valuable tools for greater definition of the hydraulic conductivity distribution in similar hydraulic settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the "Conference on Sustainable Mining and the United Nations Framework Classification (UNFC): Challenges and Opportunities in India" that was held in New Delhi, India on October 29-30, 2013. Topics discussed included implementing sustainable mine plans, understanding UNFC in Indian context and cadastre computerization activities. The conference featured Indian minister of mines R.H. Khwaja and Naresh Kumar, and David MacDonald, an employee from United Nations.

The article discusses situation for prospecting and related suggestions for the Xiushan Manganese Ore in the southeast of Chongqing City in China, and mentions that manganese ore is one of the superior minerals of the city. Suggestions include strengthening the metallogenic theory research, need of need a large-scale mining geological survey, and intensifying the periphery of old mines and deep prospecting work.