UNIVERSITY OF UTAH COLLEGE OF MINES AND EARTH SCIENCES DEPARTMENT OF METALLURGICAL ENGINEERING

MET E 1610 (Introduction to Extractive Metallurgy) Assignment #1

Due September 4, 2012 1. Approximately what quantity of mineral products will need to be mined to support each

person born in the USA over their lifetime? 2. What is the concentration of copper in the earth’s crust? 3. Name three useful rocks or soils types. 4. Define the terms: mineral, gangue and ore

5. List three industries (other than mineral extraction industries) that utilize particle separation

technologies. 6. List three industries (other than mineral extraction industries) that utilize chemical separation

technologies. 7. List five the most important particle properties 8. What are the densities of gypsum, chalcopyrite and hematite, respectively? 9. List three minerals that contain iron and are conductive? 10. Give the names and chemical formulas for the primary source minerals for copper, iron, lead,

zinc, tin, nickel, silver, titanium and gold.

11. Calculate the weight percentage of copper in chalcopyrite. 12. Calculate the weight percentage of titanium in ilmenite. 13. Calculate the weight and value of platinum, rhodium and palladium used in the 9 million

catalytic converters produced by General Motors in 2004 if each catalytic converter on average contains 1.5 g of platinum, 3.5 g of palladium and 0.3 g of rhodium. Spot prices on 8/29/2012 for Pt, Pd and Rh are $1527.5/troy ounce, $634.5/troy ounce and $110/troy ounce, respectively.