The New Zealand mineral industry has become increasingly important to the country's economy and our way of life. It provides jobs, export earnings, and an increasing range of products which we use in our everyday life. We take many of these things for granted, but it is worth remembering that everything which isn't grown is mined, and that nearly every product we use contains minerals, or is manufactured with machines or tools that contain minerals.

In this assignment you will investigate a mineral resource in New Zealand, find out where the resource is, how it is mined, what it is used for, and how the area is rehabilitated.

Much of this information is available on this website, but you should also research and select information from other sources: books, magazines, other websites and the industries themselves.

Once you have decided which mineral resource to investigate you should also decide how you will present your information. Your style of presentation will affect the type of information you collect. Will you present your information as a written report? a poster? a seminar? a hypercard stack? a video?

As you collect your information take care to sift and select. You won't need all the material you collect, and you won't get marks just for cutting and pasting from a website, or copying from a library book.

Some mineral resources in New Zealand, and some information to get you started:

Coal

• The single biggest use for coal in New Zealand is steel making. Two thirds of coal mined in the Waikato is used in this industry. Coal is also used as an energy source for export industries such as forestry, dairy, and meat producing and cement industries, as well as commercial and home heating.
• Nearly six million tonnes of coal are produced each year. About three million tonnes of coal are exported.

Gold

• Most gold mined in New Zealand is exported (along with silver). The international demand for gold by industry, particularly for use in fabrication and electronics, is increasing and now exceeds total mine production by about 40%.
• Industry now consumes more than 200 tonnes (6 million ounces) of gold each year and this is growing at an annual rate of 8%. The use of gold in the electronics industry is growing strongly.
• In addition to its value for jewellery, gold has a variety of other uses including medicine, telecommunications, and colour and photographic film.

Silver

• Silver, which is produced together with gold in some hard rock mines, is also used for jewellery (and silverware), electronics and medicine.
• However, due to the extreme light sensitivity of silver compounds, silver's main use throughout the world is in photography.

Ironsand

• Ironsand is mined for steelmaking in New Zealand and for export to steel makers overseas.
• Steel made from ironsands is used to manufacture roofing for houses, cutlery and kitchen utensils, aeroplanes and cars.
• Small amounts are used in glazing - glass and ceramics.

Tungsten

• We do not produce tungsten in this country, but it is an important metal in a variety of areas. In New Zealand tungsten is used as tungsten carbide, an extremely hard material from which machine tools subject to intense wear and abrasion are made. It also has a variety of other industrial uses especially in electronics and lighting.

Non-Metallic (Industrial) Minerals

• From cardboard to ink, cosmetics to pesticides, aircraft runways to vanity units, New Zealand's industrial minerals play a key role in a vast range of industries. They are all too often overlooked as they disappear when combined with other materials. Industrial minerals are produced throughout New Zealand and are used for making glass, steel, paper, paint, carpet, and many other manufactured goods.

Aggregates

• Aggregates (sand, gravel, and rock) are the most widely used mineral products - about nine tonnes are used per person each year in New Zealand.
• Road making, building, and construction consume most of the aggregates mined in New Zealand.

Amorphous Silica

• A non-crystalline form of silica that forms by the action of naturally forming sulphuric acid on quartz-rich rocks near active thermal areas.
• Used as a cement additive to improve the strength anf chemcial resistance of concrete.

Clays

• Sodium montmorillonite. Sound like a bit of a mouthful? In fact occasionally it quite literally is, when used in the production of beer and wine, and that's when it's not being used in laundry detergent, sunburn cream, drilling mud or children's crayons. This clay is also known as bentonite.
• Clays including bentonite; halloysite and kaolin are used in the manufacture of bricks, tiles, pipes and pottery (plates, cups, etc), and as filters in the manufacture of paper, paint, pharmaceutical and animal health products.

Diatomite

• A sedimentary rock that is made from ther remains of diatoms – microscopic plants that settle in the bed of lakes and the sea to form a lightweight rock.
• Used mainly for making filters and as a fertiliser additive.

Dolomite

• Dolomite is used in agriculture and home gardening, and glass making.

Halloysite Clay

• A specialised clay mineral produced near Matauri Bay in Northand. It is processed to make a very white high value material that is exported to manufacturers of high quality ceramics in more than 20 countries.

Limestone

• Limestone is used in cement manufacture, agriculture, roading, and pottery.
• High quality limestone and marble are used as fillers in the paint, glass, rubber, plastics, and paper industries.

Perlite

• Perlite is used to manufacture insulating boards, potting mix, and light-weight concrete.

Pumice

• Most of New Zealand pumice was formed during volcanic eruptions in the Rotorua-Taupo area during the last 20,000 years. It is used to manufacture wallboard, plaster, and lightweight concrete.

Salt

• Salt, from sea water, is harvested once a year at lake Grassmere near Blenheim and used in New Zealand.

Silica Sand

• Silica sand is used in bottle glass and window glass manufacture.
• Other uses include foundry sands and as a filler in the building industry.

Sulphur

• Sulphur is used as a fertiliser additive.

Zeolite

• Produced from several locations to the south of Rotroua
• A group of minerals with an open framework structure that is highly absorbant.
• Processed to produce a range of products for use as an absorbant (e.g. per litter), a decontaminant for treating chemcial spills, and for making slow release fertilisers.

The Top Twelve Topics

1. Name the mineral, give its chemical formula, and describe its important physical or chemical properties.
2. Detail where the mineral is found in New Zealand.
3. Explain how and when the mineral was formed and why it exists in its current location.
4. Briefly describe the history of exploration and utilisation of the mineral.
5. Describe the process required to extract the resource from its surroundings.
6. Detail and discuss any environmental hazards associated with the extraction process, and explain the methods which are used to manage and minimise these hazards.
7. Describe any further processing which takes place.
8. Describe the important physical or chemical properties of the mineral after processing.
9. Describe the uses for the mineral after processing. Relate these uses to the mineral's important physical or chemical properties.
10. Detail any environmental programmes which have been put in place as part of the processing procedures. Give specific examples.
11. Evaluate the long term prospects for this mineral resource in New Zealand. What factors affect the future of the resource?
12. Describe and detail any advantages or disadvantages to: a.) the local community b.) the country as a whole in exploiting this mineral resource. Back up your statements with specific examples.
    
    

[coal]
[ironsands]
[JAGO]
[industrial minerals]
[aggregates]
[GNS]
[volcanoes]
[base & precious metals]
[rehabilitation]

[site map]
[overview]
[about NZMIA]
[minerals industry in New Zealand]
[resources for schools]
[research & development]
[mineral moments]
[what's new?]
[downoads]
[links to other sites]