• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.13-28
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• 2019

This study analyzed precipitation environment, heavy metal contamination, and mineral composition of white, reddish brown and mixed precipitates occurring at the Osip stream drainage, Gangwondo. Furthermore, spectral characteristics of the precipitates associated with heavy metal contamination and mineral composition was investigated based on spectroscopic analysis. The pH range of the precipitates was 4.43-6.91 for white precipitates, 7.74-7.94 for reddish brown precipitates, and 7.59-7.9 for the mixed precipitates, respectively. XRF analysis revealed that these precipitates were contaminated with Ni, Cu, Zn, and As. The white precipitates showed high Al concentration compared to reddish brown precipitates as much as 3.3 times, and the reddish brown precipitates showed high Fe concentration compared to white precipitates as much as 15 times. XRD analysis identified that the mineral composition of the white participates was aluminocoquimbite, gibbsite, quartz, saponite, and illite, and that of reddish brown precipitates was aluminum isopropoxide, kaolinite, goethite, dolomite, pyrophyllite, magnetite, quartz, calcite, pyrope. The mineral composition of the mixed precipitates was quartz, albite, and calcite. The spectral characteristics of the precipitates was manifested by gibbsite, saponite, illite for white precipitates, goethite, kaolinite, pyrophyllite for reddish brown precipitates, and albite for the mixed precipitates, respectively. The spectral reflectance of the precipitates decreased with increase in heavy metal contamination, and absorption depth of the precipitates indicated that the heavy metal ions were adsorbed to saponite and illite for white precipitates, and goethite and magnetite for reddish brown precipitates.

• Journal of the Geological Society of Korea
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.529-544
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• 2018

Dongrae hot spring belongs to the residual magma type and has a long history of bathing since the Silla dynasty in Korea. Due to long development of hot spring water, it is expected that the amount of hot spring water in Dongrae hot spring has been changed. In this study, long-trem water level data of Dongrae hot spring were examined for recognizing the change of the hot spring. By the fluctuation analysis of the hot spring water level from January 1992 to July 2018, the maximum and minimum annual drawdowns of no. 27 well were 137.70 and 71.60 meters, respectively, with an average drawdown of 103.39 m. On the other hand, the maximum and minimum annual drawdowns of no. 29 well were 137.80 and 71.70 meters, with an average drawdown of 103.49 m. Besides, drawdown rate became bigger in recent years. As a result of analyzing autocorrelation of the two wells, the correlation coefficient ranged from 0.919 to 0.991, showing seasonal groundwater level fluctuation. The cross correlation analysis between water level and precipitation as well as water level and hot spring discharge resulted in the correlation coefficients of -0.280 ~ 0.256 and 0.428 ~ 0.553, respectively. Therefore, using Dongnae hot-spring water level data from 1992 to 2018, the Mann-Kendall test and Sen's test showed that the continuous decline of water level was mainly caused by the pumping of the hot spring water among various reasons.

• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.193-208
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• 2021

The characteristics of the microcrack lengths(①), microcrack spacings(②) and Brazilian tensile strengths(③) related to the six directions of rock cleavages(H2~R1) in Geochang granite were analyzed. First, the 18 cumulative graphs for the above three major factors representing unique characteristics of the rock cleavages were made. Through the general chart for these graphs classified into three planes and three rock cleavages, the 28 parameters on the length, spacing and Brazilian tensile strength have been determined. The results of correlation analysis among these parameters are summarized as follows. Second, the above parameters were classified into six groups(I~VI) according to the sorting order on the magnitude of parameter values among three rock cleavages and three planes. The values of parameters belonging to group I and II are in order of R(rift) < G(grain) < H(hardway) and H < G < R. The values of the 8 parameters on the length of line(os₂, 𝚫s, 𝚫L and oS^mean), the exponent(λ_L^mean and λ_S^mean), the slope(a^mean) and the anisotropy coefficient (An^mean) are in order of R < G < H and H'(hardway plane) < G'(grain plane) < R'(rift plane). Third, the noticeable differences in distribution patterns among the six types of charts for three planes and three rock cleavages are as follows. From the chart for three planes, the values of 𝚫L, 𝚫s and 𝚫σ_t, corresponding to the distance between two points where the two fitting lines meet on the X-axis, increase in the order of R' < H' < G'. In particular, the two graphs of R2 and G2 related to the length and Brazilian tensile strength are almost parallel to each other and show the distribution characteristics of hardway plane. Among the graphs related to the Brazilian tensile strength, the overall shape for hardway plane is similar to that for grain. From the chart for three rock cleavages, the slopes of the graphs related to the length increase in the order of R < G < H, while those of the graphs related to the spacing and Brazilian tensile strength decrease in the order of R < G < H. Lastly, the characteristics of variation among the six rock cleavages, the three planes and the three rock cleavages were visualized through the correlation chart among the above parameters from this study.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.531-542
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• 2021

Open-pit mines require constant monitoring as they can cause surface changes and environmental disturbances. In open-pit mines, there is little vegetation at the mining site and can be monitored using InSAR (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar) coherence imageries. In this study, activities occurring in mine were analyzed by applying the recently developed InSAR coherence-based NDAI (Normalized Difference Activity Index). The March 5 Youth Mine is a North Korean mine whose development has been expanded since 2008. NDAI analysis was performed with InSAR coherence imageries obtained using Sentinel-1 SAR images taken at 12-day intervals in the March 5 Youth Mine. First, the area where the elevation decreased by about 75.24 m and increased by about 9.85 m over the 14 years from 2000 was defined as the mining site and the tailings piles. Then, the NDAI images were used for time series analysis at various time intervals. Over the entire period (2017-2019), average mining activity was relatively active at the center of the mining area. In order to find out more detailed changes in the surface activity of the mine, the time interval was reduced and the activity was observed over a 1-year period. In 2017, we analyzed changes in mining operations before and after artificial earthquakes based on seismic data and NDAI images. After the large-scale blasting that occurred on 30 April 2017, activity was detected west of the mining area. It is estimated that the size of the mining area was enlarged by two blasts on 30 September 2017. The time-averaged NDAI images used to perform detailed time-series analysis were generated over a period of 1 year and 4 months, and then composited into RGB images. Annual analysis of activity confirmed an active region in the northeast of the mining area in 2018 and found the characteristic activity of the expansion of tailings piles in 2019. Time series analysis using NDAI was able to detect random surface changes in open-pit mines that are difficult to identify with optical images. Especially in areas where in situ data is not available, remote sensing can effectively perform mining activity analysis.

• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2021

The Unsang gold deposit has been one of the three largest deposits (Daeyudong, Kwangyang) in Korea. The geology of this deposit consists of series of host rocks including Precambrian metasedimentary rock and Jurassic Porphyritic granite. The deposit consists of Au-bearing quartz veins which filled fractures along fault zones in Precambrian metasedimentary rock and Jurassic Porphyritic granite, which suggests that it is an orogenic-type deposit. Quartz veins are classified as 1) galena-quartz vein type, 2) pyrrhotite-quartz vein type, 3) pyrite-quartz vein type, 4) pegmatic quartz vein type, 5) muscovite-quartz vein type and 6) simple quartz vein type based on mineral assembles. The studied quartz vein is pyrite-quartz vein type which occurs as sericitization, chloritization and silicification. The white mica from stylolitic seams of laminated quartz vein occurs as fine or medium aggregate associated with white quartz, pyrite, chlorite, rutile, monazite, apatite, K-feldspar, zircon and calcite. The structural formular of white mica from laminated quartz vein is (K0.98-0.86Na0.02-0.00Ca0.01-0.00Ba0.01-0.00 Sr0.00)1.00-0.88(Al1.70-1.57Mg0.22-0.09Fe0.23-0.10Mn0.00Ti0.04-0.02Cr0.01-0.00V0.00Ni0.00)2.06-1.95 (Si3.38-3.17Al0.83-0.62)4.00O10(OH2.00-1.91F0.09-0.00)2.00. It indicated that white mica of laminated quartz vein has less K, Na and Ca, and more Si than theoretical dioctahedral micas. Compositional variations in white mica from laminated quartz vein are caused by phengitic or Tschermark substitution [(Al3+)VI+(Al3+)IV <-> (Fe2+ or Mg2+)VI+(Si4+)IV] and direct (Fe3+)VI <-> (Al3+)VI substitution. The structural formular of chlorite from laminated quartz vein is((Mg1.11-0.80Fe3.69-3.14Mn0.01-0.00Zn0.01-0.00K0.07-0.01Na0.01-0.00Ca0.04-0.01Al1.66-1.09)5.75-5.69 (Si3.49-2.96Al1.04-0.51)4.00O10 (OH)8. It indicated that chlorite of laminated quartz vein has more Si than theoretical chlorite. Compositional variations in chlorite from laminated quartz vein are caused by phengitic or Tschermark substitution (Al3+,VI+Al3+,IV <-> (Fe2+ or Mg2+)VI+(Si4+)IV) and octahedral Fe2+ <-> Mg2+ (Mn2+) substitution. Therefore, laminated quartz vein and alteration minerals of the Unsan Au deposit was formed during ductile shear stage of orogeny.

• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.349-359
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• 2020

The Ulsan Fault Zone (UFZ) of NNW trend is developed in the Gyeongsang Basin, the southeastern part of the Korean Peninsula, and the Quaternary faults have been found around the UFZ. The faults generally thrust the Bulguksa igneous rocks of Late Cretaceous-Early Tertiary upon the Quaternary deposits or are developed within the Quaternary deposits. They mainly show the reverse-slip sense of top-to-the west movement. The lines connecting the their outcrop sites show a zigzag-form which is similar to the orientation of their fault surfaces which show the various trends, like (W)NW, N-S, (E)NE, ENE trends. The E-W trending dextral strike(-slip) fault is found in the Quaternary deposits of the Singye-ri valley. It cuts the N-S trending reverse fault and are cut by the N-S trending thrust fault again. Two types of at least two times of Quaternary tectonic movements related to the formation of neotectonic fault zone in the Singye-ri valley are considered from such the geometric and kinematic characteristics of Quaternary faults. One is the reverse faulting of N-S trend by the E-W directed 1st compression and associated the strike-slip tear faulting of E-W trend, and then the thrust faulting of N-S trend by the E-W directed 2nd compression. The other is the reverse faulting of N-S trend, and then the dextral strike-slip faulting of E-W trend by the NW-SE directed compression, and then the thrust faulting of N-S trend. In this paper is suggested the development history of Singye-ri neotectonic fault zone on the basis of the various orientations of Quaternary fault surfaces around the UFZ, and the zigzag-form connecting line of their outcrop sites, and the compressive arc-shaped lineaments which convex to the west reported recently in the Yangsan Fault Zone.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.194-201
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• 2021

Induced polarization (IP) effect is known to be caused by electrochemical phenomena at interface between minerals and pore water. Spectral induced polarization (SIP) method is an electrical survey to localize subsurface IP anomalies while injecting alternating currents of multiple frequencies into the ground. This method was effectively applied to mineral exploration of various ore deposits. Titanomagnetite ores were being produced by a mining company located in Gonamsan area, Gwanin-myeon, Pocheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. Because the ores contain more than 0.4 w% vanadium, the ore deposit is called as Gwanin vanadiferous titanomagnetite (VTM) deposit. The vanadium is the most important of materials in production of vanadium redox flow batteries, which can be appropriately used for large-scale energy storage system. Systematic mineral exploration was conducted to identify presence of hidden VTM orebodies and estimate their potential resources. In geophysical exploration, laboratory geophysical measurement of rock samples is helpful to generate reliable property models from field survey data. Therefore, we performed laboratory SIP data of the rocks from the Gwanin VTM deposit to understand SIP characteristics between ores and host rocks and then demonstrate the applicability of this method for the mineral exploration. Both phase and resistivity spectra of the ores sampled from underground outcrop and drilling cores were different of those of the host rocks consisting of monzodiorite and quartz monzodiorite. Because the phase and resistivity at frequencies below 100 Hz are mainly dependent on the SIP characteristics of the rocks, we calculated mean values of the ores and the host rocks. The average phase values at 0.1 Hz were ores: -369 mrad and host rocks: -39 mrad. The average resistivity values at 0.1 Hz were ores: 16 Ωm and host rocks: 2,623 Ωm. Because the SIP characteristics of the ores were different of those of the host rocks, we considered that the SIP survey is effective for the mineral exploration in vanadiferous titanomagnetite deposits and the SIP characteristics are useful for interpreting field survey data.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.689-698
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• 2021

Since the mine reclamation scheme was implemented from 2007 in Korea, various remediation programs have been decontaminated the pollution associated with mining and 254 mines were managed to reclamation from 2011 to 2015. However, as the total amount of contaminated mine drainage has been increased due to the discovery of potential hazards and contaminated zone, more efficient and economical treatment technology is required. Therefore, in this study, the adsorption properties of arsenic was evaluated according to the adsorbents which were derived from water treatment sludge(Alum based adsorbent, ABA-500) and granular ferric hydroxide(GFH), already commercialized. The alum sludge and GFH adsorbents consisted of aluminum, silica materials and amorphous iron hydroxide, respectively. The point of zero charge of ABA-500 and GFH were 5.27 and 6.72, respectively. The result of the analysis of BET revealed that the specific surface area of GFH(257 m²·g^-1) was larger than ABA-500(126~136 m²·g^-1) and all the adsorbents were mesoporous materials inferred from N₂ adsorption-desorption isotherm. The adsorption capacity of adsorbents was compared with the batch experiments that were performed at different reaction times, pH, temperature and initial concentrations of arsenic. As a result of kinetic study, it was confirmed that arsenic was adsorbed rapidly in the order of GFH, ABA-500(granule) and ABA-500(3mm). The adsorption kinetics were fitted to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model for all three adsorbents. The amount of adsorbed arsenic was increased with low pH and high temperature regardless of adsorbents. When the adsorbents reacted at different initial concentrations of arsenic in an hour, ABA-500(granule) and GFH could remove the arsenic below the standard of drinking water if the concentration was below 0.2 mg·g^-1 and 1 mg·g^-1, respectively. The results suggested that the ABA-500(granule), a low-cost adsorbent, had the potential to field application at low contaminated mine drainage.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.56-65
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• 2022

Copper is one of the non-ferrous metals used in the electrical/electronic manufacturing industries due to its superior properties particularly the high conductivity and less resistivity. The effluent generated from the surface finishing process of these industries contains higher copper content which gets discharged in to water bodies directly or indirectly. This causes severe environmental pollution and also results in loss of an important valuable metal. To overcome this issue, continuous R & D activities are going on across the globe in adsorption area with the purpose of finding an efficient, low cost and ecofriendly adsorbent. In view of the above, present investigation was made to compare the performance of a plant root (Datura root powder) as a bio-adsorbent to that of the synthetic one (Tulsion T-42) for copper adsorption from such effluent. Experiments were carried out in batch studies to optimize parameters such as adsorbent dose, contact time, pH, feed concentration, etc. Results of the batch experiments indicate that 0.2 g of Datura root powder and 0.1 g of Tulsion T-42 showed 95% copper adsorption from an initial feed/solution of 100 ppm Cu at pH 4 in contact time of 15 and 30 min, respectively. Adsorption data for both the adsorbents were fitted well to the Freundlich isotherm. Experimental results were also validated with the kinetic model, which showed that the adsorption of copper followed pseudo-second order rate expression for the both adsorbents. Overall result demonstrates that the bio-adsorbent tested has a potential applicability for metal recovery from the waste solutions/effluents of metal finishing units. In view of the requirements of commercial viability and minimal environmental damage there from, Datura root powder being an effective material for metal uptake, may prove to be a feasible adsorbent for copper recovery after the necessary scale-up studies.

• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.283-298
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• 2022

In this study, we investigated the mineral geochemistry of the albite-spodumene pegmatite, associated exogreisen, and wall rock from the Boam Li deposit, Wangpiri, Uljin, Gyeongsangbuk-do, South Korea. The paragenesis of the Boam Li deposit consists of two stages; the magmatic and endogreisen stages. In the magmatic stage, pegmatite dikes mainly composed of spodumene, albite, quartz, and K-feldspar intruded into the Janggun limestone formation. In the following endogreisen stage, the secondary fine-grained albite along with muscovite, apatite, beryl, CGM(columbite group mineral), microlite, and cassiterite were precipitated and partly replaced the magmatic stage minerals. Exogreisen composed of tourmaline, quartz, and muscovite develops along the contact between the pegmatite dike and wall rock. The Cs contents of beryl and muscovite and Ta/(Nb+Ta) ratio of CGM are higher in the endogreisen stage than the magmatic stage, suggesting the involvement of the more evolved melts in the greisenization than in the magmatic stage. Florine-rich and Cl-poor apatite infer that the parental magma is likely derived from metasedimentary rock (S-type granite). P₂O₅ contents of albite in the endogreisen stage are below the detection limit of EDS while those of albite in the magmatic stage are 0.28 wt.% on average. The lower P₂O₅ contents of the former albite can be attributed to apatite and microlite precipitation during the endogreisen stage. Calcium introduced from the adjacent Janggun formation may have induced apatite crystallization. The interaction between the pegmatite and Janggun limestone is consistent with the gradual increase in Ca and other divalent cations and decrease in Al from the core to the rim of tourmaline in the exogreisen.