• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.7
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• pp.2418-2425
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• 2021

Monazite is a phosphate mineral that contains thorium (Th) and rare earth elements. The Th concentration in monazite can be as high as 500 ppm, and it has the potential to be used as fuel in the nuclear power system. Therefore, this study aimed to conduct the techno-economic analysis (TEA) of Th extraction in the form of thorium oxide (ThO₂) from monazite. Th can be extracted from monazite through an alkaline fusion method. The TEA of ThO₂ production studied parameters, including raw materials, equipment costs, total plant direct and indirect costs, and direct fixed capital cost. These parameters were calculated for the production of 0.5, 1, and 10 ton ThO₂ per batch. The TEA study revealed that the highest production cost was ascribed to installed equipment. Furthermore, the highest return on investment (ROI) of 21.92% was achieved for extraction of 1 ton/batch of ThO₂, with a payback time of 4.56 years. With further increase in ThO₂ production to 10 ton/batch, the ROI was decreased to 5.37%. This is mainly due to a significant increase in the total capital investment with increasing ThO₂ production scale. The minimum unit production cost was achieved for 1 ton ThO₂/batch equal to 335.79 $/Kg ThO₂.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.263-272
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• 2013

The Taebaegsan region and its vicinities mainly consist of Precambrian granitic gneisses and Cambrian meta-sedimentary rocks. And lots of leucocratic(alkali) granites smaller than the stocks are found here and there. Therefore the presence of leuco-granites is not properly described yet in the former studies. For the effective distinction of several granitic rocks, outcrop characteristics, mineral identification, and petro-chemical properties were studied. Some part of granitc gneisses could be classified into typical metamorphic rocks such as migmatites and banded gneisses. And some shows rather dark appearance with gray quartz and feldspars, and others two mica granites, leucocratic ones etc. But all of leucocratic granites of the region usually show bright milky white to beige color. Since they mainly consist of quartz, feldspars, muscovite, and small amounts of sericites, amphiboles, tourmaline and lepidolite. And all of alkali granites belong to the calc-alkalic, peraluminous and S-type in character. During magmatic differentiation of leucocratic granites, CaO and total Fe contents are clearly decreased than those of the older granitic rocks. On the other hand, magmatic evolution also had induced the greisenization and albitization which enriched the relative amounts of alkali elements such as $K_2O$ and $Na_2O$.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.743-753
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• 2020

This study analyzed heavy metal concentration, mineral composition, and spectral characteristics of heavy metal contaminated soil samples of cropland and rice field located in downstream of abandoned Okdong coal mine. X-ray fluorescence analysis detected heavy metal elements including cadmium, copper, arsenic, lead, zinc and nickel in the soils. Both cropland and rice field samples were severely contaminated with arsenic showing higher concentration over the concerned standard. The pollution index of cropland samples was higher than that of rice field samples. X-ray powder diffraction analysis identified that the mineral composition of cropland and rice field samples is similar with quartz, calcite, kaolinite, illite, smectite, magnetite and hematite. The range of organic matter content were more widely distributed in cropland samples. The spectral analysis showed that the reflectance spectra and the absorption features of cropland and rice field samples were alike. The absorption features that appeared near 490nm and 900nm were attributed to the ferric iron, and clay minerals such as kaolinite and smectite caused the absorption features at 1410nm, 1910nm and 2200nm. The reflectance of the soil spectral decreased with an increase in organic content. The absorption depths of both types of soil samples decreased with higher organic matter content at 490nm and 1916nm as well as higher heavy metal concentration.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.277-283
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• 1989

For the study of attenuation phenomena of the radioactive elements in solution, the adsorption experiment of thorium, uranium, barium and strontium on kaolinite, gibbsite, quartz, granite and shale as a function of time, pH and the surface area was conducted under the competition condition each other. There are two steps of adsorption kinetics. The first step is faster and completes in hours or a day, and the second step is slower eqiulibrium reaction. The adsorption rate which is considered to be related to CEC differs with adsorbent and decreases in the order of shale, kaolinite, granite, gibbsite and quartz. On the other hand, the adsorption rate for the same adsorbent differs with elements in the order of thorium,uranium, barium and strontium in decreasing rate. It is also affected by pH of the solution and the surface area of adsorbent. In conclusion, we didn't find any different between noncompetition condition and competition condition, and this means that we only have to consider the pH of ground water, the characteristics of the geological materials and the kinds of radioactive element in the case of selection of the places for the radioactive waste disposal.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.69-75
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• 1990

An ion-association chromatography was applied for the separation and determination of individual rare earth elements (REE) contained in mineral monazite. Prior to the determination, the group separation of REE was achieved by a cation exchange column of Dowex 5OW-X8 resin. The quantitative recovery of REE by the resin column, free from coexisting elements in monazite, was confirmed with radioactive tracers as well as with ICP-MS. Individual REE at ppm level was separated on reversed-phase column ($\mu$-Bondapak $C_{18}$) using gradient elution from 0.05 to 0.3 M $\alpha$-hydroxyisobutyric acid at pH 4.6. The individual REE was detected at 546 nm following post-column reaction with PAR (4-(2-pyridylazo)-resorcinol monosodium salt).

• Journal of The Geomorphological Association of Korea
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.19-42
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• 2018

In this study, we surveyed weathering progressing aspect by major elements variation and rock hardness by using XRF analysis, schmidt hammer, and thin section analysis. This observation suggested that the weathering process is likely to develop differently according to microstructural characteristics. R-value on the inside wall are lower than those on the outside. Also, the shadier the environment was, the closer it was to inshore areas, the R-value appeared to be lower. The movement of the elements such as Ca, Na and K shows that feldspar is hydrolyzed and can form salt crystallization like a gypsum or halite when they combine with the elements such as S or Cl. It proved a high CaO, $Na_2O$ and $K_2O$ content on flaking inside wall and rock meal. The exfoliation was mainly observed along the shady backwall and ceiling of tafoni. This helped in predicting the growth of tafoni as well as the direction of its progress.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.781-797
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• 2023

Recently, there has been a rapid response from mineral-demanding countries for securing critical minerals in a high tech industries. Graphite, while overwhelmingly dominated by China in production, is changing in global supply due to the exponential growth in EV battery sector, with active exploration in East Africa. Rare earth elements are essential raw materials widely used in advanced industries. Globally, there are ongoing developments in the production of REEs from three main deposit types: carbonatite, laterite, and ion-adsorption clay types. While China's production has decreased somewhat, it still maintains overwhelming dominance in this sector. Recent changes over the past few years include the rapid emergence of Myanmar and increased production in Vietnam. Nickel has been used in various chemical and metal industries for a long time, but recently, its significance in the market has been increasing, particularly in the battery sector. Worldwide, nickel deposits can be broadly classified into two types: laterite-type, which are derived from ultramafic rocks, and ultramafic hosted sulfide-type. It is predicted that the development of sulfide-type, primarily in Australia, will continue to grow, while the development of laterite-type is expected to be promoted in Indonesia. This is largely driven by the growing demand for nickel in response to the demand for lithium-ion batteries. The global lithium ores are produced in three main types: brine lake (78%), rock/mineral (19%), and clay types (3%). Rock/mineral type has a slightly higher grade compared to brine lake type, but they are less abundant. Chile, Argentina, and the United States primarily produce lithium from brine lake deposits, while Australia and China extract lithium from both brine lake and rock/mineral sources. Canada, on the other hand, exclusively produces lithium from rock/mineral type. Vanadium has traditionally been used in steel alloys, accounting for approximately 90% of its usage. However, there is a growing trend in the use for vanadium redox flow batteries, particularly for large-scale energy storage applications. The global sources of vanadium can be broadly categorized into two main types: vanadium contained in iron ore (81%) produced from mines and vanadium recovered from by-products (secondary sources, 18%). The primary source, accounting for 81%, is vanadium-iron ores, with 70% derived from vanadium slag in the steel making process and 30% from ore mined in primary sources. Intermediate vanadium oxides are manufactured from these sources. Vanadium deposits are classified into four types: vanadiferous titanomagnetite (VTM), sandstone-hosted, shale-hosted, and vanadate types. Currently, only the VTM-type ore is being produced.

• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.323-336
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• 2023

We investigated the nickel potential and genesis of ultramafic rocks in the Yugu area to secure nickel resources in South Korea. The Yugu ultramafic rocks, located in the southwest of the Gyeonggi Massif, are characterized by spinel peridotite and exhibit strong serpentinization along their boundaries. The serpentinization is observed as olivine transformed to antigorite and chrysotile, while pentlandite, the nickel sulfide mineral, altered into millerite and awaruite. Serpentine displays distinct foliation, aligning subparallel to the ultramafic rock boundaries and foliation of Yugu gneiss. This suggests that the uplift of ultramafic rocks resulted in hydrothermal infiltration likely sourced from the Yugu gneiss metamorphism. The Yugu ultramafic rocks are residues after 5~18% partial melting of abyssal peridotite. Enriched light rare earth elements and Eu imply secondary metasomatism. Geochemistry suggests a link between the formation of Yugu ultramafic rock and the Triassic collision of the North and South China continents. The nickel content is around 0.17~0.21%, mainly contained in olivine and serpentine. Hence, in addition to the mineral processing study on the sulfide minerals, focused studies on oxide minerals for enhanced nickel recovery within the Yugu ultramafic rock are strongly suggested.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.31-39
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• 2017

The primary purpose of this research is to understand those elements that define heavy metals contamination and to propose a novel assessment method based on principal component analysis (PCA) in the Yangping River region of Lingbao City, China. This paper makes detailed calculations regarding such factors the single-factor assessment ($P_i$) and Nemerow's multi-factor index ($P_N$) of heavy metals found in the surface water of the Yangping River. The maximum values of $P_i$ (Cd) and $P_i$ (Pb) were determined to be 892.000 and 113.800 respectively. The maximum value of $P_N$ was calculated to be 639.836. The results of Pearson's correlation analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis, and PCA indicated heavy metal groupings as follows: Cu, Pb, Zn and As, Hg, Cd. The PCA-based pollution index ($P_{an}$) of samplings was subsequently calculated. The relative coefficient square was valued at 0.996 between $P_{an}$ and $P_N$, which indicated that $P_{an}$ is able to serve as a new heavy metal pollution index; not only this index able to eliminate the influence of the maximum value of $P_i$, but further, this index contains the principal component elements needed to evaluate heavy metal pollution levels.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.71-78
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• 1996

This experiments were conducted using color films for investigation of suitable light environment on the growth of Allium senescens var. minor. The results obtained were as follows ; In characteristics of light transmittance of the color films tested, it shows that glass and transparent film passed nearly all visible rays, but the other films were reduced and filtered certain wavelength of light. On the tested films, the light transmittance amount of transparent film and green film were the greatest, 75.5% and smallest, 13.2% based on the glass 100%, respectively. The growth of Allium senescens var. minor increased at transparent, yellow and pink film, but decreased at blue and green film. It shows that the greatest chlorophyll content was founded in the blue film, 0.27mg/g, the smallest founded in the yellow film, 0.16mg/g. The content of mineral elements was founded that the green film was the highest at N, P, K, Ca, Mg, but the orange and pink film were the lowest at P, K and N, Ca, Mg, respectively.