• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.4-17
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• 2021

This study analyzed 19 samples of harness fittings and pendants, which were excavated in Tomb No. 15 in Songhyeon-dong, Changnyeong. Harness fittings and pendants are used for ostentation, rather than practicality, and were excavated from ancient tombs in Gaya culture. So, they are considered artifacts that compare the production techniques and raw materials. This study aimed to examine the production techniques and provenience studies of Bihwa Gaya, which is estimated to be from the 5th to 6th centuries. According to the research, harness fittings were made of pure copper and were gilded with Au·Ag alloys on their surfaces. Hg was detected together and plated with a mercury amalgam method. As a result of the pendant (fish scales-pattern, oval and fish-tail shape), analysis showed that Fe in the background metal, Cu in the middle layer, and Au and Ag on the surface were the main components. The method of adhesion between Cu and Au·Ag gilded layers are plated by a mercury amalgamation method. So, it was identified by the gilt-iron·gold·bronze technique. Since the pendant (heart shaped) is found to be the main component of Fe in the background metal and Ag in the surface layer, the metal was made gilt-iron·silver technique. The background metal and gilding were additionally fixed using a rivet. The raw materials of 3 harnesses excavated from Changnyeong are plotted in zone 2 in the southern Korean Peninsula. And 16 harnesses were plotted in Chinese copper ore by Mabuchi Hishao in the Chinese Peninsula.

• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.57-67
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• 2021

The geology of the Iskaycruz project are mainly composed of sedimentary rocks within Cretaceous basin. The basal part is composed up of dark-gray shale, gray sandstone, and clastic rock of Oyon formation interbedded with coal measures. In the folded zone in the eastern part of the survey area, there is Chimu formation that has medium-grained massive and white quarztite. In terms of geological structure, the Iskaykruz region is located in the folded and overthrust zones of the central part of the Occidental Mountains. Ore body was formed by hydrothermal replacement process and consists of zinc, lead, silver, and copper. Stratabound-type deposits are hosted in limestone of Santa formation. It extends 12 kilometers discontinuously from northern Canaypata to southern Antapampa. Irregular iron oxide and sulfide minerals hosted in Santa and Parihuanca formations are observed. The mineralization observed on the surface consist of primary sulfides consisting of sphalerite with galena and chalcopyrite, and iron and manganese oxide produced from oxidation of primary sulfides. Skarn minerals are accompanied by tremolite, garnet, epidote and quartz.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.33-40
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• 2021

The objective of this work is to prove a possibility of void f illing through a carbonation f or the purpose of improving the quality of recycled aggregate. Carbonation can permanently immobilize CO2, which is a greenhouse gas, and thus provides additional benefit on environment. In this work, recycled fine aggregate was reacted using gaseous CO2 and supercritical CO2(scCO2) in a closed chamber, and the changes in physical properties of the recycled f ine aggregate bef ore and af ter carbonation were analyzed using the apparent density, skeletal density, pH, and FE-SEM measurements. Thereafter, a mortar specimen was prepared and a compressive strength was measured. According to the experimental results, it was found that the increase in the apparent density and the true density was higher by the reaction with scCO2, which was conducted at high temperature and high pressure compared to the reaction with gaseous CO2. In addition, the pH of the eluted water was found to have a larger initial decrease than that observed with samples from reaction by gaseous CO2. The shape and amount of calcium carbonate crystals were also found to be larger than that from gaseous CO2. The increase in compressive strength was the largest when using recycled fine aggregate reacted with scCO2. It was clear that quality improvement of recycled fine aggregate was higher with scCO2 than with gaseous CO2.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.73-77
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• 2021

Induced polarization (IP) is useful for mineral exploration and hydrogeological studies by visualizing the electrochemical reactions at the interface between polarized minerals and groundwater. Frequency-domain IP (FDIP) is not actively applied to field surveys because it takes longer to acquire data, despite its higher data quality than conventional time-domain IP. However, data quality is more important in current mineral exploration as the targets gradually shift to deep or low-grade ore bodies. In addition, the measurement time reduced by automated instrumentation increases the potential for FDIP field applications. Therefore, we demonstrate that FDIP can detect mineral exploration targets by performing geophysical logging in the boreholes of a skarn deposit, in South Korea. Alternating current (AC) resistivity, percent frequency effect (PFE) and metal factor (MF) were calculated from impedance values obtained at two different frequencies. Skarn zones containing magnetite or pyrite showed relatively low AC resistivity, high PFE, and high MF compared to other zones. Therefore, FDIP surveys are considered to be useful for mineral exploration.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.27-34
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• 2021

In this study, the leaching behavior of vanadium (V) was investigated through CaO roasting and sulfuric acid leaching from domestic V-bearing titanomagnetite (VTM). Changes in the phase according to the amount of CaO added and roasting temperature were analyzed. Regardless of the roasting conditions, perovskite (CaTiO₃) was preferred to form. When the CaO content was increased, the calcium ferrite (CaFeO_x) phase was formed; otherwise, ferrite (Fe₂O₃) was preferred. After CaO was roasted, leaching was performed for 6 h with 1M sulfuric acid at 50℃ and a 10% solid-liquid ratio. Results of leaching revealed that when the roasted product was sintered, V was not sufficiently oxidized, and the leaching efficiency decreased. In addition, when the roasting temperature was low, the leaching efficiency of V decreased due to the influence of unreacted excess CaO. To lower the leaching efficiency of iron and titanium in VTM concentrates, suppressing the formation of CaTiO₃ and CaFeO_x was necessary by minimizing the amount of CaO added. Consequently, a leaching efficiency of 86% V, 4.3% Fe, and 6.5% Ti was obtained when the roasted product of 1150℃ and 10 wt% CaO was leached.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.202-208
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• 2021

Induced polarization (IP) was first published in a Korean academic journal in 1973, and it was soon applied to coal and metal ore exploration. Then, in universities and research institutes, IP modeling studies using the finite element approach and experimental studies on IP responses for artificial samples were conducted. In the mid-1980s, the spectral IP (SIP) measurement module was introduced to Korea, and physical scale modeling and inversion approaches were developed. Due to the decline of the mineral resource industry, this method was not actively applied. However, the SIP method was not applied In the 1990s, IP exploration was applied in the investigation of hydrothermal deposits of sulfide minerals and bentonite mineralization zones, as well as to areas where the groundwater was contaminated by intruding seawater. In the 2000s, three-dimensional inversion of the IP approach was developed, and high-precision geophysical exploration was required to secure domestic and overseas mineral resources, so SIP experiments on rock samples and approaches for field exploration were developed. The SIP approach was proven useful for the exploration of metal deposits containing sulfide minerals by applying it to explore the mineralization zone of gold-silver deposits in the Haenam region. The IP method is considered to be effective in exploring critical minerals (lithium, cobalt, and nickel) in high-tech industries. It also is expected to be useful for environmental and geotechnical investigations.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.12-18
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• 2022

Korea depends on the import of raw materials such as iron ore and coal for the steel industry. These raw materials have a major impact on the cost, productivity, and quality competitiveness in the global steel industry. To secure the competitiveness of steel companies, it is necessary to reduce the country's dependence on raw materials. This can be achieved using byproducts with a high Fe content, which are primarily generated by the steel industry. These byproducts are available in the form of a very fine powder, which can disperse as dust when used directly in plant processes. Dust dispersion has a negative impact on the environment and can lead to the loss of raw materials. To enable the use of a wide range of Fe-containing byproducts, it is necessary to pretreat them in the form of larger aggregates such as pellets and briquettes. There are several methods to achieve such aggregates. There are two ways to produce briquettes: using a hot briquette, which supplies additional heat to produce briquettes, or using a cold briquette, which does not use heat. A method for producing cold briquettes using Fe-containing byproducts was investigated in this study. The yield ratio and briquette strength were examined under various manufacturing conditions.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.399-406
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• 2022

In line with the megatrend of 2050 carbon neutrality, the amount of critical minerals used in clean-energy technology is expected to increase fourfold and sixfold, respectively, according to the Paris Agreement-based scenario as well as the 2050 carbon-neutrality scenario. And, in the case of Korea, in terms of the battery supply chain used for secondary batteries, the midstream that manufactures battery materials and battery cell packs shows strength, but the upstream that provides and processes raw materials is experiencing difficulties. The Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources has established a strategy to secure lithium, nickel, and cobalt and is conducting surveys to respond to the upstream risk of these types of battery raw materials. In the case of lithium, exploration has been carried out in Uljin, Gyeongsangbuk-do since 2020, and by the end of 2021, the survey area was selected for precision exploration by synthesizing all exploration data and building a 3D model. Potential resources will be assessed in 2022. In the case of nickel, the prospective site will be selected by the end of 2022 through a preliminary survey targeting 10 nickel sulfide deposits that have been prospected in the past. In the case of cobalt, Boguk cobalt is known only in South Korea, but there is only a record that cobalt was produced as a minor constituent of hydrothermal deposit. According to the literature, a cobalt ore body was found in the contact area between serpentinite and granite, and a protocol for cobalt exploration in Korea will be established.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.3-11
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• 2022

Owing to the global development of high-strength alloys and renewable energy industries, the demand for vanadium, a key raw material in these industries, is expected to increase. Until now, vanadium has been recovered as a by-product of the industry, but interest in its direct recovery from minerals has increasing with its significantly increasing demand. In particular, the recovery of vanadium from stone coal ore and vanadium titano-magnetite (VTM) containing vanadium has been actively researched in China, which has the largest reserves and production of vanadium in the world. In Korea, a large amount of VTM also occurs in the northern part of Gyeonggi-do, and fundamental research and technical development is being conducted to recover vanadium. It is necessary to understand the current status of the separation technology used worldwide to satisfy the demand for metals such as vanadium, which currently depends on imports.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.12-19
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• 2022

The study was conducted to develop a vanadium recovery process using reduction pre-treatment in the Vanadium TitanoMagnetite (VTM) The sample for the research was provided by the Gwan-in Mine in Pocheon, Gyeonggi-do. The vanadium content of the sample is 0.54 V₂O₅% and vanadium is concentrated mainly in magnetite and ilmenite. Magnetic separation of the sample can increase vanadium content up to 1.10 V₂O₅%. To increase the vanadium content further, reduction pre-treatment was performed, which is a process of concentrating vanadium present in the iron by reducing iron in magnetite using carbon(C). Based on this reduction pre-treatment, the magnetic separation process was developed, which achieved a vanadium grade of 1.31V₂O₅% and 79.68% recovery. In addition, XRD analysis of the vanadium concentrate before and after reduction and the final vanadium concentrate was performed to confirm the behavior of vanadium by reduction pre-treatment.