• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.359-370
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• 2009

Arsenic and heavy metals leached out as a result of oxidation of tailings exposed to the surface pose a serious environmental contamination of mine areas. This study investigated how arsenic behavior is controlled by a variety of processes, such as oxidation of sulfides and formation or alteration of secondary minerals, based on mineralogical methods. The study was carried out using the tailing samples obtained from Nakdong mine located in Jeongseongun, Gangwondo. After separating magnetic and non-magnetic minerals using pretreated tailing samples, each mineral sample was classified according to their colors and metallic lusters observed by the stereoscopic microscope. Subsequently, the mineralogical properties were determined using various instrumental analyses, such as x-ray diffractometer (XRD), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and electron probe micro analyzer (EPMA). The literature review confirmed that various ore minerals were identified in the Nakdong ore deposits. In this study, however, there were observed a few original ore minerals as well as secondary and/or tertiary minerals newly formed as a result of weathering including oxidation. In particular, we did not recognize pyrrhotite which has been known to originally exist in a large abundance, but peculiarly colloform-type iron (oxy)hydroxides were identified, which indicates most of pyrrhotite has been altered by rapid weathering due to its large reactivity. In addition, a secondary scorodites filling the fissure of weathered primary arsenopyrites were identified, and it is speculated that arsenic is immobilized through such a alteration reaction. Also, we observed tertiary iron (oxy)hydroxides were formed as a result of re-alteration of secondary jarosites, and it suggests that the environment of tailing has been changed to high pH from low pH condition which was initiated and developed by oxidation reactions of diverse primary ore minerals. The environmental change is mainly attributed to interactions between secondary minerals and parental rocks around the mine. As a result, not only was the stability of secondary minerals declined, but tertiary minerals were newly formed. As such a process goes through, arsenic which was immobilized is likely to re-dissolve and disperse into surrounding environments.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.231-245
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• 2007

The forged iron axe of the middle 3rd Century found in the No. 2 wood-framed tomb from the Hwangseongdong site, Gyeongju is rectangular on the plane level. The iron axe shines in met-allic luster, which is light grey with pale creamy tint. The result of X-ray diffraction analysis shows that the axe consists of magnetite and geothite, which can explain why the composition and texture of the original ore has been kept intact. There are fine-grained quartz, calcite, mica, magnetite, amphibole, unknown tungsten minerals, pyroxene and olivine inside the axe. Those must be the impurities that they failed to remove in the thermal treatment process. Generally, the iron axe consists mainly of pearlite texture coexisting ferrite and cementite, and show high carbon contents with homogeneous distribution. It can be interpreted the axe was carburized after the material was made to resemble pure iron. The decarbonization work didn't go well along the process marks. Crude ores of the iron axe are possible utilized by magnetite from the Ulsan mine on the basis of the occurrences and inclusions. It's estimated that the original ore was bloom produced in low-temperature reduction and formed around in $727^{\circ}C$, which is eutetic temperature.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.63-69
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• 2022

In this study, mechanical grinding using a planetary ball mill was performed under various conditions to evaluate its effect on the crystal structure of vanadium titanium magnetite (VTM) ore from the Kwain Mine in South Korea. The crystal structure of the activated product was also evaluated. Magnetite and ilmenite were identified as the main types of VTM ore used in the Kwain Mine, and the main types of gangue minerals were iron-based silicate minerals. According to the mechanical activation results, the crystallinity and crystal size decreased as the size of the grinding media (balls) decreased, and the amorphization of the sample/ball filling was significant as the amount of the sample was reduced. In addition, as the grinding speed and time increased, the crystal structure significantly changed, proving that these two parameters had a greater effect on the crystal structure than the ball size and sample/ball filling ratio.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.257-267
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• 2013

3-D ore modeling was performed to understand the configuration of ore bodies by integrated analysis of borehole and geophysical data in iron-mine area. Five representative indices of rocks were designated, which were obtained from geological survey and borehole. The five indices of rocks were geostatistically simulated by Sequential Indicator Simulation method to delineate boundary of the ore bodies. And Ordinary Kriging and Sequential Gaussian Simulation was applied to make secondary information using resistivity data from magnetotellurics and DC resistivity survey, and this information was used for simple kriging with local varying means, one of integrated kriging techniques. From the correlation analysis between each properties, it was found that high grade of ore is characterized by increased density, whereas the electrical resistivity decreases. With the integrated results of geophysical and borehole data, it was also found that the real configuration of ore body was similar to the modeled result and information about ore grade in 3-D space was obtained.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.287-297
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• 2008

In order to estimate the preliminary development feasibility according to the commodity, the content of 8 strategic metallic commoditites(Pb, Zn, Cu, Fe, Mo, W, Au, U) in 68 ore specimens obtained from 34 metallic mines within the Taebaegsan-Hwanggangri mineralized zone were analyzed. Analytical results are as follows. The ore specimen of Sangdong mine contained 23% copper(cut-off grade=0.7%) and those of Cheongil and Samhwanghak mines contained average 5% zinc(cut-off grade=2.0%). Especially, the detailed investigation on the above-mentioned mines is required. And, in case of molybdenum(cut-off grade=0.02%) content in Yeonhwa No. 2(0.04%) and Hong-cheon mine(0.02%), and lead(cut-off grade=0.58%) content in Wongasa mine(0.70%), and gold(cut-off grade=10ppm) content in Dongmyoung(279ppm) and Samhwanghak mine(251ppm), it is required to elastically carry out the revaluation on reopening of mines in terms of the international metal price. On the other hand, in case of uranium, iron and tungsten, it is thought that there are no mines with the development potential value in this study.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.19 no.spc
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• pp.139-149
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• 1986

Compositional variation of sphalerites from various hydrothermal metallic ore deposits in Korea were investigated in mine and local, and regional scale. The sphalerites were partially analyzed for iron, manganese, and cadmium by using an electron probe microanalyzer(EPMA). The contents of iron and cadmium in sphalerites collected from the Weolam deposit of the No.1 Yeonhwa mine are not variable with increase of depth, but manganese content is highly variable. Sphalerites from lead-zinc deposits which are geologically associated with hypabyssal and effusive activity are characterized by high manganese (more than 1.0 MnS mole %) and low cadmium contents (less than 0.5 CdS mole %). Relatively manganese rich sphalerites are found in the deposits where sphalerites are enriched in iron content. Variation of cadmium content is very limited compared with that of manganese content. Sphalerites from most tungsten and some gold-silver deposits are remarkably high in cadmium content, but most of base metal and iron deposits are low in cadmium content. Cadmium content in sphalerites which occur in the metallic ore deposits genetically associated with plutonic activity shows a tendency to high variation. Available amounts of cadmium in sphalerites could be originated from the initial enrichment during the magmatic and postmagmatic processes.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.291-300
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• 2013

The potential mineral resources in North Korea are magnesite, limestone, coal, graphite, iron, gold, silver, lead, and zinc. North Korea is mainly exporting coal and iron to China(70%) and EU countries. Gold ore reserves(or resources) in North Korea are about 2,000 tons and annual production is 2 tons based on metal. Major gold mines are Sooan, Holdong, and Daeyoodong mines and six smelters are operating. Fe ore reserves (or resources) are 4.3 billion tons and annual production is about 5 million tons based on 63.5% Fe. Major iron mines are Moosan, Leewon, Eunryul, Shinwon, and Jaeryong and 7 smelters are operating. Pb and Zn ore reserves(or resources) are Pb 470,000 tons and Zn 15 million tons, and annual productions are about Pb 26,000 tons and Zn 50,000 tons based on metal respectively. Major Pb-Zn mines are Gumdock and Seongcheon mines. Magnesite ore reserves(or resources) are 2.8 billion tons (95% MgO) and annual production is about 150,000 tons. Major magnesite mines are Ryongyang, Daeheung Youth and Ssangryong mines, and 5 magnesium refractory factories are operating. Apatite ore reserves(or resources) are 340 million tons(30% $P_2O_5$) and annual production is about 300,000 tons(crude ore). Major apatite mines are Daedaeri, Dongam and Poongnyen mines. Coal is established as an important strategic fuel mineral resources and is a major energy source in North Korea. Coal ore reserves(or resources) are 18.6 billion tons and annual production is about 20 million tons. The main coal fields is located in southern Pyongan and the Jigdong mine is the biggest in North Korea.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.29-50
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• 2003

Physicochemical Properties of acid mine water of the Chonam-ri Creek and the Sagok-ri Creek in the Kwangyang Au-Ag mine area were determined using geochemical approaches. Metal contamination (Cd, Cu, Pb, Zn) is more serious in the Chonam-ri Creek than in the Sagok-ri Creek. However, the contents of Al and Fe is higher in the Sagok-ri Creek. Such differences between the two creeks probably reflect the abundance and composition of ore minerals. The attenuation processes for acid mine water in both creeks were investigated. In the Chonam-ri Creek, a small retention pond which contains limestone plays an important role in the removal of heavy metals by adsorption or coprecipitation due to increase of pH. The capacity of metal scavenging in this pond depends on the seasonal variation of inflow volume. Reddish yellow precipitates sampled in the Chonam-ri Creek were analyzed by XRD, SEM-EDS, EPMA, and chemical decomposition. The precipitates mainly consist of goethite and are also enriched in Al, Mn, Cu and Zn. This inditates that precipitation of goethite is important for scavenging those trace elements, possibly due to adsorption or coprecipitation. In the Sagok-ri Creek, on the other hand, hydrologic mixing of uncontaminated tributaries results in removal of heavy metals with iron hydroxides precipitation due to the pH increase. The mechanisms proposed for metal attenuation at the confluence between contaminated mine water and uncontaminated tributary water are also explained by the property-property plots.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.36
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• pp.241-266
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• 2003

Glass pieces excavated from Mireuksa Temple dated $7^{th}$ century A.D. were characterized by chemical composition, specific gravity and melting point. Lead isotope ratios of lead glasses were also compared with those of lead ore to attribute which lead ore was delivered for making lead glass. It was known that some lead glasses found in Japan were similar with those of Mireuksa Temple as comparing the data of chemical composition and lead isotope ratios. Characteristics of lead glass from Mireuksa Temple Thirty five glass pieces of Mireuksa Temple were analyzed for five oxides and found that all was lead glass system(PbO-$SiO_2$) with the range of 70~79% for PbO and 20~28% for $SiO_2$. The concentrations of oxides such as $Al_2O_3$, $Fe_2O_3$ and CuO were below 0.4%, 0.3% and 0.9%, respectively. Principal component analysis(PCA) as a statistical method was carried out to classify glasses with the similarities of chemical concentrations. The result of PCA has shown that three groups of glasses were created according to the excavation positions and two major oxides(PbO and $SiO_2$) greatly contributed to the dispersion of glasses on principal component 1(PC1) axis and trace element oxides($Al_2O_3$ and $Fe_2O_3$) for PC2 axis. Most of lead glasses were greenish by the efficacy of iron and copper oxides and some showed yellowish-green. The gravity of lead glasses was about 4.4~5.4 and estimated melting point was near $670^{\circ}C$. Lead isotope ratios of glasses were analyzed and found quite close to a lead ore from the Bupyeong mine in Gyeonggi-do. Comparison with lead glasses found in Japan Lead glasses of Mireuksa Temple were compared with those of Japan on the basis of chemical and physical data. Chemical compositions of Japanese lead glasses dated $7^{th}{\sim}8^{th}$ century A.D. were nearly similar with those of Mireuksa Temple but lead isotope ratios of those were separated into two groups. Three distribution maps of lead ores of Korea, Japan and China with lead isotope ratios were applied for lead glasses found in Japan. The result have shown that the locations of lead glasses from Fukuoka Prefecture coincided with the region of northen part of Korea and similar with those of Mireuksa Temple and lead glasses from Nara Prefecture dated $8^{th}$ century A.D. were located in the region of Japanese lead ore. This research has demonstrated that lead glasses of Mireuksa Temple conveyed to Miyajidake site, Fukuoka Prefecture around $7^{th}$ century A.D. and glass melting pots and glass beads excavated from Nara Prefecture confirmed the first use of Japanese lead ore for production of lead glasses from the end of $7^{th}$ century A.D.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.55-69
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• 2015

Tailing Material (TM) and Fly Ash (FA) are obtained as waste products from the mining and thermal industries. Studies were carried out to explore the possibility of utilizing TM as a part replacement to fine aggregate and FA as a part replacement to cement, in concrete mixes. The effect of replacing fine aggregate by TM and cement by FA on the standard sized specimen for compressive strength, split tensile strength, and flexural strengths are evaluated in this study. The concrete mix of M40 grade was adopted with water cement ratio equal to 0.40. Concrete mix with 35% TM and 65% natural sand (TM35/S65) has shown superior performance in strength as against (TM0/S100, TM30/S70, TM40/S60, TM50/S50, and TM60/S40). For this composition, studies were performed to propose the optimal replacement of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) by FA (Replacement levels studied were 20%, 30%, 40% and 50%). Replacement level of 20% OPC by FA, has shown about 0-5% more compressive strength as against the control mix, for both 28 day and 56 days of water curing. Interestingly results of split tensile and flexural strengths for 20% OPC replaced by FA, have shown strengths equal to that of no replacement (control mix).