OVERVIEW

The course provides the basic theoretical and practical knowledge necessary in the field of extractive activities: the georesources, the types of extractive activities, the main mining methods, the regulatory framework, also in relation to the mitigation of the environmental impact, are illustrated and classified. The course provides the basic skills both to know and recognize the indispensable geomaterials in modern-day society, and for a sustainable exploitation of georesources.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The teaching provides the basic theoretical and practical knowledge necessary in the field of extractive activities: the georesources, the types of extractive activities, the main mining methods, the regulatory framework, also in relation to the mitigation of the environmental impact, are illustrated and classified. The course provides the basic skills both to know and recognize the indispensable geomaterials in modern-day society, and for a sustainable exploitation of georesources.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to transmit the fundamental knowledge on the mineral and raw material resources essential for modern-day society in relation to the needs, availability and sustainability of the extractive activity.

At the end of the planned training activities (lectures, laboratory activities and practical field activities) the student will be able to:

• know the different mineral resources required by modern society

• be able to recognize ornamental stones and useful minerals

• describe the different mining techniques

• describe the fundamental principles that govern the exploitation of mineral resources and the planning of mining activities

• know the regulatory tools and the principles of environmental assessment and site recovery

• identify the main causes of environmental impact of mining activities

PREREQUISITES

The students are assumed to know the topics covered by the courses of Mineralogy and Petrography, in particular 1) classification of minerals 2) recognition of rock forming minerals 3) physical and chemical properties of minerals 4) classification of magmatic, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks 5) physical properties of the rocks.

TEACHING METHODS

The teaching consists of lectures, laboratory activities and field activities. Since activities are planned for the application of acquired knowledge, practical and methodological activities, attendance at classes and exercises is strongly recommended.

Lectures in the classroom are delivered through multimedia presentations.

The laboratory exercises are aimed at the practical application of the theoretical knowledge acquired during the lectures and also constitute a self-assessment test. The exercises include the discussion with the teacher on real cases of environmental recovery of extractive sites and activities of macroscopic and microscopic determination. In particular, they will be developed:

• Macroscopic analysis exercises for the recognition of ornamental stone materials, main metal ores and industrial minerals;

• Exercises on stereomicroscopes and polarizing microscopes for individual students using the DISTAV laboratory collections

The laboratory exercises are held in equipped classrooms of the Department of Earth Sciences of the Environment and Life (DISTAV) equipped with 24 polarizing microscopes, 12 stereomicroscopes and exhaustive collections of useful minerals and ornamental stones. Field exercises will be carried out on appropriate resource extraction sites that will allow on-site analysis and discussion of extraction techniques and environmental recovery operations.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Students' program  for 5 CFU

The course program includes the presentation and discussion of the following topics:

• classification, distribution, availability, needs and uses; basic aspects of economic geology.

• Quarries and mines, metallic minerals, non-metallic, industrial minerals, raw materials and ornamental stones.

• Extractive activities and environmental impact. Sustainability, flow cycle of mineral resources and recycling.

• Distribution of the mineral resources in Italy and Liguria.

• Laboratory activities: macroscopic recognition of ore minerals and ornamental stones; introduction to the study of useful minerals.

• Introduction to the causes of deterioration of stone materials

• Field activities: technical visit to extractive sites and remediation techniques.

Students' program  for 6 CFU

The course program includes the presentation and discussion of the following topics:

• classification, distribution, availability, needs and uses; basic aspects of economic geology.

• Quarries and mines, metallic minerals, non-metallic, industrial minerals, raw materials and ornamental stones.

• Extractive activities and environmental impact. Sustainability, flow cycle of mineral resources and recycling.

• Distribution of the mineral resources in Italy and Liguria.

• Laboratory activities: macroscopic recognition of ore minerals and ornamental stones; introduction to the study of useful minerals.

• Field activities: technical visit to extractive sites and remediation techniques.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

All the slides used during the lessons and other teaching material will be available on AulaWeb at the end of each cycle of lessons / laboratory exercises together with other bibliographic material in pdf format.

The books indicated are suggested as supporting text and are available and consultable together with other books for further study at the M.F.N. School Library  and at the teacher office.

Recommended texts for any further information:

J.R. Craig, D.J Vaughan, B. Skinner (1996): Resources of the Earth. Prentice Hall.

Canuti et al (2008): Geologia applicata all’ambiente. C.E.A. editrice. (Chapter 9 only: Attività estrattive).

A. Evans (1993 ): Ore geology and Industrial Minerals: an introduction.Wiley-Blackwell

G.Tanelli (2009): Georisorse e Ambiente - Aracne Editrice

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

Exam Board

ROBERTO CABELLA (President)

CRISTINA CARBONE

MICHELE PIAZZA (President Substitute)

DONATO BELMONTE (Substitute)

PIETRO MARESCOTTI (Substitute)

MARINO VETUSCHI ZUCCOLINI (Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

 For lessons start and timetable go to the following link: https://easyacademy.unige.it/portalestudenti/

Class schedule

ELEMENTS OF GEORESOURCES

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

The exam consists in the presentation of a topic chosen by the student agreed with the teacher and in the answer to questions asked by the teacher on other topics covered during the course.

Two exam dates will be available in the winter session (January-February) and 5 exam dates in the summer session (June, July, September) which will be published on the UNIGE website.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

Details on how to prepare for the exam and the degree of detail required for each topic will be provided at the beginning of the course and reiterated during lectures and exercises. The oral examination will focus mainly on the topics covered during the lectures and will have the purpose of assessing the achievement of the appropriate level of knowledge and the ability to use the theoretical concepts for the analysis of real cases.

IIn particular, the student must be able to demonstrate a good integration of the knowledge acquired during the lectures with the skills acquired during the lab activities during a discussion of a choice topic.

The ability to expose the arguments clearly and with correct terminology will also be evaluated.

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

Regular attendance at lessons and exercises is strongly recommended. Students who take the Geological Sciences course for the Degree Course (10589 - CONSERVATION AND MANAGEMENT OF NATURE (LM-60) are not required to follow the part concerning weathering and decay of stone materials.