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- Changing Social Perceptions on Mining-Related Activities: A Key Challenge in the 4th Industrial RevolutionPublication . A., MateusWe are living in a period of multiple and accelerating changes where new uncertainties emerge constantly. Guidelines for economic growth are changing, social demands and environmental concerns are growing, and technological advancements are succeeding at rates never seen before. The main drivers of these changes are mostly related to digitization, decarbonization and dematerialization processes of economies, which follow the recent improvements achieved in biotechnology, digital networks, software design, and information and communication technologies. The ongoing technological (r)evolution includes continued linear progressions of solutions of widespread use along with innovations of exponential increase that will significantly shape the future and have potential to influence the current social and cultural patterns. However, all these transformations stimulate the reliance on a large number of minerals and metals whose increasing demand cannot be fulfilled on the basis of reuse, recycling and/or substitution practices. In other words: the full development of digital, eco-efficient and low-C intensity economies with higher levels of automation will require considerable inputs of raw materials derived from primary resources to balance the demand/supply ratio, filling the gaps of material stocks and flows in the economy that are not provided by secondary sources, even when suitably managed. So, mineral exploration and mining will remain fundamental in the completion of pathways to the future, as occurred throughout the history of human civilization. Notwithstanding this evidence, clearly demonstrated in many studies, the access to mineral resources are becoming increasingly difficult worldwide and mining-related activities are even more perceived negatively by society.
- Pb-Nd-Sr Isotope Geochemistry of Metapelites from the Iberian Pyrite Belt and Its Relevance to Provenance Analysis and Mineral Exploration SurveysPublication . Luz, Filipa; A., Mateus; Ferreira, Ezequiel; Tassinari, Colombo G.; Figueiras, JorgeThe Iberian Pyrite Belt is a world-class metallogenic district developed at the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary in the Iberian Variscides that currently has seven active mines: Neves Corvo (Cu-Zn-Sn) and Aljustrel (Cu-Zn) in Portugal, and Riotinto (Cu), Las Cruces (Cu), Aguas Teñidas (Cu-Zn-Pb), Sotiel-Coronada (Cu-Zn-Pb), and La Magdalena (Cu-Zn-Pb) in Spain. The Iberian Pyrite Belt massive sulfide ores are usually hosted in the lower sections of the volcano-sedimentary complex (late Famennian to late Visean), but they also occur in the uppermost levels of the phyllite-quartzite group at the Neves Corvo deposit, stratigraphically below the volcano-sedimentary complex. A Pb-Nd-Sr isotope dataset was obtained for 98 Iberian Pyrite Belt metapelite samples (from Givetian to upper Visean), representing several phyllite-quartzite group and volcano-sedimentary complex sections that include the footwall and hanging-wall domains of ore horizons at the Neves Corvo, Aljustrel, and Lousal mines. The combination of whole-rock Nd and Sr isotopes with Th/Sc ratios shows that the siliciclastic components of Iberian Pyrite Belt metapelites are derived from older quartz-feldspathic basement rocks (–11 ≤ εNdinitial ≤ –8 and (87Sr/86Sr)i up to 0.727). The younger volcano-sedimentary complex metapelites (upper Tournaisian) often comprise volcanic-derived constituents with a juvenile isotopic signature, shifting the εNdi up to +0.2. The Pb isotope data confirm that the phyllite-quartzite group and volcano-sedimentary complex successions are crustal reservoirs for metals found in the deposits. In Neves Corvo, where there is more significant Sn- and Cu-rich mineralization, the higher (206Pb/204Pb)i and (207Pb/204Pb)i values displayed by phyllite-quartzite group and lower volcano-sedimentary complex metapelites (up to 15.66 and 18.33, respectively) suggest additional contributions to the metal budget from a deeper and more radiogenic source. The proximity to Iberian Pyrite Belt massive sulfide ore systems hosted in metapelite successions is observed when (207Pb/204Pb)i >15.60 and Fe2O3/TiO2 or (Cu+Zn+Pb)/Sc >10. These are important criteria that should be considered in geochemical exploration surveys designed for the Iberian Pyrite Belt.