Zirconium and Hafnium
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Zirconium and Hafnium Chapter V of Critical Mineral Resources of the United States—Economic and Environmental Geology and Prospects for Future Supply Professional Paper 1802–V U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Periodic Table of Elements 1A 8A 1 2 hydrogen helium 1.008 2A 3A 4A 5A 6A 7A 4.003 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 lithium beryllium boron carbon nitrogen oxygen fluorine neon 6.94 9.012 10.81 12.01 14.01 16.00 19.00 20.18 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 sodium magnesium aluminum silicon phosphorus sulfur chlorine argon 22.99 24.31 3B 4B 5B 6B 7B 8B 11B 12B 26.98 28.09 30.97 32.06 35.45 39.95 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 potassium calcium scandium titanium vanadium chromium manganese iron cobalt nickel copper zinc gallium germanium arsenic selenium bromine krypton 39.10 40.08 44.96 47.88 50.94 52.00 54.94 55.85 58.93 58.69 63.55 65.39 69.72 72.64 74.92 78.96 79.90 83.79 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 rubidium strontium yttrium zirconium niobium molybdenum technetium ruthenium rhodium palladium silver cadmium indium tin antimony tellurium iodine xenon 85.47 87.62 88.91 91.22 92.91 95.96 (98) 101.1 102.9 106.4 107.9 112.4 114.8 118.7 121.8 127.6 126.9 131.3 55 56 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 cesium barium hafnium tantalum tungsten rhenium osmium iridium platinum gold mercury thallium lead bismuth polonium astatine radon 132.9 137.3 178.5 180.9 183.9 186.2 190.2 192.2 195.1 197.0 200.5 204.4 207.2 209.0 (209) (210)(222) 87 88 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 francium radium rutherfordium dubnium seaborgium bohrium hassium meitnerium darmstadtium roentgenium copernicium flerovium livermorium (223)(226) (265)(268)(271)(270)(277)(276)(281)(280)(285) (284) (289) (288) (293) (294) (294) 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 Lanthanide Series* lanthanum cerium praseodymium neodymium promethium samarium europium gadolinium terbium dysprosium holmium erbium thulium ytterbium lutetium 138.9 140.1 140.9 144.2 (145) 150.4 152.0 157.2 158.9 162.5 164.9 167.3 168.9 173.0 175.0 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 Actinide Series** actinium thorium protactinium uranium neptunium plutonium americium curium berkelium californium einsteinium fermium mendelevium nobelium lawrencium (227) 232 231 238 (237)(244)(243)(247)(247)(251)(252)(257)(258)(259)(262) element names in blue are liquids at room temperature element names in red are gases at room temperature element names in black are solids at room temperature Modified from Los Alamos National Laboratory Chemistry Division; available at http://periodic.lanl.gov/images/periodictable.pdf. Cover. Photographs showing examples of sources and uses of zirconium and hafnium. Upper left, cube and crystal bars of highly pure zirconium metal (greater than 99.95 percent purity). Upper right, a pure (99.98 percent) melted tip of a hafnium electrode used in an electron beam remelting furnace for manufacturing metal parts; an oxidized hafnium electron beam remelted ingot; and a cubic centimeter of hafnium metal. Photographs by Heinrich Pniok (http://pse-mendelejew.de). Lower left, primary igneous zircon grains separated from granite. Lower middle, detrital zircon grains separated from metamorphosed sandstone. Lower right, baddeleyite crystals from the Palabora carbonatite deposit, Limpopo Province, South Africa. Photographs by Rob Lavinsky (www.iRocks.com). Zirconium and Hafnium By James V. Jones III, Nadine M. Piatak, and George M. Bedinger Chapter V of Critical Mineral Resources of the United States—Economic and Environmental Geology and Prospects for Future Supply Edited by Klaus J. Schulz, John H. DeYoung, Jr., Robert R. Seal II, and Dwight C. Bradley Professional Paper 1802–V U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior RYAN K. ZINKE, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey William H. Werkheiser, Acting Director U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia: 2017 For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment—visit https://www.usgs.gov or call 1–888–ASK–USGS. For an overview of USGS information products, including maps, imagery, and publications, visit https://store.usgs.gov/. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also may contain copyrighted materials as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items must be secured from the copyright owner. Suggested citation: Jones, J.V., III, Piatak, N.M., and Bedinger, G.M., 2017, Zirconium and hafnium, chap. V of Schulz, K.J., DeYoung, J.H., Jr., Seal, R.R., II, and Bradley, D.C., eds., Critical mineral resources of the United States—Economic and environmental geology and prospects for future supply: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1802, p. V1– V26, https://doi.org/ 10.3133/pp1802V. ISSN 2330-7102 (online) iii Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................................V1 Introduction..................................................................................................................................................V2 Uses and Applications ......................................................................................................................V2 Recent Aspects of Supply and Demand ........................................................................................V2 Geology .........................................................................................................................................................V5 Geochemistry and Mineralogy ........................................................................................................V5 Deposit Types .....................................................................................................................................V6 Primary Igneous Deposits .......................................................................................................V6 Secondary Deposits—Coastal Placers and Paleoplacers ................................................V7 Resources and Production ......................................................................................................................V12 Identified Resources .......................................................................................................................V12 Other Resources ..............................................................................................................................V13 Exploration for New Deposits .................................................................................................................V13 Environmental Considerations ................................................................................................................V14 Sources and Fate in the Environment ..........................................................................................V14 Mine Waste Characteristics ..........................................................................................................V14 Volume of Mine Waste ...........................................................................................................V14 Mineralogy and Chemistry of Slimes and Tailings ............................................................V15 Acid-Base Accounting ...........................................................................................................V16 Human Health Concerns .................................................................................................................V17 Ecological Health Concerns ...........................................................................................................V17 Mine Closure.....................................................................................................................................V18 Problems and Future Research ..............................................................................................................V18 References Cited.......................................................................................................................................V19 Figures V1. Examples of sources and uses of zirconium and hafnium .................................................V3 V2. Graphs showing global zirconium production and U.S. trade information for zirconium ores and concentrates ...........................................................................................V4 V3. World map showing locations of selected zirconium and hafnium deposits and regions with modern coastal placer systems ...............................................................V8 V4. Diagrams showing examples of coastal depositional systems with an emphasis on barrier island location, morphology, and depositional environments .......................V10 V5. Diagrams showing influences on and locations of placer formation in coastal environments ............................................................................................................................V11 iv Conversion Factors International System of Units to Inch/Pound Multiply By To obtain Length angstrom (Å) (0.1 nanometer) 0.003937 microinch angstrom (Å) (0.1 nanometer) 0.000003937 mil micrometer (µm) [or micron]