Difference between revisions of "Mining"

Latest revision as of 18:10, 4 May 2024

Less mining

Less need for …
– alloying transition metals
– catalysis noble metals
– conducting semi-noble metals

Gem based APM has the potential to massively reduce the need for mining for three main areas.

(A) Less mining for transition metals for the purpouse of allyoing (usually steels)

Three reasons here:
gem-gum metamaterials from common elements only will far outperform steels in …

• ultimate tensile strength and toughness
• durability (no fatigue limit)
• extraorinarily choosable/tunable properties
  See: emulated elasticity for this last one.

Near future conventional tech deep sea mining (for manganese) is fast and aggressive. Look up images of the horrifically looking machines and the plans for wide area mid water column silt dumping.
It is of great concern to the (very slow acting and slow healing) deep sea marine ecosystems.
Much less dependency on manganese (and/or space mining for it??)
Might help in avoiding destruction of this part of nature.

(B) Less mining for noble metals for the purpouse of catalysis

Two reasons here:

• Mechanochemistry needs less chemical catalyis as applied directed mechanical forces can take on some of that task.
• Even with a noble metal catalysis used fro helping the reactions along:
  There are much fewer active sites needed as they are much more efficiently used (in space and time) and they are also much better retained and not lost as spill.

(C) Less mining for copper (Cu) and tin (Sn) for the purpouse of conductors and solder

Carbon nanotubes and (or doped/stressed atomically precise graphene stripes)
will likely make superior conductors.
Smart active material non-corroding connectors
will likely be able to replace the need for soldering

(D) No longer mining for carbon (via crude oil)

Rather drawing it directly from the air using abundant solar (or nuclear) energy.
See pages: Carbon dioxide collector & Air as a resource

More mining (and tunnel digging)

Less effort and more demand in cutting and moving common element material.
Also see page: Underground working

Less effort (due to by gem-gum-tec improved mining tools)

Smart advanced automated mining systems may be imaginable.
APM managed conventional technology.

• First: Sharp focused sodium ion beams …
  as implanting sodium makes pretty much any and all lithospheric physical material water solubel
• Second: High pressure hot water cutters following
• Perhaps third: Aiding mechanically with selfrepairing gem-gum blades.

More demand (due to faster cheaper production from gem-gum-tech self replication)

Abundant non-volatile elements will still be of high insterest to mining. Silicates, aluminates, phosphates, sulfates (sulfur is a semi volatile element but mostly in soil on Earth) And prehaps above and beyond all other in importance: Titanates.

More gentle mining

Unlike the atmosphere the lithosphere can be destructured destroying historic geology records.
Yes, preservation of geology is usually for good reason at the lowest rung of priorities.
Still if it becomes easily possible why not do it.

APM based "gentle mining".
Minimize cuts in number and width and document where blocks came from.
Things can be back-filled as they where later.

Gnerally aiming for sharp thin and clean clean cuts as
the less material to atomize mechanically, chemically, or thermally
the more efficient and fast a digging process can become.
Hard rock like granite vcan be nicely mived as solid chunks.
Brittle an crumbly soild will need some on site bagging for a non-nasty transport. Witer cuts needed but cutting will afford less energy there.

Slightly related:
Special gem-gum metamaterials designed to be as hard to
mechanically/thermally/chemically destroy and get through as possible.
Defensive weaponry.

Topics to elaborate

• Legacy waste mining (material recovery or more likely just cleanup of old landfills)

List of raw keywords

Atomically precise disassembly is likely rather difficult for materials of unknown structure.
Likely much easier to do it conventionally.
That is: Tthere is the clearly viable option for APM managed conventional technology. At least for earlier systems).
Concretely: Bulk chemistry chemical labs on various scales.
Industry scale but APM managed conventional technology makes desktop size viable too.
Sepparating elements via brute force thermochemical processes.

Feeding the raw ore into the recycling cycle may be done along with
no longer atomically precise recyclable incombustible slack froming gem-gum waste
(e.g. gem-gum too damaged for AP reccling).
Feeding all that back into the hot gas phase recycling cycle.
Splicing it back into the biosphere or mechanosphere as desired.
See: Recycling

APM managed conventional technology for bulk chemistry and
hot gas phase recycling cycle will make good use of refractory materials.
Refractory materials are a class of materials that gem-based APM will excel in making.

Related

• Underground working
• Deep drilling
• Unknown matter claimer
• Air as a resource

Nonvolatile and non-watersoluble elements that can only be gained through mining auch as:
Silicon, Phosphorus, Aluminum, Titanium, Iron, ...

External links

Papua Neuguinea:
Much large scale environmental damage in the runoff of the Grasberg-Mine.
So much dead land that it is even well visible from space.
Nanotube conductors may drastically reduce the worlds dependence on copper for conductors.
Reducing the need for such minses.
(Also space mining might become viable. Still quite questionable.)