2.20 Zones at Parys Mountain
Parys Mountain mine is actually divided into multiple zones, which have very different amounts of copper in each zone, and not just copper but other useful elements too. Look at the table and then complete the activities below.
| Zone | Tonnes | Cu % | Pb % | Zn % | Ag | Au | |||
| % | g/kg | % | g/kg | % | g/kg | g/t | g/t | ||
| Engine | 489,000 | 1.38 | 13.8 | 2.61 | 26.1 | 4.99 | 49.9 | 92.8 | 0.5 |
Deep Engine | 618,000 | 1.95 | 19.5 | 1.9 | 19 | 4.22 | 42.2 | 23 | 0.2 |
White Rock | 1,625,000 | 0.34 | 3.4 | 2.05 | 20.5 | 3.84 | 38.4 | 33 | 0.5 |
Garth Daniel | 299,000 | 2.06 | 20.6 | 3.07 | 30.7 | 6.43 | 64.3 | 75 | 0.2 |
| Total | 3,031,000 | 1.01 | 10.1 | 2.21 | 22.1 | 4.36 | 43.6 | 46 | 0.5 |
Activity 2.5 Questions about Parys Mountain
Timing: Allow about 10 minutes
How would these varying levels of copper affect which areas are mined (and when)?
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You can see that silver (Ag) and gold (Au) are there in much lower concentrations. Why is it ever worth mining them at Parys Mountain?
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