ABSTRACT: Actual and future demands for critical raw materials and strategic raw materials (CRM/SRM) justify the global search for their potential sources and the exploration approaches to reach them. This study discloses the characterization of rare earth elements (REE) and other CRM-bearing alluvial heavy minerals samples sourced from the late- to post-tectonic Variscan Castelo Branco Massif (Portugal). It al...
ABSTRACT: Abandoned mining areas provide valuable opportunities to investigate ore-forming processes, supergene mineral transformations, and the geochemical behaviour of metals. In this sense, the old Preguiça mine (Beja, Portugal), exploited for Fe–Zn–Pb, was studied providing new mineralogical and geochemical data aimed at improving the understanding of the secondary mineral assemblages of this deposit. A tot...
ABSTRACT: Thermoelectric materials have considerable potential in the mitigation of the global energy crisis, through their ability to convert heat into electricity. This study aims to valorize natural resources, and potentially reduce production costs, by incorporating tetrahedrite-tennantite (td) ores from the Portuguese Iberian Pyrite Belt into synthetic samples. The ore samples were collected in a mine wast...
ABSTRACT: The lithological units in the Arronches region (included within the Arronches tectonic unit, Tomar-Badajoz-Córdoba Shear Zone, northernmost Ossa-Morena Zone) and in particular the peralkaline orthogneisses therein, have been the target for petrological, geochemical and structural studies in order to constrain its petrogenesis and tectono-metamorphic contextualization within the broader regional geolog...
RESUMO: O ordenamento do território é decisivo no processo de garantir o acesso aos recursos minerais. Durante os trabalhos para identificar as ações necessárias para a preparação da Estratégia Nacional para os Recursos Geológicos foi produzido um mapa de áreas potenciais em recursos minerais de Portugal. Constitui um ponto de partida para a implementação de uma metodologia vocacionada para a delimitação de áre...
ABSTRACT: After more than two millennia of mining history, Spain and Portugal together produce approximately one billion tons of rocks and industrial minerals each year. In Spain and Portugal, the industry of ornamental rocks and industrial minerals has developed significantly in recent years. The demand for construction and ornamental materials has increased, and both countries have emerged as world leaders in...
ABSTRACT: The Ossa-Morena Zone (SW Iberian Massif) hosts the largest set of Cambro-Ordovician alkaline magmatic plutons related to the Palaeozoic rifting of the northern Gondwana margin so far described. An organized framework for their classification at different scales is proposed through data-driven ranks based on their distinctive petrological features relative to other rift-related magmatic rocks found thr...
ABSTRACT: Europe’s dependence on foreign-sourced critical raw materials poses a significant threat to its strategic autonomy and competitiveness. In this paper, we examine the historical significance of mining in Europe, the current geopolitical complexities surrounding critical raw materials supply, and recent EU policy initiatives aimed at bolstering domestic critical raw materials production and processing a...