The worldwide production of Cu is about 155 Mt a1 and is inc

The worldwide production of Cu is about 155 Mt a-1 and is increasing about 3% a-1. Given a ratio of mined waste rock to ore of 5 (also known as the stripping ratio), what is the total mass of rock that is mined per year for Cu \"today\". What mass of rock will need to be processed 100 years from now? What is the area of land that would b required for mining Cu ore 100 years from now assuming an average depth of mining of 100 m?

Solution

Mined Waste Rock /Ore = 5

Production = 1.55 Mt

Increase Rate = 3%

So, Mined ore – (mined ore /5) X 1.03 = (1.86 Mt X 1.03) = 1.915 Mt.

2874516601.77

Land Area required = (2874516601.77/100)

                                    = 28745166.0177 m2

Current Production x (6/5) x 1.03
Production year	Production (Mt.)
1	2.23
2	2.76
3	3.41
4	4.21
5	5.21
6	6.44
7	7.96
8	9.84
9	12.16
10	15.03
11	18.57
12	22.96
13	28.38
14	35.07
15	43.35
16	53.58
17	66.23
18	81.86
19	101.17
20	125.05
21	154.56
22	191.04
23	236.13
24	291.85
25	360.73
26	445.86
27	551.08
28	681.14
29	841.89
30	1040.57
31	1286.15
32	1589.68
33	1964.84
34	2428.54
35	3001.68
36	3710.08
37	4585.65
38	5667.87
39	7005.48
40	8658.78
41	10702.25
42	13227.98
43	16349.78
44	20208.33
45	24977.50
46	30872.19
47	38158.02
48	47163.32
49	58293.86
50	72051.21
51	89055.30
52	110072.35
53	136049.42
54	168157.08
55	207842.16
56	256892.90
57	317519.63
58	392454.26
59	485073.47
60	599550.81
61	741044.80
62	915931.37
63	1132091.17
64	1399264.69
65	1729491.15
66	2137651.07
67	2642136.72
68	3265680.98
69	4036381.69
70	4988967.77
71	6166364.17
72	7621626.11
73	9420329.88
74	11643527.73
75	14391400.27
76	17787770.73
77	21985684.63
78	27174306.20
79	33587442.46
80	41514078.88
81	51311401.50
82	63420892.25
83	78388222.82
84	96887843.41
85	119753374.45
86	148015170.82
87	182946751.14
88	226122184.41
89	279487019.93
90	345445956.63
91	426971202.40
92	527736406.16
93	652282198.02
94	806220796.75
95	996488904.78
96	1231660286.31
97	1522332113.88
98	1881602492.75
99	2325660681.05
100	2874516601.77