#Bornite

[geologyin-blog]

Natural Peacock iridescent Bornite, pyrite, and Calcite Mineral

Photo: zundicrystal

[rejamart]

design + art commission for penbur of a creature ascended

hello. i'm a broke artist looking down the barrel of homelessness. if you like my work, consider tossing me a dollar or two on venmo $rejamrejam

[zeibei]

Big Sister is Watching You.

[beeapartments]

I finished taking rock photos, hooray! (..it's over with!)

I ended up saving 195 photos. I want to take some good pictures of my fluorescent rocks at some point, but I need to figure out how first. I'm glad now I took the pictures on a huge sheet of paper, because some of my rocks left a lot of dirt or shed a lot of fine crystals (looking at you stibnite)

..Not sure when I'll edit them, or how long it'll take, though. Here's a few of the unedited ones.

[especdreamy]

My Uni gifted me a magnifying glass. Decided to use it on some minerals from my collection

[theoldbone]

Bornite, Dolomite, State Route 9, Connecticut

[torusauza]

Hory

[penebui]

new 2024 ref for my hnk oc, Chalco :3

[iamthepulta]

wait no please explain mineral processing!!!

I gasped in delight at the ask, haha. I love mineral processing.

Mineral processing is the theory of economically getting your desired element out of whatever it naturally comes in. So Li out of spodumene, or Cu out of chalcopyrite. It's usually split into hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy (liquid chemistry and melting the fuck out of it, respectively), and often taught as hard rock extraction, but you need it for Every Element, really. So you can also focus on extracting phosphates, or nitrates, or uranium! It's chemistry++~

Personally, I know the most about copper extraction and my focus is on hydrometallurgy/geometallurgy, although pyrometallurgy is near to my heart. Copper is coincidentally a really good example of how the two work because it comes as so many natural minerals. (Further explanations under the cut...)

So for copper minerals! You have a whole slew of oxides and sulfides. They occur in different part of your orebodies under different states of oxidation/sulfidation. Take Chrysocolla, Malachite, Chalcocite, and Chalcopyrite. (Cu-silicate)(an oxide), (Cu-carbonate)(an oxide), (Cu-Sulfide), and (Cu-Fe-Sulfide).

Mines usually use hydrometallurgy for oxides by sticking them in a leach heap and pouring sulfuric acid over the whole thing. The acid selectively picks up the Cu ion from silicates and carbonates, leaving the primary tetrahedra alone. The sulfides can work with this chemistry if the mineral's comfort zone is outside of the current conditions (Chalcocite does leach, but usually leaves a Cu ion in the structure as CuS) but minerals like Chalcopyrite are very poor leachers because the outer rim of ions are ripped away, leaving a somewhat-hypothetical "passive layer" of Fe/S that won't react with the acid. So if you have a mine with a lot of Chalcopyrite, you'll be leaving money on the table unless you do something.

So people use pyrometallurgy! Which is what we've been using since the Bronze Age, really. You crush the rock to micrometer grains, use the hydrophobic properties of sulfur to "float" the sulfides in water, then send all of it to the smelter and melt the shit out of it, while adding particular chemicals and minerals to enhance copper recovery while suppressing sulfides you don't want, like sphalerite and galena.

It's REALLY cool. I'm biased of course, but I absolutely love the whole cycle. xD Being in mineral processing also gets you on the backside of geopolitics because you're the only person who understands how to GET things and WHERE to get them and why it's not as simple as pulling Cu out of the ground.

Feel free to ask questions!! I love processing so much, and mining in general, even though I'm only a master's student.

((And NO STUPID QUESTIONS. The mining industry is a goddamn black box DO NOT feel bad if you don't know what stuff means or formulas, or processes. I swear I learn one new word a week. They also have fifty names for everything too because 50 names are always better than 1. 👍)

[ghcstcd]

There are two ghouls named Bismuth and Bornite who were in Secondo's pack of ghouls who stayed behind when Secondo died. Unfortunately, Dewdrop doesn't with visit them as often as she should, or wants. He swears he's not avoiding them, but there's a strange guilt she feels about her success in the band and their pack.

[birdwithinternet]

30, 45 and 49 for weird asks

30. is there dishes in your room?

Not anymore!

45. can you remember what happened yesterday?

A little bit? It was a pretty normal day, I think.

49. can you skip rocks?

I can for like, two skips. Nothing too impressive, I'm no rock-skipping expert. My uncle is, though.

Thanks for the asks! <3

[tranquilocs]

Kishiko: Nespina has no idea I’m high.

Nespina: You’re high?

Kishiko: Oh, I’m sorry.

Kishiko, leaning over to Nia: Nespina has no idea I’m high.

[everythingisliminal]

Y'all know what? Life is

luscious and raw - I refuse

to forget this time.

[rafnyh]

Photos from this week. I've been a bit busy this week, but at least I'm enjoying this semester's courses, especially Mineral Deposits and Ore Mineralogy. The pale pink mineral seen in the second picture is a Bornite! ✨️

[avinwrites]

Glimmers of Gratitude || Norton x reader

Synopsis: You've become close with Norton Campbell despite his erratic behavior. On a particularly bad day, you have something that cheers him up!

Norton… scares you a little bit. He always has this distant, unpleasant look on his face, and while he isn’t directly mean to anyone, he seems annoyed at all times. Despite this, you’ve had good conversations with him. Mostly just pleasantries that happen to evolve into real discussions, such as asking him how his day has been and you end up talking about good and bad experiences for what feels like hours. You naturally get along with him, and you can both appreciate that. Occasionally, he’ll become distant towards you, almost out of nowhere. His temper is somewhat unpredictable, but you make it through with some effort on your part. Right now, however, he seems to be in one of his moods. 

He hasn’t talked to you all morning. Even when you waved, sat next to him, asked him how he slept, nothing. You were going to keep at it, you get the feeling that he’s having a rough time and you want to help him through it, but you had to participate in a match. During this match, thankfully, you were left alone to decode. While moving from one cipher to another, you caught something shining on the ground, a very interesting looking rock. When you first pick it up, it’s unassuming, like a normal rock, but once you shine it in the light, you see specks of gold and green and yellow, that just leave you in awe. It reminds you of a certain pair of eyes.

When you get back from that match, without thinking, you go to knock on his door, eager to show him the acquisition you are oh so proud of. It takes him a long time to answer the door after you knock, so long that you think he’s elsewhere, but, slowly, the door creaks open to reveal Norton with horrid posture and eye bags as dark as his mental state. You look from his face to behind him for a short moment, debating with yourself whether or not to leave him alone, but you really can’t stand to see him in this kind of shape, and your will to make him feel better overpowers your dread of making him feel worse. You stand there, silent for an uncomfortable period of time. 

“I wanted to ask you a question, but I get it if you aren’t in the mood to talk.” You start, having difficulty making eye contact with him.

Wordlessly, he opens his door wider to invite you in, shrugging in the process. From your pocket, you fish out the small, unassuming rock you found earlier, taking his hand and placing it gently on his palm. 

“Look.” You tell him, shining a light on the rock to show him the dazzling sparkles deep within it. He watches with you, paying close attention as you show him all the interesting spots you found.

“You had a question?” He finally responds, whilst taking a closer look at your finding.

“Oh, right, I was going to ask you if you knew what it was.”

“Looks to me like Bornite.” He says, matter-of-factly. You weren’t expecting the quick answer. You watch as he closely inspects the mineral and continues. “It’s commonly found in copper mines, but it's not a rare ore. I used to see it a lot…” He trails off, lost in his thoughts once again.

You take a deep breath before taking his hands in yours. You’re determined to boost his spirits at least a little.

“I saw the gold and the green, and the way that it seemed to shine… the first thing that came to my mind was your eyes. Seeing them next to the rock… your eyes are prettier.” You pause before your attempt at flirtation, not knowing how he’ll take it. 

At first, the silence was deafening. You feel like you just made a horrible mistake, like you had poked the ever-volatile bear, but after what felt like a long time, only a few seconds in reality, you notice the beginnings of a bright red spread across his face. He’s stunned. Then, he does the unexpected. He smiles at you. 

“Thanks.” That soft grin widens slightly. His singular word seems to have more application than just one. As if to say: thanks for the compliment, thanks for the gift, thank you for noticing me, and thank you for your comfort.

“Anytime.” You reply with a smile of your own, reciprocating each appreciation with an acknowledgement of your own. 

Maybe you could have said more; maybe you should have. But for now, just being in his presence, both smiling and happy, is enough. There would be plenty of time and opportunity to talk further, but right now, words aren’t needed when you can see his eyes, sparkling just for you.

[torusauza]

Bornite