In-Situ Mining for Roll Front Precipitates

This lesson, developed Mark Steward, uses the Powder River Basin in Wyoming as context for a lab experiment. Students will have opportunities to demonstrate skills in measuring volumes and calculating percent composition based on recovery rates from the soluble metal solutions they work with, with the ultimate product being a crystal they will have formed from the solution created, and a demonstration of an In-Situ mining operation. 

Intended for high school students, this lesson assumes that students can perform basic chemistry lab and math skills, that students can use basic computer skills to develop the lab write-up, and that students have basic Microsoft Office skills. Completion of the lab requires plastic columns, sand, copper chloride, copper sulfate, potassium chloride, sodium chloride, cheese cloth, rubber bands, beakers, Petri dishes, and access to a hot plate.