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Mineral Resources

Mineral Resources. Chapter 11.1. Mineral Resources Nonrenewable resources are substances of limited supply and cannot be replaced but only created by processes that may take millions of years. Renewable resources are substances that can be replaced easily within a human lifetime.

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Mineral Resources

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  1. Mineral Resources Chapter 11.1

  2. Mineral Resources • Nonrenewable resources are substances of limited supply and cannot be replaced but only created by processes that may take millions of years. • Renewable resources are substances that can be replaced easily within a human lifetime. Mineral Resources

  3. Examples of metal mineral resources are gold, silver, and aluminum and are identified by their shiny surfaces, ability to conduct heat and electricity, and tendency to bend easily when in thin sheets. • Examples of nonmetal resources are sulfur and phosphorus and are identified by their dull surfaces, poor ability to conduct heat and electricity. Mineral Resources

  4. Formation of Ores • Ores are deposits of minerals from which metals and nonmetals can be removed from profitably. • For example, iron can be obtained from magnetite and hematite ores, mercury can be separated from cinnabar, and aluminum can be separated from bauxite. Formation of Ores

  5. Ores and Cooling Magma • Some ores are formed from cooling magma. As magma cools, dense metallic minerals sink to the bottom of the body of magma. Layers of these mineral accumulate and form ore deposits within the hardened magma. • Examples of these ores include chromium, nickel, and lead. Ores and Cooling Magma

  6. Ores and Contact Metamorphism • When hot magma comes into contact with existing rock, heat and chemical fluids from the magma change the surrounding rock or… • When hot mineral solutions spread through many small cracks in a large mass of rock and deposit valuable minerals in narrow fingerlike bands called veins. • A lode is a large number of thick mineral veins. • “Many gold miners were hoping to find the “Mother Lode” during the gold rush.” Ores and Contact Metamorphism

  7. Ores and Moving Water • Moving water can form ore deposits in a couple of ways. • One way is when fragments of native metals such as gold are released as rock breaks down due to natural processes, streams carry the fragments until they are deposited where the currents are weak, and the fragments become concentrated at the bottom of the stream bed in layers called placer deposits. Ores and Moving Water

  8. The second process is when water dissolves minerals as it flows through cracks in the rocks on the earth’s surface, new minerals precipitate out of the resulting solution forming ore deposits called veins. Ores and Moving Water

  9. Uses of Mineral Resources • Metallic ores such as gold, platinum, and silver are valuable due to their beauty and rarity or due to them being a valuable element. • Gemstones are nonmetallic minerals that are rare mineral crystals that are frequently cut for jewelry. • Calcite and gypsum are valuable because they are used in building materials. Uses of Mineral Resources

  10. Mineral Conservation • Mineral resources are being consumed at an increasing rate each year and the only way to preserve mineral resources is through conservation. • One way to conserve minerals is to use other more abundant materials such a plastics. • A second way to conserve is to recycle. Many resources can be recycled, such as iron, copper, and aluminum. Mineral Conservation

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