Mineral Resources and Their Uses

Mineral Resources

• Minerals are essential for human everyday life.
• Minerals are found in homes, personal items, electronics, jewelry, and health products.
• The use of a mineral depends on its physical and chemical properties.
• Early humans used copper, silver, lead, and zinc to create alloys.
• The first mineral-based fire strikers were developed 500,000 years ago, during the Homo erectus era.

Objectives

• Identify minerals important to society.
• Describe the mineral composition of common materials.
• Discuss the uses of minerals.

Minerals and Human Development

• One percent of mined ore becomes a refined product, the rest becomes waste.
• Waste from ore processing is called tailings.
• The first mineral-based fire strikers were developed 500,000 years ago, during the Homo erectus era.
• Early humans used copper, silver, lead, and zinc to create alloys.

Home and Personal Uses of Minerals

• Rock salt is the mineral halite.
• Tungsten is found in light bulbs.
• Clay minerals are used for ceramic pots and other items.
• Fluorite is found in toothpaste.

Mineral Composition of Common Household and Personal Materials

• Tungsten has the highest melting point among metals, making it suitable for light bulb filaments.
• Clay minerals can be shaped when wet and hardened by firing in a kiln, resulting in durable ceramic products.
• Chromium is added to steel to prevent rust.

Minerals in Electronics, Infrastructure, and Manufacturing

• Minerals used in electronics, infrastructure, and manufacturing include gold, quartz, silicon, and copper.
• Gold is a good conductor and easily formed into wires.
• Mica is a poor conductor, but has a high melting point.

Minerals in Health and Medicine

• Barium is an additive in X-rays of the digestive system.
• Iron is used to treat anemia.
• Mercury is used in thermometers
• Kaolinite is used in medicines and lotions

Minerals for Aesthetics

• Some minerals are used as gemstones, valued for their rarity and beauty.
• Diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and opals are used in jewelry.

Key Points

• Minerals are essential to human life.
• Minerals are found in everyday items.
• Mineral use depends on their properties.
• Minerals are used in various industries, including electronics, health, and manufacturing.

Mineral Exploration Techniques

• Remote sensing, geophysical methods, and geochemical methods are used.

Mining

• Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals from deposits.
• Surface mining and underground mining are two methods.

Types of Mining

• Surface Mining: Used for extracting minerals near the Earth's surface.
  • Strip mining
  • Open-pit mining
  • Dredging
  • Mountaintop removal
  • Highwall mining
• Underground Mining: Used for extracting minerals deep below the Earth's surface.
  • Room and pillar mining
  • Shrinkage stopping

Factors Affecting Mineral Availability

• Geologic factors, such as the geological origin of the area.
• Economic factors, such as the costs of engineering and extraction.
• Environmental factors.

Processing of Minerals

• Ore processing is refining the ore, to convert it into usable minerals.
• Primary steps for processing minerals include: sampling and analysis, comminution, concentration, and dewatering.

Steps of Mineral Processing

• Sampling: Removing a portion to represent the whole for analysis
• Analysis: Evaluating valuable components (chemical, mineralogical, and particle size)
• Comminution: Crushing or breaking down rock into smaller pieces.
• Concentration: Separating valuable minerals from raw materials.
• Dewatering: Converting concentrates into usable minerals.

Concentrating Minerals

Methods of concentrating minerals include: - Optical Separation: Using light to separate minerals based on different properties. - Density Separation: Separating minerals based on density. - Flotation Separation: Using air bubbles to separate hydrophobic materials. - Magnetic Separation: Separating minerals based on magnetic properties. - Electrostatic Separation: Separating minerals based on electrostatic charge.

Wastes in Mining

• Mining produces significant waste, the vast majority in the form of tailings.
• Only a small portion of the ore is extracted.

Environmental Cost of Irresponsible Mining

• Mining impacts air, water, land quality, and local ecosystems.
• Mining activities can lead to deforestation, and damage to local communities.

Mining Waste Products and Their Management

• Ways to lessen waste impacts:
  • Apply new extraction technologies.
  • Plan exploration and rehabilitation.
  • Ensure community restoration near mines.
  • Properly managing tailings from ore.
  • Following mining structure regulations.

Key Points

• Mining significantly impacts the environment (air, water, land).
• Sustainable mining practices aim to generate minimal waste.
• Effective solutions to lessen the environmental impact of mining exist.

Check Your Understanding

• Possible materials for students to identify from the image shown (example): pots, pans, utensils, etc

Challenge Yourself

• Students need to analyze possible reasons for why sorting by hand is considered ineffective.