4.3 Using Mineral Resources

Key Concepts How are minerals used? How are ores produced to obtain metals?

Vocabulary Terms Gemstone Ore Smelting alloy

Uses of Minerals

Modern civilization uses many minerals and you are surrounded by materials that come from minerals all the time

Minerals are the source of gemstones, metals and a variety of materials used to make many products

*Think – Pair – Share*

Talk with the people at your table and create a list of products you can name that are made from minerals.

Remember the 5 characteristics of minerals!

Uses of Minerals

GemstonesGemstones – hard colorful minerals with a brilliant or glassy luster.

Gemstones are valued for their color, luster, durability and rarity.

Gems are cut and polished gemstones Can be used for jewelry, decoration,

mechanical parts and polishing.

Uses of Minerals

MetalsMetals Some minerals are the sources of metals

Ex) aluminum, iron, copper or silver

Metals can be stretched, flattened, hammered or molded without breaking Ex) aluminum foil, steel beams, or copper

wire

Uses of Minerals

Other useful mineralsOther useful minerals There are many other useful minerals

besides metals and gems. People use materials from minerals in

foods, medicines, fertilizers, and building materials.

Uses of Minerals Talc: Baby powder, soapstone, gymnastics to

grasp bars Gypsum: Wall board, Plaster of paris Bauxite: Aluminum foil, Airplane parts/

aluminum Copper: Tubing, electrical wires, sculptures

Borax: Antiseptic soaps/welding flux/cleaner-found in dry lake beds Sulfur: Fungicides, kills bacteria, vulcanizes rubber, in coal/fuels Muscovite/Mica: White, gray material in electrical insulators Halite: Salt Calcite: Hard water deposit/part of limestone rock of ancient sea

beds/forming along shores of the Great Salt Lake Limonite/Taconite: Source of Iron / around Cedar City Feldspar: Ceramics and porcelain, colors in granites (not black) Quartz /Quartz crystal: Glass manufacturing, radios/computers

/electronic equipment Diamond: Cutting tools/ blades/ saws Lead: Primarily used in the construction of batteries. Aluminum: Cans, aircraft and automobile construction, sporting and

electronic equipment, appliances.

USA Mineral Areas

PA Minerals Mined

Principal MineralsMined Here!

Crushed and

broken stone

Lime Sand andGravel

Coal PortlandCement

STOP and THINK!

What are some ways that the use of minerals has affected the development of society?

Think about the ways we use minerals and apply those uses to the ways society has been changed.

Producing Metals from Minerals

To produce metal from a mineral, a rock containing the mineral must be located through prospecting and mined.

Then the rock must be processed to extract the metal.

Producing Metals from Minerals

Most metals are not found in pure form They occur as a mineral that is a

combination of metal and other elements

Ore – is a rock that contains solid metal or other minerals that can be mined and sold for profit

Producing Metals from Minerals

Prospecting Prospecting – searching for an ore deposit Geologists prospect for ores

by observing rocks on and beneath the surface

Geologists can map the size and shape of an ore deposit by measuring the magnetic field.

Depending on the map of the ore deposit, geologists determine the type of mining they will do to extract the ore.

Producing Metals from Minerals

MiningMining There are three types of mines: strip

mines, open pit mines and shaft mines.1) Strip mines – the soil is scraped away

to expose the ore2) Open pit mines – large pits are dug to

remove the ore deposits3) Shaft mines – tunnels extend deep into

the ground following the veins of ore.

Strip Mining

Open Pit Mining

Shaft Mines

Producing Metals from Minerals

SmeltingSmelting – ore is mixed with other substances and melted to separate the useful metal from the other elements. Ore must be processed before the

metals contained in it can be used

Figure 13 on page 134 of your text book.

* Think – Pair – Share *

Work with a partner and answer the following questions.

The chemical formula for hematite is Fe2O3

1) What does the chemical symbols stand for?

2) What is the purpose of smelting?3) What is added to the iron ore?4) Where does the oxygen go?

Producing Metals from Minerals

Further ProcessingFurther Processing Additional processing is needed to

remove impurities from metal Alloys are solid mixtures of two or more

elements and at least one is a metal Carbon + iron = steel Steel + chromium + nickel = stainless steel

Section Summary

We discussed how minerals are used. Uses include gemstones, metals and other

uses (glass, talcum powder, electronics) We learned the steps that must occur

so that pure metals can be available to society. Ores must be found (prospecting), mined

(3 types) and processed (smelting)