Gemstones
• Valued:
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Rare
Color
Durability
Glassy Luster
• Used for:
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Jewelry
Decoration
Mechanical Parts
Grinding and Polishing
Metals
Sources
Useful for:
Stretched into wire
1. Aluminum
Flattened into sheets
2. Iron
Hammered or molded without breaking.
3. Copper
Metal Tools and Machinery
4. Silver
Metal filament in light bulb.
Steel girders used to frame buildings.
Other Useful Minerals
Foods
Fluorite- used in making aluminum
and steel
Fertilizers
Quartz- Making Glass, electronic
equipment, and watches
Medicines
Kaolin- Make fine china and pottery.
Building materials
Gypsum- make wall board, cement
and stucco
Talcum powder.
Corundum- used in polishing and
cleaning products.
Ores
• A mineral that contains a metal or economically
useful mineral.
• Chalcopyrite
– Copper
• Hematite and Magnetite
– Iron
• Bauxite
– Aluminum
• Galena
– Lead
Prospecting
• Searching for an ore deposit:
• Looking for:
– Certain features on Earth’s surface.
– Observe the rocks on Earth’s surface.
– Examine plants in an area
– Test stream water for the presence of certain
chemicals.
Mining
• Geologists map an ore deposit, help miners decide
how to mine. 3 Types.
• 1. Strip Mine
– Earth moving equipment scrapes away soil to expose ore.
• 2. Open Pit Mines- use giant earthmoving equipment
to dig a huge pit.
• 3. Shaft Mines- network of tunnels that extend deep
into the ground following the veins of ores.
Mining (Environmental Issues)
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Leaves scars on the land.
Reclamation
Waste materials
Dangerous
Pollution
Smelting
• An ore is melted to separate the useful metal from
other elements the ore contains.
– 1. Iron ore crushed mixed with limestone and baked with
coal
– Mixtuer put blast furnace.
– As it burns, chemical reaction causes CO2 gas and molten
iron.
– Iron sinks to bottom of the furnace, impurities left called
slag.
– Slag and molten iron are poured off through taps in the
blast furnace.
Alloy
• A solid mixture of 2 or more metals.
– Steel bronze