Springridge Farm
6 Important Minerals
Read below to learn more about…………..
Feldspar
Is one of the most common minerals, it has flat sides or facets. When feldspar is broken into pieces
it often breaks with one or more flat sides. This is called “cleavage”. Feldspar, quartz and mica are
3 of the minerals that make up the igneous rock granite. If you look carefully at granite you can
easily see the feldspar crystals. Feldspar comes in various colours such as pink, red, white and
green.
Quartz
Major producers of natural quartz crystals are the United States and Brazil. Quartz is
physically and chemically resistant to weathering. When quartz-bearing rocks become
weathered and eroded, the grains of resistant quartz are concentrated in the soil, in rivers,
and on beaches. The white sands typically found in river beds and on beaches are usually
composed mainly of quartz, with some white or pink feldspar as well. Used in the manufacture of
glass, paints, abrasives, prisms, and precision instruments, such as pressure gauges.
Mica
Mica crystals are six-sided. They are fairly light and relatively soft, at 2 to 4 on
Mohs' hardness scale. Sheets and flakes of mica are flexible. Mica is heat-resistant
and does not conduct electricity. The main use of ground mica is in gypsum
wallboard joint compound. Sheet mica is used principally in the electronic and
electrical industries. The major uses of sheet and block mica are as electrical insulators in electronic
equipment, thermal insulation, gauge “glass” windows in stove and kerosene heaters, decorative
panels in lamps and windows, insulation in electric motors, field coil insulation. Sheet mica is from
India, but also from Belgium, Germany, and China. Scrap and flake mica is produced all over the
world: Canada, India, Finland, and Japan.
Salt (Halite- Calcium Chloride)
Used in human and animal diet, food seasoning and food preservation. Salt,
composed of sodium chloride (NaCl), is one of the necessities of life for man and
animals. Salt that is mined from solid layers in the ground is called rock salt. When
produced along with other, usually powdery, salt-like compounds by evaporation
from seawater, it is called sea salt or solar salt. Geologically, salt is also known by
its mineral name halite. Salt is produced in most of the countries on Earth. After the United States,
the largest producers of salt are China, Germany, India, and Canada.
Gold
Used in dentistry and medicine, in jewelry and arts, in coins, for scientific and
electronic instruments. South Africa has about half of the world’s resources.
Significant quantities are also present in the U.S., Australia, Brazil, Canada, China,
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and Russia. It is very stable and as a result seldom combines with other elements. In other words, it
does not corrode or rust. It conducts electricity very well (only silver and copper are better
conductors of electricity). It conducts heat very well. Gold can be hammered into shapes and can be
hammered into a sheet so thin that light can pass through it.
Diamonds
Two different minerals are formed from the element carbon. One is graphite which is
one of the softest minerals on Earth. The other is diamond which is the hardest substance
on Earth (10 on Mohs' hardness scale). Diamond forms at extremely high temperatures
and pressures, conditions that are only possible very deep in the Earth’s crust or even the
upper mantle. Being the hardest substance known, diamond will cut through any
material. It is used as an abrasive and in cutting and grinding applications. Industrial
diamonds are embedded in large steel drill bits to drill into rock for wells to find water, oil, and
natural gas. It is also important in the manufacture of machinery for drilling and cutting metal
machine parts. Diamonds are mined in Australia, Canada in NWT in 1998, Chile, China, Indonesia,
Kazakhstan, Peru, Russia and USA.
Take the information that you have just read and fill in the blanks below.
Diamonds are the _________________ substance known on Earth. Diamonds are formed at
extremely _________________temperatures.
________________ is a mineral suitable to be used in dentistry. This country,
_______________________ has half of the world’s resources of this mineral.
Mica is a ________________sided crystal. It comes in _______________used for oven doors.
Manganese is essential to produce _____________________ and __________________. These
countries _____________________ and _____________________ have over 80% of the world’s
reserves.
Salt is a ____________________ of life. When sea water ___________________ , mineral crystals
of salt are left behind as great salt beds.
Quartz is _____________________ to weathering. The erosion of quartz bearing rocks results in
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