Environmental Science Minerals and Mineral Resources
Sand, gravel, and crushed rock
Aggregates
Why are alloys especially important?
Alloys often combine the most desirable properties of the metals used to make them.
Aqua means "water" or "a light blue color." Marine refers to the sea. Use this information to determine what the gemstone aquamarine might look like.
Aquamarine might be the bluish green color of seawater.
Mining companies conduct mineral exploration to
Find mineral deposits
Airplanes used in mineral exploration carry instruments that detect what?
Gravity, radioactivity, and magnetism
What are some properties of metals that give them economic and industrial importance?
Some metals can be pounded into various shapes or stretched thinly without breaking. Others conduct heat and electricity. Some are durable and resist corrosion.
What is a way that ore minerals may form?
cooling of magma circulation of hydrothermal solutions through rocks evaporation of water that contains salts
What is not affected when soil is removed from a surface mine?
deep coal seams
How is a mineral deposit different from ordinary rocks
A mineral deposit has 100 to 1,000 times the concentration of the mineral than ordinary rocks have.
What is one reason why undersea mining has been largely unsuccessful to date?
Deposits at great water depths are difficult to work.
The verb corrode means "wear away gradually, usually by a chemical reaction." A metal that is prized for its "resistance to corrosion" has what property?
It has durability and will not rust or wear down easily.
The wall of a coal seam
Long wall
How do both satellites and airplanes aid mining companies in finding ore deposits?
Satellite images are used, along with photographs and data collected from planes, to create an accurate geological map of the surface.
Process by which crushed ore is melted at high temperatures to separate impurities from molten metal
Smelting
The sinking of regions of the ground with little or no horizontal movement
Subsidence
What is ore grade?
The metal content of an ore
How does drilling test holes help mining companies determine whether to open a mine in a specific area?
The test holes help the company estimate the three-dimensional extent of the ore.
What do mining companies learn from rock samples taken from an exploration area?
They learn the ore grade, or how much metal is in the rock.
What types of minerals are among the most widely used in the world?
alloys
A serious hazard of coal mining is
an underground mine fire.
Solar evaporation is practical in order to obtain salt from sea water in climates where rainfall is exceeded by
evaporation
What is not a way that ore minerals may form?
flooding of empty streambeds and rivers
Why do people value gemstones?
for their beauty and rarity
Nonmetallic minerals prized mainly for their beauty, rarity, or durability are called
gemstones
Dredging streambeds may be an effective technique for mining
gold
Mining companies can identify areas of valuable mineral resources by
mineral exploration.
Before mining a site, a mining company must do what?
obtain permits from state agencies. comply with federal regulations. obtain bonding.
The value of a mineral is determined by its
properties
What is the arrangement of atoms in a mineral?
regular, repeating geometric patterns
An example of gemstone?
sapphire
The first step in surface coal mining is
to remove and set aside the soil that covers the area to be mined.
Two or more metals that are combined
Alloy
Minerals that contain valuable substances
Ore minerals
Minerals concentrated by wind and water movement into surface deposits
Placer deposits
Open pit used to mine materials near the surface
Quarry
Process of returning land to its original or better condition after mining
Reclemation
Mining method used when ore deposits are located close to Earth's surface
Surface Mining
