Ch.16 Mining and Mineral Resources
A serious hazard with coal mining is
An underground mine fire
Before mining a site, a mining company must do all of the following except
Cut into a section of the longwall
surface mining
a mining method in which soil and rocks are removed to reach underlying coal or minerals
Which if the following is not affected when soil is removed surface mine
Deep coal seams
placer deposits
Minerals concentrated by wind and water into surface deposits
quarry
Open pit used to mine materials near the surface
Smelting
The process by which ore is melted to separate the useful metal from other elements.
The first step in surface coal mining is
To use heavy equipment to take core samples
alloy
Two or more metals combined
Which of the following is one reason why undersea mining has been largely unsuccessful to date?
deposits at great water depths are difficult to work
Solar evaporation is practical in order to obtain salt from sea water in climates where rainfall is exceeded by
evaporation
Which of the following is not a way that ore minerals may form
flooding of empty streambeds and rivers
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
ore minerals
minerals that contain valuable substances
What is the arrangement of atoms in a mineral
regular, repeating geometric patterns
reclamation
the process of returning land to its original condition after mining is completed
Subsidence
the sinking of regions of the Earth's crust to lower elevations
longwall
the wall of a coal seam
aggregates
Sand gravel and crushed rock