mineral resources
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Mineral Resources. Earth and Space Science Ms. Pollock 2010 - 2011. Hoover Dam. Built across Colorado River near Las Vegas in 1930s Built to supply water and electricity to arid (dry) lands Also affects environment. Hoover Dam. Disruption to normal river flow - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Earth and Space ScienceMs. Pollock
2010 - 2011
Built across Colorado River near Las Vegas in 1930s
Built to supply water and electricity to arid (dry) lands
Also affects environment
Disruption to normal river flow
Flooding from reservoir behind dam
Water deprivation downstream from dam
Useful resources contained in Earth’s crust
Formation of many resources takes millions of years
Over 3,000 identified minerals Can be metals or nonmetals
Metallic minerals also called native elements
Most minerals found in compound form, as they are unstable
Ores are mineral deposits from which metals and nonmetals can be removed profitably.
Iron ore from hematite or magnetite
Aluminum ore from bauxite
Mercury ore from cannabar
As magma cools, dense metallic minerals sink and accumulate at the bottom of magma chambers to form ore deposits.• Chromium• Nickel• lead
Magma in contact with existing rock Can be caused by hydrothermal
solutions (hot water) passing through cracks in rock
Hydrothermal solutions cause formation of veins – narrow zones of ores.
Lode – many thick mineral veins formed in small region
Gold vein in Zamibia
Silver lode deposit locations in British Columbia
Tiny fragments of native elements released from rock as it is broken down by weathering
Fragments carried downstream by moving water
Placer deposit – concentration of fragments of native element at bottom of stream bed
See page 157 in your textbook – Table 1
Some metals prized for beauty and rarity
Some nonmetals considered gemstones
Some building materials
Companies often in search of new mining areas
Area only good for mining if it contains 100 to 1,000 times the amount of mineral found elsewhere
Local geology a factor• Aerial studies of magnetism, gravity,
radioactivity, and rock color• Collection and testing of rock samples
Many mineral deposits located below Earth’s surface
Miners working underground to recover the minerals
Mineral deposits located close to Earth’s surface
Overlying rock stripped away to reveal mineral deposits
Mined by dredging Large buckets
attached to floating barge
Sediments scooped up in front of barge
Dense placer deposits separated and sediments released into water
Nodules – lumps of minerals on deep-ocean floor
Difficult to mine due to location• Iron• Manganese• nickel
Complete page 158 # 1 – 7. You do not need to write the
question.