1. Minerals and Rock Resources

2. Minerals are taken out of ore deposits
What is ore?
Ore – a rock in which a valuable or useful metal occurs and there is enough of it to be worth mining
Examples: iron ore, copper ore, etc.

3. Examples of Metals obtained from Ores
Aluminum (in bauxite rock) – vehicles
Iron (in iron ore) - appliances & vehicles
Metals for conductors or semi-conductors
Gems, gold, and silver – jewelry
Lead from galena (PbS)
Copper (Cu) from malachite and azurite
Zinc from sphalerite (ZnS)

4. When a mine will make money?
Enough precious mineral in the ore
World demand for the mineral
Energy cost to take it out of the ground/processing
Human/labor cost
Distance to processing or market
Environmental cost (including remediation)

5. Fig 12.6 a: Copper & molybdenum deposits in Americas

6. Types of mines Surface – when the mineral is close to the surface
e.g. copper, diamond, gold, nickel, tin, zinc
Underground – mineral is too deep to be mined on the surface
e.g. sulfur, lead, silver

7. Old & abandoned mines can collapse
Impacts of mines
Can change the landscape completely or only a bit
Old & abandoned mines can collapse
Waste rock can have heavy metals in it that pollute water
Processing can pollute air

8. Collapse of land in old copper mine, Arizona

9. Subsidence pits over abandoned underground coal mines in Wyoming

11. Bingham Canyon copper mine

13. Successful mine reclamation

14. Waste rock with harmful metals

15. Ekati diamond mine in NWT

16. Largest copper mine - SA