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Comstock Lode Page 74 Mining Page 75

3. Mining Pg. 75
Mining is the process of extracting valuable material from the Earth.

4. 4 Steps of the Mining Process
Find the minerals.
2. Mine minerals from the earth.

5. 3. Refine the minerals.
4. Transport minerals to market to be used in products.

6. Subsurface Mining

7. 1. They can be metals or nonmetals.
What is an ore?
Ores - are naturally occurring mineral deposits in the earth’s crust that contain a desired material.
1. They can be metals or nonmetals.
2. The desired material must be present in high enough quantities to make its removal profitable.
3. Ore refining is the process used to remove these wanted products from the ores.

8. Most Common Copper Ores
Chalcocite
Chalcocite
Chalcopyrite
Malachite

9. Copper ore mining

10. Mining began in Nevada on the heels of the California gold rush in 1849 before Nevada was even a state. The major discovery of silver, known as the Comstock Lode, happened a decade later in 1859 and brought great changes to the area as miners rushed into the region and boom towns including Virginia City, Aurora, Unionville and Austin were born. Over the next 20 years, almost $1 billion of gold and silver were produced by Nevada mines. The wealth of Nevada mines, the population surge they created and the ongoing American Civil War prompted Abraham Lincoln to declare Nevada the 36th state in the Union on Oct. 31, 1864.

12. Men in a silver mine

13. Tonopah-gold discovery in 1900

14. Goldbar Mine in Goldfield, NV

15. World’s Gold Production-where do you think the most is mined?

16. USA is the #2 gold
Producer in the world
Nevada produces
85% of the gold from
North America.
But, the most common
mining product in the
USA is gravel.

17. Lone Mountain Gravel Pit

18. Barite-paints,
plastic
Silica- sand, glass
Limestone-Cement
Diatomite- insect
killer
Mercury-makes Thimerosal in tattoo ink and mascara

19. Las Vegas-Gypsum-Mined at Blue Diamond Mine
1. Blue Diamond Mine-> 2. Dig it out of the ground-> 3. Taken to building to be powdered(refined)-> 4. truck to Pabco plant at Lake Mead to be made into drywall and stucco.