Earth Science (Lecture and Laboratory) STEM-ES

MINERAL RESOURCES

A. MINERAL DEPOSITS

• Mineral Occurence
- concentration of a mineral that is of scientific or technical interest
• Mineral Deposit
- mineral occurrence of sufficient size and grade or concentration to enable
extraction under the most favourable conditions
• Ore Deposit
- mineral deposit that has been tested and known to be economically
profitable to mine
• Aggregate
- rock or mineral material used as filler in cement, asphalt, plastic, etc
- generally used to describe non metallic deposits
• Ore
- naturally-occurring material from which a mineral or minerals of economic
value can be extracted

1. Magmatic Ore Deposits

- valuable substances are concentrated within an igneous body through
magmatic processes such as crystal fractionation, partial melting and crystal
settling
a. Crystal settling
- as magma cools down, heavier minerals tend to crystallize early and settle at
the lower portion of the magma chamber
- e.g. chromite, magnetite, and platinum
b. Fractional Crystallization
- the residual melt contains high percentage of water and volatile substances
that are favourable for the formation of pegmatites
- *pegmatites are igneous rocks that are formed during the latter stages of
magma’s crystallization that has exceptionally large crystals

2. Hydrothermal Ore Deposits

- concentration of valuable substances by hot aqueous (water-rich) fluid flowing
through fractures and pore spaces in rocks
a. Vein Type Deposits
- a fairly well defined zone of mineralization, usually inclined and discordant
and typically narrow
- most vein type deposits occur in fault or fissure openings or in shear zones
within the country rock
b. Disseminated Deposits
- deposits in which the ore minerals are distributed as minute masses (very low
concentrations) through large volumes of rocks
c. Massive Sulfide Deposits (at oceanic spreading centers)
- precipitation of metals as sulphide minerals such as sphalerite and
chalcopyrite
- occurs when hot fluids that circulated above magma chambers at oceanic
ridges come in contact with cold groundwater or seawater as it migrate
toward sea floor
d. Stratabound Ore deposits
- lake or oceanic sediments
- formed when the dissolved minerals precipitate in the pore spaces of
unconsolidated sediments on the bottom of a lake or ocean

3. Sedimentary Ore Deposits

- some valuable substances are concentrated by chemical precipitation coming
from lakes or seawater

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 Earth Science (Lecture and Laboratory) STEM-ES

a. Evaporite Deposits
- this type of deposit typically occurs in a closed marine environment where
evaporation in greater that water inflow
b. Iron Formation
- these deposits are made up of repetitive thin layers of iron-rich chert and
several other iron bearing minerals such as hematite and magnetite
4. Placer Ore Deposits
- deposits formed by the concentration of valuable substances through gravity
separation during sedimentary processes
- usually aided by flowing surface waters either in streams or along coastlines
5. Residual Ore Deposits
- a type of deposit that results from the accumulation of valuable materials
through chemical weathering processes

B. MINERAL EXPLORATION
1. Mining
a. Surface Mining
- shallow minerals
- materials lying over a deposit are removed to expose the resource for
processing
• open-pit mining – machines dig very large holes and remove metal ores
(such as iron, copper, and gold ores), as well sand, gravel, and stone (such a
limestone and marble)
• strip mining – useful and economical for extracting mineral deposits that lie in
large horizontal beds close to earth’s surface
• area strip mining – used where terrain is usually flat
• contour strip mining – used mostly to mine coal on hilly or mountainous terrain
• mountaintop removal
b. Underground Mining
- mineral resources are removed through tunnels and shaft

C. COMMON EVERYDAY MINERALS

Aggregates (sand, Clays Iodine Quartz
gravel, etc.) Cobalt Iron ore Sandstone
Aluminium Copper Lead Silica/Silicon
Antimony Diamond Limestone Silver
Asbestos Diatomite Lithium Strontium
Basalt Dolomite Magnesium Sulfur
Barium Feldspar Manganese Talc
Beryllium Fluorite Mercury Tin
Bismuth Garnet Mica Titanium
Boron Germanium Molybdenum Tungsten
Bromine Gold Nickel Uranium
Cadmium Granite Phosphate rock Zeolites
Calcium Graphite Platinum Group Metals (PGMs)
Cement Gypsum Potash Zinc
chromium Halite (salt) Pyrite Zirconium

References:
• Olivar, J. T. (2016). Exploring Life Through Science: Earth Science. Quezon City,
Philippines. Phoenix Publishing House, Inc.
• http://earthsci.org/mineral/mindep/depfile/vei_dep.htm
• Tarbuck, Lutgens, and Tasa. (2014). Earth: An Introduction to Physical Geology 11th ed.