Mineral

Resources
 SPECIFIC LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the lesson, learners will be able to:

Understand the life cycle of mineral resources; and

Understand the impact of mining.
Rocks formed when Minerals combined
 Mineral Resources

The concentration or occurrence of

solid material of economic interest in
or on the Earth's crust in such form,
grade or quality and quantity that there
are reasonable prospects for eventual
economic extraction.
 DEFINTION OF TERMS

Mineral Occurrence – 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 favorable 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, plaster,
etc; generally used to describe
nonmetallic deposits
Ore – naturally-occurring material
from which a mineral or minerals of
economic value can be extracted.
Types of Mineral Resources
 Metallic Resources

-Minerals that contain metals in their chemical

composition.
-Obtained when mineral is melted
-Classified as:
1. Ferrous metallic minerals (with iron)
2. Nonferrous metallic minerals (without iron)
 Non Metallic Resources

-those resources that do not yield new products

when melted.
-do not have metallic luster

sand gravel gypsum

Occurrence of Minerals
Plate tectonics
 Geologic Process
Rock cycle: the
interaction of
physical and
chemical
processes that
change rocks
from one type
to another.
Slowest of the
earth’s cyclic
processes
•Hydrothermal mineral deposits

•Magmatic mineral deposits

•Sedimentary mineral deposits

•Placers

•Residual mineral deposits

Hydrothermal mineral
deposits are
accumulations of
valuable minerals which
formed from hot waters
circulating in Earth's
crust through fractures.
They eventually create
rich-metallic fluids
concentrated in a
selected volume of rock,
which become
supersaturated and then
precipitate ore minerals.
Porphyry copper deposits are copper orebodies which are
associated with porphyritic intrusive rocks and the fluids that
accompany them during the transition and cooling from
magma to rock. Circulating surface water or underground
fluids may interact with the plutonic fluids. Successive
envelopes of hydrothermal alteration typically enclose a core of
ore minerals disseminated in often stockwork-forming hairline
fractures and veins.
Stratabound Deposits occur when hydrothermal fluids
invade and react with muddy sediments
MAGMATIC MINERAL DEPOSITS
Magmatic Deposits are so named
because they are genetically linked
with the evolution of magmas
emplaced into the crust (either
continental or oceanic) and are
spatially found within rock types
derived from the crystallization of
such magmas. The most important
magmatic deposits are restricted to
mafia and ultramafic rocks which
represent the crystallization
products of basaltic or ultramafic
liquids.
Chromite

Pegmatite
SEDIMENTARY MINERAL DEPOSITS
Any concentration of minerals formed through processes of
sedimentation. It has become common practice to refer to
those minerals formed through precipitation of substances
carried in solution—chemical sedimentary deposits rather
than clastic sedimentary deposits.
Placer deposits occur where barriers allow flowing water to
carry away the suspended load of light weight particles, while
trapping heavy particles.

How heavy?
Residual Mineral Deposits
Substances that are
concentrated by chemical
weathering processes, i.e.
bauxite.
Fossil Fuels: the remains of plants and animals in
sedimentary rocks that can be used for fuel.
Coalification: Compression and hardening over long periods
of time, the processes by which coal is formed from plant
materials. The final product has lost most of its volitiles and is
highly inriched in carbon
Petroleum
Defined as gaseous, liquid, and semisolid naturally
occurring substances that consist chiefly of
hydrocarbons.
Oil Traps
 Mining
 the extraction of
valuable minerals or
other geological
materials from the
Earth, usually from
an ore body, lode,
vein, seam, reef or
placer deposit. These
deposits form a
mineralized package
that is of economic
interest to the miner.
 Mineral Exploration
 Project Design
-The initial stage (Reviewing of Data)
 Field Exploration
- Second stage ( Physical Activities Include)
Pre-production Feasibility Study
- Last stage ( Validates the accuracy)
 Mining Methods
 The methods in using Mining
 Has Two Main Methods
- Surface Mining ( Close Earth’s Surface)
- Underground Mining(Deep Earth’s
Surface)
 Surface Mining

Broad category of
mining in which
soil and rock
overlying the
mineral deposit
are removed and
utilized to extract
ore close to
Earth’s Surface.
 Types of Surface Mining
 Open Pit Mining - machines dig hole and remove ore
 Strip Mining - earth movers strip overburden and power
shovels remove deposit
 Contour Mining - mine coal on hilly terrain. Wall of
dirt left in front of a highly erodible bank of soil and
rock called high wall
 Mountain Top Removal - Appalachian Mountains ,
draglines, explosives remove top of mountain to
expose seams
Open-pit Mining
 The surface mining
technique of
extracting rock or
minerals from the
earth by their
removal from an
open pit or borrow.
 Toxic groundwater
can accumulate at
the bottom.
Area Strip Mining

 surface mining 
used where the
t terrain is flat
 Often leaves highly
erodible hills of
rubble called spoil
banks.
 Use Earthmover
and power shovel
Figure 15-
Contour Strip Mining

 Used on hilly or
mountainous
terrain.
 Unless the land is
restored, a wall of
dirt is left in front
of a highly
erodible bank
called a highwall.
Figure 15-
Mountaintop Removal

 Machinery removes
the tops of
mountains to
expose coal.
 The resulting waste
rock and dirt are
dumped into the
streams and valleys
below.
Figure 15-
 Underground Mining
Underground hard
rock mining refers
to various
underground
mining techniques
used to excavate
hard minerals.
When do we mine underground?

 The ore deposit is deep

 Ore body is steep
 Grade is high enough to exceed costs
 Milling Process
 Materials extracted or
“mined" are rocks
composed of both ore
and waste material . The
extracted rocks will
undergo processes of
mineral separation and
recovery.
Loading Ore in the Pit
 Crushing

The process 
of reducing the
size of
materials so
that they can
be further
processed
 Grinding

The process 
of breaking
down,
separating,
sizing, or
classifying
aggregate
material.
 Flotation
Method used to
separate and
concentrate ores
by altering their
surfaces to a
hydrophobic or
hydrophilic
condition
 Dewatering and Impoundment

Common terms used to

describe removal or
draining groundwater or
surface water from a
riverbed, construction
site, caisson, or mine
shaft, by pumping or
evaporation.
 Refining
Smelting
Removes the metal from the ore mineral by heating
the ore with a flux, reducing the metal ion to its
elemental form
Heap Leaching
Removes metal from the ore by reaction with a solution,
often using cyanide CN- ion
Environmental Impacts mining

flooding
• erosion

• subsidence

• water and air pollution

• damage to wildlife and habitat

POSSIBLE STEPS TO RESTORING SURFACE-
MINED LAND

 Re-contouring/re-grading land to its original

topography.

 Replacing and/or adding topsoil/nutrients as

needed to improve soil quality or structure

 Replanting
 native vegetation
 fast-growing species
 early successional species

 Monitor for 5 to 10 years

Ecological Restoration of a Mining Site in New
Jersey, U.S.
Life Cycle of a Mineral