Rocks and minerals and their exploitation

CHAPTER 1 Teacher kulsoom

MAY /JUNE 5 ENG MATH ICT BUSINESS EM
OCT /NOV PLUS SUBJECT
 LESSON OBJECTIVES - TO UNDERSTAND ABOUT

 The different types of rocks and their formation

 The exploitation of rocks and minerals
 The different layers of the earth
 Where these rocks are
 Describes the different types of rocks and the minerals found in them.
 Explains the different types of their extractions
 The impacts caused by extraction methods
 Evaluates on how extraction methods can be managed and reduced to a
minimum
THE EARTH
STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH

• Core - This is the centre of the earth. It is made from iron and has its temperature is hotter 4000 C. It is
surrounded by the mantle
• Solid core – The core is found about 2,900 kilometers (1,802 miles) below Earth’s surface, and has
a radius of about 3,485 kilometers (2,165 miles).(inner core )
• Molten core - The transition between the inner core and outer core is located approximately 5,150
km (3,200 mi) beneath the Earth's surface (this is outer core )

• Mantle - The mantle is a thick layer of molten rock; it is also the source of magma that reaches the earth
during volcanic eruptions. It is surrounded by the crust.

• Crust -The crust is a thin surface layer of rocks and minerals, only about 5 km to 100 km thick. It
provides us with useful products. These products are important for building, they have a lot of other uses
such as their use as energy supply. It is surrounded by the lithosphere which is where people live.
 NOTES

• Rocks are a combination of one or more minerals

• All the rocks and minerals we need are taken from the crust, we do not
need to reach the mantle for any resources.
• Even deep ground mines do not reach the mantle they usually only go
deep in the crust as we can find all the resources we need there.
• Rock cycle shows the changes between the three types of rocks and
processes causing them
 FORMATION OF ROCKS/ HOW ARE ROCKS
FORMED?
1. When volcanoes erupt, the magma they release onto the surface as lava
and ash, cool to form rock
2. Sediments already on the Earth’s surface have been compressed and
folded up by the Earth’s movement
3. All rocks exposed are broken down into smaller pieces by weathering
(physical, chemical and biological)
4. Rocks are eroded by water, ice and wind
5. In high mountains, rocks are broken up by freeze thaw
FOUR STAGES IN THE ROCK CYCLE

• Mountains are build by upfolding

• Rocks are broken down by weathering
• Rocks are eroded by water and ice and transported
• Weathered and eroded materials are deposited on the sea bed where
they are compacted into rock
• Millions of years later, during great mountain building periods, they
will be upfolded to form new mountain range
EARTH’S
ROCK
CYCLE – PG
3
THE EARTHS ROCK CYCLE - RECAP

• Over time, all the rocks on the surface are broken down into smaller pieces by weathering.
• Rocks are eroded by water, ice, and wind and carried away. Eventually, weathered and
eroded rock fragments reach the sea, where they are deposited on the sea bed. Here they
accumulate and are compacted again into rock. Millions of years later, during great
mountain building periods, they will be upfolded to from new mountain ranges. This is the
Earth’s rock cycle
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CnjoCu1154
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP1qbwSGmNs
 THREE TYPES OF ROCKS

• Rocks are classified by how they

form
• Igneous
• Sedimentary
• Metamorphic

 Rocks can change from one type

to another over time.
 Sedimentary and igneous rocks Schist
began as something other than rock.
 Metamorphic rocks began as rock
IGNEOUS ROCKS FORMATION

• Rocks formed by fire. They are new rocks in the earth’s crust
• These types of rocks form from volcanic activities.
• The magma from volcanos rises to the surfaces and cools down to
form igneous rocks.
• When the magma reaches the surface it is called lava. Magma is
from the mantle
• They are being formed along plate boundaries
EXAMPLES OF IGNEOUS ROCKS

• Granite is intrusive rock(cools down slowly and large crystals) formed from
magma forced into rocks during the formation of fold mountains along destructive
plate boundaries
• Basalt – when lava pours out of volcanoes along constructive plate boundaries –
extrusive rock( takes time to cool down and form small crystal)

Granite
Basalt
TWO TYPES OF IGNEOUS ROCKS

EXTRUSIVE IGNEOUS ROCK. INTRUSIVE IGNEOUS ROCK

• If the lava cools down quickly, forms • When lava cools down slowly, forms
small crystals large crystals
 SEDIMENTARY ROCKS - FORMATION

• Rocks made of sediments

• Sediments are small particles of rock broken off
existing rocks which outcrop on the Earth’s
surface by weathering and erosion
• Most of the particles reach the sea bed where they
settle and accumulated in layers
• Over time, the weight of the new sediment above
compresses the layer below into sedimentary rocks
• Second- hand rocks in the Earth’s crust – made
from old materials – commonly found in large Limestone
lowland areas.
 EXAMPLES OF SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

• Sandstone – consists of grains of sand concentrated in a rock

• Clay and shale – formed from accumulation and compression of mud
• Limestone – formed from the remains of plants, animals, masses of shells of sea
creatures

Black shale Sandstone

 METAMORPHIC ROCK
• Metamorphic rock: forms when any rock type
(previously existing rock) old igneous and
sedimentary rocks is changed into a different
kind of rock
• Changes due to great heat and/or pressure
without melting
• These changes can be both physical or
chemical depending on the rock.

Gneiss
EXAMPLES OF
METAMORPHIC ROCKS
• Limestone(sedimentary) is changed into
marble (metamorphic )
• Clay(sedimentary) is changed into slate
(metamorphic )
• Granite(igneous rock) When granite is
subjected to intense heat and pressure, it
changes into a called gneiss(metamorphic
rock).
HOW ROCKS ARE CHANGED TO METAMORPHIC
ROCKS
• Rocks in contact with new magma flows are changed by heat
• Rocks on plate boundaries are changed by pressure and stress of
great earth movements
• Limestone is changed into marble
• Clay is turned into slate
THE ROCK CYCLE
 THE EARTH RECYCLES ROCK

• The rock cycle is an ongoing

series of processes inside Earth
and on the surface

• Slowly changes rocks from one

kind to another

• Any type of rock can change into

another type
ACTIVITIES – PG 5

• Summary table for rock types

Rock types Igneous Sedimentary Metamorphic

Definition
Examples
Formation

• Name the four stages in the rock cycle? Explain why it is called a cycle.
ROCK AND MINERAL
EXTRACTION
PAGE 5
ROCK AND MINERAL EXTRACTION

• Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological

materials from the Earth
• Metallic ores ( a rock with enough of important element to make it
worth mining) helps us to make products
 SEARCHING FOR MINERALS - METHODS

• The simplest way to find minerals deposits is to carefully look at the surface of rocks known
as Prospecting - a process of searching minerals – help find all surface deposits of
minerals
• Remote sensing – process in which information is gathered about earth’s surface from
above – example – Ariel photography, images from satellites etc
• Geochemical analysis – to find the chemical properties of rock in laboratories
• Geophysics – series of vibrations are sent through the Earth’s surface – record the shock
waves and create patterns
ROCK AND MINERAL EXTRACTION

• There are two types of mining for the extraction of rocks and minerals,
• Surface mining includes
• strip mining
• open-cut mining also known as Open- cast mining also called Open-
pit
• Quarrying
• Sub- surface mining
• Deep ground mining
• Shaft mining
• Both leave a large hole in the ground
 SURFACE MINING

QUARRYING OPENCAST
• Extracting rock and stone from • Extracting minerals from the
the surface surface
STRIP MINING

• Is used to extract a bed of coal or

other mineral; generally applied to
large deposits of coal.
TERMS IN OPEN – PIT MINES

• Open-pit mines are carefully dug in sections called benches

• Valuable deposits are located near the surface buried below a thick layer of
worthless material. The worthless material is called overburden which has to be
cleared. It can be stored nearby to be used later for mine restoration
• Reasons why open pit mining stop being worked
• As much valuable deposit as possible has been removed
• The amount of overburden needs to be removed has increased that the mine is no
longer profitable
STEPS IN SURFACE MINING (BOTH OPENCAST
STRIP MINING AND QUARRYING) PG 5

• Clearing vegetation and removing the topsoil.

• Breaking down and loosening of the rocks or minerals by using
explosives.
• The loose rocks or minerals are removed by using diggers.
• The rocks or minerals are loaded into trucks and are taken away
SUB- SURFACE MINING

• Involves digging tunnels into the ground to reach mineral deposits that are too deep to be
removed by surface mining
• Adit –the entrance to a horizontal mine
 DEEP GROUND MINING

• This type of mining is harder and a lot more

dangerous as the minerals or rocks are very deep
underground, if the roof is not supported it could
collapse on the miners and trap them.
• Minerals are more expensive when located too
deep
• The first stage in searching for minerals
underground is to undertake a careful geological
survey to discover the arrangements of rocks
below the surface.
• From this survey the depth, position and amount of
mineral resources can be estimated.
• The next stage is to sink a deep mine
 STEPS FOR SUB SURFACE MINING

• A vertical shaft is sunk down to the rock layer

that contains minerals.
• Making a horizontal layer following the mineral.
• The minerals are extracted by digging which is
done by machines and miners.
• The loose rock is collected and is brought back
up and in piled in waste heaps.
• The minerals are then brought up and are
transported to the marked by railways or
roads.
PROBLEM WITH DEEP MINING

• The roof of the tunnel is deep mining needs to be supported, from time
to time tunnel roofs collapse and miners are trapped, injured or killed.
• In some of these mines there are flooding problems or toxic gasses that
can lead to fire or even an explosion that can trap the miners by
blocking the exit routes.
• The world’s deepest mines are in South Africa over 1000 meters deep.
Miners work in great heat, over 45⁰ C
SURFACE MINING VS SUB SURFACE MINING

SURFACE MINING SUB SURFACE MINING

• Easier and safer • More dangerous
• Less expensive than deep mining • More expensive

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYEMIGMyVGo
ACTIVITIES
– PG 8
FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE DECISION TO EXTRACT ROCKS AND
MINERALS PG 8

• For a company to decide to extract a mineral, it must be economically viable, means

must be large enough and of sufficient value.(worthwhile)
• The mineral viability depends on supply and demand
• Supply means that the amount of the resource known to exist these are known as
reserves and exploited when needed
• Demand means the amount that people need.
• When the demand for a resource is high usually its price on the market increases
making it economically viable to mine small deposits in remote location for a profit
• When world market price falls, small mines are the first ones to be closed.
 Factors Increasing the chance of extraction / Decrease the chance of extraction/
High chance Low chance Pg 9
cost If the cost of the whole mining process If the cost and transportation of the
and the transportation is cheap. resource is expensive.

Exploration and Easy to find and extract the minerals. Hard to locate the minerals and extract
feasibility No environmental issues. them.
Protected areas.
FACTORS
geology Unbroken horizontal beds. A lot of folding. THAT AFFECT
Easy to use machines. Hard to use machines. EXTRACTION
High grade ores. Low grade ores.
high yields. Low yields.

Location (climate and No extreme weathers. Extreme weathers.

transport) Roads and railways available. Remote areas with no roads or railways.

Supply and demand High demand. Low demand.

Low supply. High supply.
High prices. Low prices.

Depletion rate (rate Large deposits and plentiful reserves Only small reserves are left.
used up) remain. Many good- quality deposits, Best deposits have been used, leaving
easy to mine are still present those that are more difficult and
expensive to mine
NOTE
Pg 9

• Mineral deposits located far away from where people live are often exploited last.
• There are mines in the most remote places of the world as these areas are rich in minerals.
Example – Northern Canada, Serbia
• Big deposits of minerals for which demand is high attracts mining companies
• Demand for minerals fluctuate greatly.
 BENEFITS OF MINING

• Mining benefits both the economy and the country.

• Some countries depend on mining for their income. This money can be used to improve their
country and build new roads, hospitals and schools which improves the peoples living standard.
• Mining also is a better paid job than farming and other types of unskilled work, this is one of the
reasons why miners do not think about their health.
• Almost everything humans want to do or build requires raw materials that can only be provided by
mining. Even our electronic devices depend on mining for their batteries and their components.
Some of the actions that require raw materials are,
• Cements for buildings.
• Asphalt for roads.
• Metals for our pipes.
 IMPACT OF MINING ON THE ENVIRONMENT Pg 12

• Mining causes a lot of impacts on the environment most of these impacts are negative
• Surface waste heap
• Forest clearance
• Pollution
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL0KfvfSvsg&t=1s
 IMPACTS OF SURFACE WASTE LEFT AFTER
MINING ON OUR ENVIRONMENT
• They spoil the natural beauty of the area
• After periods of heavy rain, waste heaps can
become unstable and flow downslope,
destroying everything in their path.
• Mine waste can be highly toxic
 IMPACT OF MINING - FOREST CLEARANCE

• Any mining activity will involve the loss of habitat for some
species and plants
• Even small scale surface mining requires clearing of
vegetation
• Plants removed have lost a place to grow and it affects
animals that depend on the plants for food and shelter
• Large scale mining causes the greatest loss of habitat
• Even after the minerals are removed and the overburden is
spread over the mine area to restore the land, the new
surface will slowly become covered with plant species but
some plant and animal habitat will still be lost from the area
 IMPACT OF MINING ON THE ENVIRONMENT

• Firstly, one of the major impacts of mining is

pollution.
• Different types of pollution
• Noise pollution
• Land pollution
• Water pollution
• Air pollution
• Visual pollution
 IMPACT OF MINING ON THE ENVIRONMENT –
NOISE POLLUTION
• Noise pollution - occur during large scale
surface mining.
• Overburden removed by large machines
• Use of explosives to loosen rocks and remove
overburden
• Noise can disturb the behaviour of many
animal species near the mine
• Cause health problems for people
• Deep mining causes less noise pollution
• Mining licences set limits on the levels of
noise and working hours of mines
 IMPACT OF MINING ON THE ENVIRONMENT –
WATER POLLUTION
• Can continue even after mine has stopped
working
• Water that drains through mine waste left in
streams and rivers can change population
of living organism
• Drinking water supplies also be polluted by
drainage from mines
• Pollution is caused by chemical reaction
between water and mine waste
IMPACT OF MINING ON THE ENVIRONMENT –
LAND POLLUTION
• Both deep ground and opencast mining produce large waste heaps with cause
land pollution.
• Toxic nature of waste does not allow plants to grow for years even after mining is
stopped
IMPACT OF MINING ON THE ENVIRONMENT –
AIR POLLUTION
• The dust and fumes from mining can
increase the air pollution
• Can cause breathing problems for
people that breathe that air
• Dust can settle on plants not allowing
sunlight to reach the leaves, reducing
the rate of photosynthesis
IMPACT OF MINING ON THE ENVIRONMENT –
VISUAL POLLUTION
• After mining is done there will be a
huge scar on the ground which is
visual pollution.
• Open pit – surface mining leaves
bigger scars on the landscape than
deep mining
• Copper mining in USA and Chile has
produced some of the largest man-
made holes on the Earth’s surface
ACTIVITIES – PG 14

• Identify examples of each of these impacts of mining on the environment:

Waste; land pollution; water pollution; air pollution; visual pollution; loss of habitat
• Explain why it is almost impossible to have mining without some environmental
damage
IMPACT ON • Both deep mining and opencast mining have negative
impacts on people
PEOPLE –
NEGATIVE • There is also positive impact on people

AND POSITIVE
NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF DEEP MINING

• Miners usually work in deep and narrow places

with poor air quality that contains dust
particles.
• Most of these miners suffer from injuries either
because of the difficult conditions or because
of the poor air quality that affects their lungs
and causes breathing and chest problems.
• Therefore, miners usually die at young ages.
 NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF SURFACE MINING

• Surface mining causes a lot of noise, air and visual pollution specially
for the people living close to these mines.
• The noise is usually due to the explosions and the machinery.
• surface mining also produces dirt and dust not only from the mines but
also from the trucks carrying the resources away.
• The visual pollution is usually due to the scar left after mining is done.
 POSITIVE IMPACT AND MINING – PG 15

• Mining benefits both the economy of the country and its people
• Exporting minerals is a very important source of foreign exchange income for many countries. It is also the main source
of income for some countries – many in Africa also
• Income can be used to buy goods and services from other countries.
• Money can also be used to fund development projects, modernize infrastructure and improve quality of life – new roads,
supplying clean water, building schools, clinics, hospitals.
• But in many African countries, because of corruption the benefits are concentrated in urban areas instead of rural areas
where the minerals exported are mined
• Mining also paid more than farming and other unskilled work.
• Mining often takes place in areas where there are few other ways of making a living. Example Atacama desert – where
9000 people would not be able to live and work there
• Mining creates towns with strong communities of people because everyone in the town is connected in some way with
mining M
 MANAGING THE IMPACT OF ROCK AND MINERAL
EXTRACTION – HOW TO FILL THE HOLE FROM MINING PG 20

• One of the biggest problem caused by mining is the large hole and old quarries left after
mining has finished, this can be managed by a process called landfilling
• Landfill is a cheap and easy way to dispose of waste as city authorities are constantly looking
for new places to dump waste
• Waste and other toxic substances are tipped into a hole in the ground and are then
compressed and covered with soil. When full, the land can be covered with soil and made
suitable for other uses like farming or forests
• Allow for storage of water as reservoir
 LANDFILL – DISPOSAL OF WASTE PG 20

• Disposal of waste in landfill needs careful management otherwise it leads to contamination

• Land contamination – from dangerous substances such as toxic metals example lead
and mercury
• Water pollution – contaminated substances leak into the ground and are carried by
filtration in to ground water supplies and rivers
• Health hazards from rodents, flies, bad smell, and harmful substances for example
asbestos and arsenic
• Sanitary landfilling – is to fill the hole or quarry with alternating layers of compacted refuse and
soil. Each day, after tipping refuse, the waste is compacted and covered with soil. This top layer of
soil prevents many of the health issues.
MANAGING THE IMPACT OF ROCK AND MINERAL
EXTRACTION – HOW TO FILL THE HOLE FROM MINING PG 21

• Bioremediation
• Bioremediation which is a process of removing pollutants using living
organisms like bacteria and fungi to break down organic matter in the soil.
• Landscaping - Planting trees
• Hole from mining can be closed by spreading quality top soil and adding
nutrients. Planting trees/bushes is also an important part in managing the
impacts of mining as they hold the soil together and they also stop the
strong force of the rain that can easily wash the topsoil away.
SUSTAINABLE USE OF ROCK AND MINERALS
PG 24
• Sustainable resource – A resource that can be continuously replenished example
- forestry
• Sustainable development – use that meets the needs of the present without
affecting the ability of future generations to meet their needs
• The supply of rocks and minerals is limited so have to them efficiently and sustain
them
STRATEGIES/PLANNING FOR SUSTAINABLE USE OF ROCKS AND
MINERALS

• Increasing efficiency in extraction of rocks and minerals

• The mine waste should be processed twice this decreases the risk of pollution and the allow
some of the valuable minerals to be recovered. Also, the less the waste the greater the profit
for the company. The machines used in the mining process should be improved.
• Legislation LAWS
• The governments should enforce laws to decrease the amount of waste sent to the landfill
sites and they should force the companies to recycle and reuse.
• Reduce, Recycling and reusing
• Companies should consider recycling and reusing resources as it takes less energy than
producing new ores. It also produces less waste, so it contributes less to pollution. Recycling
is also cheaper, so it benefits the company.
STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE USE OF ROCKS
AND MINERALS

• Increasing the efficiency in use

• As some of the negative impacts cannot be fully stopped, we should try
make our engines as efficient as possible so that we can save fuels.
This can also be done to a lot of other machines and not only cars.
• New technologies – spend on research and development to increase
efficiency
 MINERAL EXTINCTION
70
Expected no of years the minerals will last
60
60
• If we keep extracting minerals the
50
same way we do now, then in a few 50

years most of these resources will

No of years .
40

eventually run out.

30

• A lot of these minerals are estimated 20 20

20
to run out in about twenty years. 15

10

0
Gold Silver Tin Lead Copper

Metal Minerals
 CONCLUSION

• Even though mining has a lot of negative impacts its positive impacts
outweigh them, and most of their negative impacts can be managed.
• And we cannot live without mining because we need these raw materials
for a lot of different activities.