The bowels of the earth are rich in various minerals. Minerals are mineral formations of the earth's crust that can be effectively used in the economy. Accumulations of minerals form deposits.
Mineral deposit is called a section of the earth's crust in which, as a result of certain geological processes, the accumulation of mineral matter has occurred, in terms of quantity, quality and conditions of occurrence, suitable for industrial use. Minerals are gaseous, liquid and solid. TO gaseous Accumulations in the bowels of the earth of combustible gases of a hydrocarbon composition and non-combustible, inert gases, such as helium, neon, argon, krypton, etc. belong. liquid include oil and groundwater deposits. TO solid owns most of the minerals that are used as deposits of elements or their compounds(iron, gold, bronze, etc.), crystals(rock crystal, diamond, etc.), minerals(fossil salts, graphite, talc, etc.) and rocks(granite, marble, clay, etc.).
According to industrial use, mineral deposits are divided into ore, or metal; non-metallic, or non-metallic; combustible, or caustobiolites, and hydromineral (tab. 2).
Ore deposits in turn, they are subdivided into deposits of ferrous, light, non-ferrous, rare, radioactive and noble metals, as well as trace and rare earth elements.
Nonmetallic deposits decompose into deposits of chemical, agronomic, metallurgical, technical and construction mineral raw materials.
Deposits of combustible useful It is customary to divide minerals into deposits of oil, combustible gases, coal, oil shale and peat.
Hydromineral deposits They are divided into underground drinking, technical, balneological, or mineral, and oil waters, containing valuable elements in an amount suitable for their extraction (bromine, iodine, boron, radium, etc.).
Mineral raw materials are used for the needs of industry both directly, without preliminary processing, and for extracting valuable natural chemical compounds or elements necessary for the national economy. In the latter case, it is called ore.
Table 2 Industrial taxonomy of useful deposits
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Metallic |
Non-metallic |
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Place of Birth elements or their connections |
Mineral deposits |
Deposits of crystals |
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|
Metal ores |
Metallurgical and heat-insulating raw materials |
Chemical and agronomic raw materials |
Technical raw materials and precious stones |
optical |
|
Ferrous metals: Fe, Ti, Cr, Mn. Light metals: Al, Li, Be, Mg. Non-ferrous metals: Cu, Zn, Pb, Sb, Ni. Rare and small metals: W, Mo, Sn, Co, Hg, Bi, Zr, Cs, Nb, Ta. Noble metals: Au, Ag, Pt, Os, Ir. Radioactive metals: U, Ra, Th. Scattered elements: Sc, Ga, Ge, Rb, Cd, In, Hf, Re, Te, Po, Ac. Rare earth elements: La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu. |
Fluxes Fluorspar Calcite and Dolomite Feldspar and Quartz Refractories and heat insulators Chrpzotilasbest Vermiculite Talc and talcum stone Magnesite High refractoriness Andalusite Sillimanite Kyanite (disthene) Dumortierite |
Chemical raw material Halolites (salts) Native sulfur Sulfur pyrite Arsenopyrite Realgar Orpiment Celestine Strontianite Aragonite Agronomic raw materials Phosphorites Potassium salts Tourmaline Glauconite |
Dielectrics Muscovite Phlogopite Abrasives Crystals Gems Aquamarine Alexandrite |
Piezo- crystals Tourmaline Optical minerals Optical fluorite Icelandic spar Optical quartz |
fossils (according to N. Ermakov with additions).
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Hydro- and gas-mineral |
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|
Deposits of amorphous and cryptocrystalline substances |
Place of Birth rocks |
Deposits of liquids and gases |
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|
Ornamental raw materials and colored stones |
Building materials and glass-ceramic raw materials |
Solid fuel and chemical raw materials |
Fuel and chemical raw materials |
water and gases |
|
Obsidian Chalcedony (and jadeite) Agalmatolite Anhydrite |
Construction materials Building stones (wall, roofing, road, rubble) Facing stones (marble, granite, labradorite, etc.) Acid-resistant stone (andesites, felsites, etc.) Raw materials for stone casting (diabases, basalts, etc.) Astringent materials (marl, limestone, clay, gypsum) Fillers (gravel, sand, etc.) Hydraulic additives (trails, pumice, diatomite and tripoli, menilite shale, etc.) Mineral paints (chalk, ocher, mummy) Glass-ceramic raw materials Glass sands Pegmatites Clays and kaolin |
Gummites Brown coal Stone Anthracite Semi saprope litas Demigodhead Sapropelite Oil shale Asphaltite Anthraxolite Ozokerite |
naphthenic paraffinic Flammable gas |
Fresh water for drinking and technical supply Mineral balneological waters (carbonic, hydrogen sulfide, radioactive, etc.) Salt water springs Oil waters with Br, J, B, Ra, etc. Lake brines Mineral mud and silt Non-combustible, inert gases He, Ne, Ar, Kr, etc. |
Instructions
Mineral resources are rocks, minerals used in the sphere of material production, in the national economy. Currently, about 250 types of minerals are known. They are classified into:
- combustible (coal, oil, natural gas, peat, oil shale);
- ore (ferrous, non-ferrous metal ores);
- non-metallic (, clay, limestone, various salts);
- stone-colored raw materials (jasper, agate, onyx, chalcedony, jade);
- (diamond, emerald, sapphire, ruby);
- hydromineral (underground and mineral waters);
- mining chemical raw materials (apatites, barites, borates)
At the will of man, minerals are transformed into the most necessary things that ensure safety, heat, transport, feed. They are needed everywhere in the modern world. Almost everything is generated at stations operating on coal, gas, fuel oil, and radioactive substances. Most of the transport is powered by fossil fuels.
The backbone of the construction industry is rocks. Ferrous and metallurgy also fully operates on mineral raw materials, as well as industry, where its share reaches 75%. Most of the metals are used as structural (ferrous, alloying, non-ferrous), in mechanical engineering, in electronics. Ornamental stones such as jasper and ruby are used in jewelry. Diamond, due to its hardness and strength, is used for cutting hard materials, and when cut is a diamond. The mountain mineral apatite is essential for the production of phosphate fertilizers. Transparent crystals of barite are used in optical instruments.
Mineral reserves of the bowels of the earth are not unlimited. And although the process of formation and accumulation of natural resources never stops, the rate of this recovery is completely incommensurate with the rate of use of earth's resources.
Sources:
- Minerals
Mineral resources are natural mineral formations of inorganic and organic origin used in the sphere of material production. Currently, more than 200 types of mineral resources are being mined.
Mineral classification
There are several classifications of mineral resources. According to their physical properties, solid mineral formations (various ores, coal, granite, salts), liquid (oil, water) and gaseous (gases, methane, helium) are distinguished.
By origin, minerals are subdivided into sedimentary, metamorphic and magmatic.
Based on the scope of use, a distinction is made between combustible resources (natural gas, coal, peat, oil), ore (rock ores) and non-metallic (sand, clay, limestone, sulfur, potassium salts). Precious and ornamental stones are a separate group.
Mining
Modern prospecting for mineral resources is based not only on the use of the latest technology and sensitive instruments, but also on scientific forecasts. Scientific forecast is based on knowledge of the links between the geological structure and the conditions for the formation of minerals.
There are several ways to extract mineral resources. With the open method, rocks are mined in. This is a cost-effective but not sustainable method, as abandoned careers can lead to education. By the open method, fossils located on the surface of the earth or lying shallow in the depths. Usually it is limestone, sand, chalk, peat, iron and copper ores, some types of coal.
Solid minerals located at great depths are mined using underground mines. This is the most common way to get coal. The mine method is considered the most unsafe for the life of workers.
Liquid and gaseous minerals (oil, groundwater, natural gas) are extracted using boreholes, sometimes using mines. A number of fields use a combination of mining methods. The choice of the method is mainly determined by the geological conditions of occurrence of minerals and economic calculations.
New ways of extracting mineral resources are constantly being developed. But we must not forget that minerals are exhaustible, so it is necessary to spend them more economically and wisely.
For this, it is necessary to strive to reduce the loss of resources during their extraction, to achieve a more complete extraction of all useful properties from the rock, to pay more attention to the search for new, more promising deposits.
Related article
A huge amount of minerals has been found in Siberia, the deposits of which were formed as a result of various geological processes. The variety of mineral resources is explained by the vast territory and complex history of the formation of this area of the earth's crust.
Bituminous and brown coal
Coal in most cases occurs in places of deflections of tectonic plates. On the territory of Siberia, two huge coal basins were found: Lensky and Tunguska. The reserves of coal in the first are 2,600 billion tons, and in the second, according to scientists, slightly less - about 1,750 billion tons.
In total, about 80% of Russia's coal reserves are located in Siberia. At the moment, the smallest part of all coal deposits has been developed, since mining is impossible in some basins due to the harsh natural conditions of Siberia.
Non-metallic fossils
As a rule, the minerals of Siberia include such as oil and natural gas. Oil fields in Siberia began to be developed recently. So, in the last few decades, the Markovskoye oil field was found. Gas production is carried out in the Taas-Tumusskoye field.
Western Siberia, in particular the Khanty-Mansiysk and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrugs, produce more than 90% of all natural gas produced in Russia and about 75% of crude oil.
In addition to oil and gas, rock salt can be attributed to non-metallic minerals in Siberia. Basically, salt deposits are located at the bottom of the most ancient seas. For example, salt is mined in Yakutia, near rivers such as the Lena and Vilyuya.
Diamonds
The first diamonds were found in Siberia at the end of the 19th century. These minerals are in places with high volcanic activity. At first, they did not interest the diamantaires, due to their small size. But in the 30s of the XX century, the Soviet geologist Alexander Burov discovered a fragment of a large stone, which made it possible to draw a conclusion about the diamond content of Siberia.
Large diamond deposits in Siberia have been discovered quite recently. In recent years, diamond mining has begun in Yakutia, in the basins of the Vilyuya and Oleneka rivers.
Iron ore
There are huge deposits of iron ores on the territory of Siberia. The deposits of these minerals are among the most ancient. In this region you can find ores of metals such as tin, platinum, nickel, mercury.
Gold
It has been known about the gold reserves of Siberia for several centuries. And gold mining has been going on for a very long time. The largest reserves of metal are located in Allah-Yunsky, Yansky, Aldansky, Bodaibinsky regions.
When people begin to think about how much is made of everything, they are amazed at the vastness of the spectrum of applications of this oily substance. It would seem that he poured gasoline into the tank of a car, bought engine oil - this is what limits the scope of its use. Many everyday items - lipstick, nylon stockings, and even an aspirin pill - are made from oil.
Instructions
Oil is just an organic substance, which is a host of molecules, changing the structure of which, you can get an object with completely different characteristics. As diamonds are made from graphite under the action of high temperatures and pressure, the raw material for fuel is also the basis for the production of cosmetics, household items, clothing and even food. Chewing gum is no longer made from natural resins - this can only be found in pharmacies. Its main component is petroleum polymers. It is in vain that people who consume gum and throw it out on the street believe that any food will gradually dissolve. Chewing gum is not a regular food and can sit on the ground as a tight lump for years.
Do not be afraid that paraffin and other components of lipstick are derived from oil, because they have replaced the harmful components that were once present in this women's accessory. Eyeshadows, correcting pencils for eyes and lips, nail polish - all these cosmetics contain a particle of a natural substance. And housewives cannot imagine their life without one more product - plastic, because the bodies of household appliances are made of it, and plastic bags help to carry heavy purchases from the store.
A complex chain of chemical transformations makes it possible to obtain even aspirin - an unsurpassed remedy for headaches and other types of pain, as well as a number of salicylic acids that are part of anti-tuberculosis and antibacterial drugs. In the fight against microorganisms, aniline, released from nitrobenzene, helped to make a step forward. Diseases can be treated not only from the inside, but also from the outside - for this, doctors use prostheses made of medical plastic.
Women who study clothing labels have noticed that many things contain polyester, and some are 100% made of this synthetic material. Outwardly, it is similar to viscose and therefore is well suited for sewing dresses and blouses, as well as lining for jackets. Polyester clothing does not wrinkle and is as durable as nylon tights. There are a lot of petroleum products in the kitchen in the form of plastic dishes and furniture, in the nursery - as dolls, toy dolls, cubes and other toys. We cannot talk about their harmfulness or allergy, because absolutely all food that lies on store shelves is packed with polyethylene, and some drugs with the inclusion of oil derivatives successfully help get rid of allergies.
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Gravel is one of the most inexpensive and popular building materials. It is mined in open pits and has many undeniable advantages. In order not to confuse gravel with crushed stone, you need to know what is the difference between these stones.
Instructions
Gravel is a piece of rock. These are mainly granites, sandstones, limestones and diabases. Gravel is mined by open pit mining on sand and gravel deposits. These stones are of different sizes and are an inexpensive and popular building material. They are used as aggregate in the preparation of concrete, in road construction, for paving paths and sites in private households. After the extraction of the sand-gravel mixture, the sand is screened out and the stones are sorted into the most demanded fractions. In the construction of buildings and roads, this is a size of 20/40 mm.
How is gravel different from crushed stone? These two types of stones are often confused. However, there is a difference between them, and a significant one. Both of these products are inorganic bulk materials. But gravel is formed as a result of natural fractures of stone rocks, and crushed stone is a product of their artificial crushing. The gravel is predominantly round, and the shape of the crushed stone is most often pointed.
All about gravel. These stones come in a wide variety of colors: blue-gray, dark gray, brown, black, yellowish and pinkish. Many of them are bizarrely combined and tend to change shade depending on the degree of humidity or light. For this reason, gravel is a favorite of landscape designers who use it to decorate gardens and farmsteads, improve flower beds, and arrange footpaths. The shape of stones of any size is solid, there are never cracks in them.
In nature, there are three main fractions: small (1-3 mm), medium (3-7 mm) and large (7-12 mm). These stones contain many impurities - particles of clay, sand, dust and dirt. Depending on the deposit, there are different types of gravel: lake, mountain, sea, river, glacial, etc. Cleaner stones - sea and river. Their surface is smooth, so they are widely used in paving and filling roads.
In the construction of houses and structures, rock gravel is preferred, since it has a rougher surface and, therefore, provides better adhesion in concrete mixtures. Small fractions of stones are one of the constituents in the production of certain types of roofing materials. Gravel has the first
Man has long learned to apply what nature gives him so generously. Mineral resources are another wealth of the Earth. In this lesson we will talk about the extraction, properties and applications of minerals such as granite, limestone, sand, clay, peat, coal, iron ore, oil, natural gas. Let's talk about the protection of underground resources and mineral deposits.
It is very durable and heavy, found not only in mountainous regions, but also on plains. Granite can be gray, dark red, smoky colors. White or black blotches are common. Consists of quartz, mica, feldspar. It is used in construction as a facing material. It has low water absorption and high resistance to frost and pollution, therefore it is optimal for paving both indoors and outdoors. In the interior, granite is also used to decorate walls, stairs, to create countertops and columns (Fig. 2-4).
Rice. 2. Granite stair treads ()
Rice. 3. Facing the floor and walls with granite ()
Rice. 4. Granite column ()
Limestone- This is a monomineral rock, consisting of calcite with impurities (Fig. 5).
Rice. 5. Limestone ()
Whole mountain ranges in the Alps are composed of limestone; it is widespread in other places as well. Limestone does not shine, usually light gray in color, although it can be white and dark, almost black, bluish, yellowish or pink, depending on the composition of the impurity. It is used in construction, as a fertilizer, and school chalk is made from it (Fig. 6).
Rice. 6. School chalk ()
Sand and clay- These are very common rocks, they are formed in nature during the destruction of granite. Sand is used in construction as well as in the manufacture of glass (Fig. 7-9).
Rice. 8. Sand is used in construction ()
Clay is used to make bricks, roof tiles, facing tiles, flower pots, dishes, beautiful vases (Fig. 10-12).
Rice. 12. Shingles ()
Wet clay molds very well and retains the shape it is given. This property is called plasticity. Products made of clay are fired in special ovens to make them strong and hard (Fig. 13-15).
Rice. 13. Clay is plastic ()
Rice. 14. Clay product ()
Rice. 15. Ceramics ()
Fired clay products are called ceramics(fig. 15).
Peat is a combustible mineral formed by the accumulation of plant remains that have undergone incomplete decomposition in swamp conditions (Fig. 16).
The bog is characterized by the deposition of incompletely decomposed organic matter on the soil surface, which later turns into peat. The layer of peat in bogs is not less than 30 cm. Peat is used in a complex way: as fuel, fertilizer, and heat-insulating material. You need to use peat sparingly, because it is slowly formed in nature. It is very important to protect peat deposits from fires. Such fires are very difficult to extinguish, and in fact they can arise due to an unquenched fire, from an inadvertently thrown match and for other reasons.
Coal- This is a rock, which was formed in the bowels of the earth from the remains of ancient plants (Fig. 17).
First, peat was formed, and then coal from it. There are several types of coal: brown coal, anthracite, coal (Fig. 18-20).
Rice. 18. Brown coal ()
Rice. 19. Bituminous coal ()
Rice. 20. Anthracite ()
Coal is a combustible mineral. It generates a lot of heat when it burns, which is why it is used as a fuel. In addition, coal serves as a raw material for the chemical industry; paints, plastics and other valuable materials are obtained from it. Coal is coked, and coke is used in metallurgical production. Coal is mined in special mines and open pits (Fig. 21).
Rice. 21. Coal Mine ()
Iron ore is the general name for several types of materials that serve as a source of iron (Fig. 22).
Rice. 22. Iron Ore ()
They come in black, brown, yellowish or reddish colors. The most important property of iron ore is fusibility. In metallurgical plants, iron ore is smelted into iron, and cast iron is used to make steel (Fig. 23).
Rice. 23. Melting ()
Rice. 24. Cast iron heating radiator ()
Rice. 25. Stainless steel cutlery ()
Cast iron is very fragile, so it is used to make only some parts. Steel is of great importance to the economy. A lot is made of steel: from kitchen knives to machine mechanisms (Fig. 24, 25). Iron ore is mined in mines or quarries. Like other minerals, iron ore must be used economically. In addition to iron, iron ore contains other valuable chemical elements such as titanium, vanadium, cobalt. These are very important substances. For example, it is impossible to do without titanium when creating space rockets.
Oil is a thick, oily liquid of dark color with a pungent odor (Fig. 26).
It is flammable. Once in the water, oil spreads in a thin film over its surface. Scientists believe that the oil was formed from the remains of plants and animals that lived many millions of years ago. It is a very valuable mineral. Fuel (gasoline, kerosene), fuel oil, lubricating oils, various varnishes, paints, plastics and much more are obtained from oil. For oil production, special drilling rigs are built and deep wells are drilled (Fig. 27).
Rice. 27. Oil production ()
Through them, oil first rises from the ground, and then she has to help. To do this, it is pumped out by powerful pumps. The oil produced is used not only on the territory of our country. Russia is one of the world's largest oil exporters. Oil is transported to different regions of Russia and abroad via oil pipelines - these are long underground pipelines. In addition, oil is transported by rail in tanks and special sea vessels - oil tankers (Fig. 28).
Rice. 28. Oil tanker ()
Natural gas- This is a very good fuel, it is used not only in everyday life, but also in power plants, boiler houses and factories (Fig. 29-31).
Rice. 29. Extraction of natural gas ()
Rice. 30. Gas pipeline ()
Rice. 31. The use of natural gas in everyday life ()
To extract gas from underground, a well is being drilled, gas pipelines have been laid thousands of kilometers from the field, through which gas flows to different regions of our country and abroad.
Unfortunately, minerals are such riches that cannot be restored. Clearing a polluted river, planting a new forest on the site of a felled one, getting offspring from rare or endangered species of animals, although not easy, is possible. But it is almost impossible to restore natural resources. Mineral resources have been formed in the bowels of our earth over millions of years, which is why they need to be used very economically. It often happens like this: one mineral is mined, and with it others come across, for example, in iron ore, together with iron, other valuable metals are mined, and together with oil - associated gas. They must also be used.
When minerals are transported, they strictly monitor that solids do not crumble, and oil does not spill, does not get into the soil, rivers, seas, because this way you can lose a lot of minerals and pollute the environment (Fig. 32).
Rice. 32. Transportation of minerals ()
Instead of iron ore, it is often possible to use scrap metal, and replace valuable materials with cheaper ones. For example, steel is plastic.
As you know, minerals belong to inanimate nature, but it turns out that many of them were formed from the remains of living organisms. It turns out that plants and animals that lived a long time ago, when there were no people yet, did not disappear without a trace, their remains turned into limestone, coal, oil, natural gas, and we use these minerals now. Such a close connection exists between living and inanimate nature, between nature and man.
A mineral deposit is a territory where there are accumulations of mineral formations that come to the surface or are located in the bowels of the earth's crust. As a result of certain geological processes of a natural nature, acceptable conditions are created for the occurrence of minerals. The following types of mineral formations can occur in mineral deposits:
Gas-type minerals (combustible and non-combustible gases).
Minerals of liquid type (groundwater and oil).
Solid minerals (rocks).
Mineral deposits have several classifications, differing in functional and practical features. From the point of view of industrial exploitation, mineral deposits are divided into the following types:
Metal ore deposits in which ores of various metals (ferrous, precious, non-ferrous or even radioactive) are found.
Deposits of non-metallic and non-metallic nature, which are used for the extraction of raw materials for industrial, technical, chemical, construction and metallurgical purposes.
Combustible mineral deposits containing materials such as peat, oil, coal, combustible gases, etc.
Deposits of a hydromineral nature, where underground mineral waters occur.
After the discovery of a mineral deposit, it is investigated: the amount of useful and harmful components in mineral formations that are suitable for processing is determined. If there is a minimum amount of useful raw materials in the deposits and its quality does not reach the set limits, but at the same time it is suitable for exploitation in one area or another, then such deposits are called industrial conditions. Mineral deposits can be depleted, so you need to treat minerals with care and use them economically.
In the next lesson, we will learn what all living organisms (including our body) consist of, what a cell of any living organism consists of, and many other interesting facts.
Bibliography
- Vakhrushev A.A., Danilov D.D. The world around you 3. - M .: Ballas.
- Dmitrieva N.Ya., Kazakov A.N. The world around us 3. - M .: Publishing house "Fedorov".
- A.A. Pleshakov The world around us 3. - M .: Enlightenment.
- Protown.ru ().
- Ido.tsu.ru ().
- Travel-siberia.ru ().
Homework
- Make a short test (6 questions with three possible answers) on the topic "Mineral resources of Russia".
- Prepare a short message about one of the minerals in Russia.
- Justify the need for rational use of coal or oil.
- * Using the knowledge gained in the lesson, compose a scanword (up to 20 questions) "Minerals of my land."
Natural gas is a mixture of gases that forms in the bowels of the earth during the decomposition of organic matter. It belongs to combustible minerals and is used as a fuel and in the chemical industry. Natural gas is sometimes also called "blue fuel" - this is the color of the flame that forms when it is burned.
Natural gas can be in the gaseous state in the subsoil in the form of separate accumulations or in the form of a gas cap of oil and gas fields. It can also be dissolved in oil or water.
Natural gas consists mainly of methane (up to 98%). In addition to it, natural gas includes other hydrocarbon compounds (ethane, propane, butane), as well as hydrogen, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen, helium and carbon dioxide. Natural gas itself is colorless and odorless. Since in high concentrations it is deadly to humans, substances that have a strong unpleasant odor are added to it.
Methane is widespread in space: the third most abundant after hydrogen and helium. It is one of the constituent planets and asteroids, but since it has no practical application, this part is not included in the natural gas reserves. Due to the impossibility of production, the large amount of hydrocarbons contained in the earth's mantle is not taken into account.
The deposits of the produced natural gas are concentrated in the sedimentary shell of the earth's crust. It is believed that it is formed as a result of the decomposition of the remains of living organisms. Natural gas forms at higher temperatures and pressures than oil, so it usually lies deeper (from one to several kilometers from the earth's surface). The largest reserves of natural gas are possessed by Russia (Urengoyskoye field), USA, Canada.
In the bowels, gas is located in microscopic voids, which are called pores. They are interconnected by microscopic channels through which gas flows from high-pressure pores to lower-pressure pores. Natural gas is extracted from the bowels of the earth using wells, which are evenly distributed throughout the entire territory of the field. This creates a uniform drop in reservoir pressure in the reservoir. Before using gas, it is necessary to remove impurities from it, which is done at a special gas processing plant. Then the gas is sent to consumers through special pipelines.
Minerals are parts of rocks and ores that are homogeneous in their composition and structure. These are chemical compounds formed as a result of certain geological processes. There are a huge number of minerals on Earth, therefore they are combined into homogeneous groups in terms of chemical composition and physical properties. Most minerals are in a solid state, but sometimes liquid (for example, mercury) and even gaseous (carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide) are found. Some minerals are transparent, others are translucent or completely block out light.
Professionals can easily distinguish minerals by their color. So, cinnabar is red, and malachite is bright green, and some minerals come in different colors. Minerals differ significantly in their form. Crystalline minerals can be in the form of a cube, prism, polyhedron. However, the overwhelming majority of minerals can have various undefined forms.
Minerals differ significantly in hardness. The Mohs scale is used to assess this parameter. It includes ten elements, each of which corresponds to a certain level of hardness: talc -1, gypsum - 2, calcite - 3, fluorite - 4, apatite - 5, orthoclase - 6, quartz - 7, topaz - 8, corundum -9, diamond - 10. Each subsequent mineral scratches all the previous ones. To determine the hardness of another mineral, it is necessary to find out which of those included in the Mohs scale it scratches, and which one it scratches itself.
The properties of minerals depend on their chemical composition, crystal structure - that is, the nature of the bond between the smallest particles (atoms) that make up the crystal. Depending on this parameter, calcites, quartz, feldspars, mica and other minerals are isolated.
Calcite is one of the most abundant minerals. It is mostly colorless or milky white. Sometimes calcite is found, colored in various shades of gray, yellow, red, brown and black. If this mineral is exposed to hydrochloric acid, a violent release of carbon dioxide will occur.
Calcite is formed in sea basins, and over time turns into a rock - limestone or marble.
Quartz is also one of the most common minerals. Quartz crystals can be enormous and weigh up to 40 tons. The color of the quartz is milky white or gray. Transparent quartz crystals are called rock crystal, purple - amethyst, black - morion. Quartz is usually a part of felsic igneous rocks - granites, granite pegmatites and others.
Feldspars make up approximately 50% by weight of all silicates that make up the earth's crust. They are the main constituent part of most rocks, many metamorphic and some sedimentary rocks. Micas have a rather complex chemical composition and differ significantly in the set of elements, color and other properties.
Common minerals are found on Earth quite often and therefore are not particularly valuable types of minerals. They are used in various areas of industry and agriculture: for the production of mineral fertilizers, some chemical elements and compounds, in the production of building materials and other areas.
One of the most important minerals, along with fuels, are the so-called ore minerals. Ore is a rock that contains large quantities of certain elements or their compounds (substances). The most commonly used types of ores are iron, copper and nickel.
Iron ore is an ore that contains iron in such quantities and chemical compounds that it is possible and economically feasible to extract it. The most important minerals are magnetite, magnomagnetite, titanomagnetite, hematite and others. Iron ores differ in mineral composition, iron content, useful and harmful impurities, conditions of formation and industrial properties.
Iron ores are divided into rich (more than 50% iron), ordinary (50-25%) and poor (less than 25% iron). Depending on the chemical composition, they are used for smelting pig iron in its natural form or after beneficiation. Iron ores used for steel production must contain certain substances in the required proportions. The quality of the resulting product depends on this. Certain chemical elements (other than iron) can be extracted from the ore and used for other purposes.
Iron ore deposits are classified by origin. Usually 3 groups are distinguished: magmatogenic, exogenous and metamorphogenic. They can be subdivided into several more groups. Magmatogenic are formed mainly when various compounds are exposed to high temperatures. Exogenous deposits arose in river valleys during the deposition of sediments and weathering of rocks. Metamorphogenic deposits are pre-existing sedimentary deposits that have been transformed under conditions of high pressures and temperatures. The largest amount of iron ore is concentrated in Russia.
The Kursk Magnetic Anomaly is the world's most powerful iron ore basin. Ore deposits on its territory are estimated at 200-210 billion tons, which is about 50% of the iron ore reserves on the planet. It is located mainly in the Kursk, Belgorod and Oryol regions.
Nickel ore is an ore containing the chemical element nickel in such quantities and chemical compounds that its extraction is not only possible, but also economically profitable. Typically, these are deposits of sulfide (nickel content 1-2%) and silicate (nickel content 1-1.5%) ores. The most important are commonly found minerals: sulfides, hydrous silicates and nickel chlorites.
Copper ores are natural mineral formations, the copper content of which is sufficient for the economically profitable extraction of this metal. Of the many known copper-containing minerals, about 17 are used on an industrial scale: native copper, bornite, chalcopyrite (copper pyrite) and others. The following types of deposits are of industrial importance: copper pyrite, skarn copper-magenetite, copper-titanomagnetite and copper-porphyry.
They lie among the volcanic rocks of the ancient period. During this period, numerous land and underwater volcanoes were active. Volcanoes emitted sulfurous gases and hot waters saturated with metals - iron, copper, zinc and others. Of these, ores consisting of iron, copper and zinc sulfides, called pyrites, were deposited on the seabed and in the underlying rocks. The main mineral of pyrite ores is pyrite, or pyrite, which makes up the predominant part (50–90%) of the volume of pyrite ores.
Most of the nickel mined is used for the production of heat-resistant, structural, tool, stainless steels and alloys. A small part of nickel is spent on the production of nickel and copper-nickel rolled products, for the manufacture of wires, strips, various equipment for industry, as well as in aviation, rocketry, in the production of equipment for nuclear power plants, in the manufacture of radar devices. In the industry there are alloys of nickel with copper, zinc, aluminum, chromium and other metals.
Coal is the first of the minerals used by humans as fuel. Only at the end of the last century it was replaced by other energy sources, and until the 60s it remained the most used energy source. However, even now it is actively used in the metallurgical industry when smelting pig iron. Coal, like other main energy carriers, is an organic matter that has changed over a long period of time and under the influence of various processes.
Coal is distinguished by the ratio of its constituent elements. This ratio also determines the main parameter of mined coal - the amount of heat released during its combustion.
Coal is a sedimentary rock formed during the decomposition of plant residues (tree ferns, horsetails and lymphoids, as well as the first gymnosperms). Most of the currently mined coal was formed about 300-350 million years ago.
There is also brown coal. This is a younger type of coal with a lower heating value. It is used less often as a fuel, and the main purpose of extraction is to obtain certain chemical compounds. Anthracite, which has the highest calorific value, is a particularly high-quality type of coal. However, it also has its drawback - it is poorly flammable.
For the formation of coal, it is necessary to accumulate a large amount of plant mass, without access to oxygen. Such conditions were met in ancient peat bogs. First, peat is formed, which then turns out to be under the layer of sediments and gradually, undergoing compression, turns into coal. The deeper the layers of peat are, the higher the quality of the coal is. However, this does not mean that good coal necessarily lies at great depths: many layers lying on top of it collapsed over time, and the coal seams ended up at a depth of about a kilometer.
Depending on the depth of occurrence, coal is mined by the open method, removing the top layer of the earth above the seams, or by mine (underground) - the construction of special underground passages (mines). Most often, high-quality coal is mined by the mine method. Several coal deposits make up the coal basin. One of the largest such pools in the world - Kuznetskiy - is located in Russia. Another large coal basin - Donbass - is located on the territory of Ukraine.
Oil is a flammable oily liquid of red-brown or black color with a specific odor. Oil is one of the most important minerals on Earth, as it produces the most commonly used fuels today. Usually oil is formed together with another, equally important mineral - natural gas. Therefore, very often these two types of minerals are mined in the same place. Oil can be found at a depth of several tens of meters to 6 kilometers, but most often it is located at a depth of 1-3 kilometers.
Oil consists of various hydrocarbons and compounds containing, in addition to carbon and hydrogen, oxygen, sulfur and nitrogen. Oil can differ significantly not only in composition, but also in color: from light brown, almost colorless, to dark brown, almost black.
The origin of this mineral has long caused a lot of controversy. Initially, scientists believed that oil was coal at an early stage in a liquid state. Later, hypotheses were put forward about the formation of oil under the influence of water penetrating deep into the earth on other substances. Only in the last century did scientists determine that oil is formed as a result of a complex and prolonged process of decomposition of organic matter deep underground.
Now almost all the oil produced in the world is extracted from the depth through the so-called boreholes. Previously, more primitive methods of extraction were used: oil was collected from the surface of water bodies, oily rocks of sandstone or limestone were processed, and wells were built.
After extraction, oil is processed at special enterprises, obtaining the necessary fuel (gasoline, diesel fuel, and others). Oil is actively used not only for fuel production, but also for various elements used in the chemical industry.
Oil belongs to non-renewable minerals, that is, it is no longer formed at present. The need for a large amount of fuel in the modern world leads to a huge scale of production. According to experts' calculations, oil reserves that are known to date and are available for production should be depleted within the next 100 years. In the future, mankind will have to either look for new ways of production, or get fuel in a different way. The largest oil reserves are concentrated in Saudi Arabia, Russia and the United States, which are the leaders in world oil production.
Minerals are formations of the earth's crust, consisting of minerals, the chemical and physical properties of which allow them to be used in the industrial and domestic sphere. Without the variety of substances that the Earth is rich in, our world would not be so diverse and developed. Technological progress would be unattainable and prohibitively difficult. Consider the concept, types of minerals and their characteristics.
Concepts and terms related to the topic
Before examining the types of minerals, you need to know the specific definitions related to this topic. This will make it easier and easier to figure it out. So, minerals are mineral raw materials or formations of the earth's crust, which can be of organic or inorganic origin and used in the production of material objects.
A mineral deposit is the accumulation of a certain amount of a mineral substance on the surface or in the depths of the Earth, which are divided into categories depending on the field of application in industry.
Ore is a mineral formation that has arisen in natural conditions and consists of such components and in such a ratio that its use is possible and expedient for the industrial and technical sphere.
When did you start mining?
It is not known for certain when exactly the first mining took place. According to historians, the ancient Egyptians opened the veil. An expedition was sent to the Sinai Peninsula in 2600 BC. They were supposed to get mica. However, there was a breakthrough in the knowledge of the ancient inhabitants about raw materials and materials: copper was found. The mining and processing of silver is known from the history of Greece. The Romans learned about metals such as zinc, iron, tin, and lead. Having founded mines from Africa to Britain, the Roman Empire mined them and then used them to make tools.
In the 18th century, after the industrial revolution, minerals became urgently needed. In this connection, their production has developed rapidly. Modern technologies are based on discoveries from that period. In the 19th century, the famous "gold rush" took place, during which a huge amount of the precious metal, gold, was mined. In the same places (South Africa), several diamond deposits were discovered.
Physical characteristics of minerals
It is known from physics lessons that substances are capable of being in one of four states of aggregation: liquid, solid, gaseous and plasma. In ordinary life, everyone can easily observe the first three. Minerals, like any other chemical compound, can be found on the surface of the Earth or in its interior in one of three states. Thus, the types of minerals are primarily divided into:
- liquid (mineral water, oil);
- solid (metals, coals, ores);
- gaseous (natural gas, inert gas).
Each of the groups is an important and integral part of industrial life. The variety of resources allows countries to develop in the technical and economic spheres. The number of mineral deposits is an indicator of the wealth and well-being of a country.
Industrial types, classification of minerals
After the discovery of the first mineral rocks, a person seriously thought about what benefits they could bring to his life. With the emergence and development of industry, a classification of mineral deposits was formed on the basis of their use in the technical field. Consider these types of minerals. The table contains complete information about their characteristics:
| Fossil deposit type | Groups in its composition | Fossil types |
| Combustible (fuel) | Solid state | Peat, coal |
| Liquid / gaseous state | Gas, oil | |
| Metallic | Ferrous metals | Manganese, chromium, titanium, iron |
| Non-ferrous metals | Lead, copper, cobalt, aluminum, nickel | |
| Precious metals | Platinum, gold, silver | |
| Rare metals | Tin, tantalum, tungsten, niobium, molybdenum | |
| Radioactive compounds | Thorium, radium, uranium | |
| Non-metallic | Mining raw materials | Mica, magnesite, talc, limestone, graphite, clays, sands |
| Chemical raw materials | Fluorite, phosphorite, barite, mineral salts | |
| Construction Materials | Marble, gypsum, gravel and sand, clays, facing stones, cement raw materials | |
| Gemstones | Precious and semi-precious stones |
The considered types of minerals, together with fresh water reserves, are the main characteristic of the wealth of the land or of a particular country. This is a typical gradation of mineral resources, with the help of which all natural substances used in the industrial and household sphere are grouped depending on their physical and chemical properties. Let's get acquainted with each category separately.
Fossil fuels
What kind of minerals does oil belong to? And the gas? A mineral is more often represented as a solid metal than an incomprehensible liquid or gas. They are familiar with metal from early childhood, while understanding what oil or even household gas is, comes a little later. So, what type, according to the classifications already studied, should oil and gas be attributed to? Oil - to the group of liquid substances, gas - to gaseous ones. Based on their application, unambiguously, to fuels or, in other words, fuel minerals. After all, oil and gas are used primarily as a source of energy and heat: they run machine engines, they heat living quarters, and they use them to cook food. The energy itself is released by burning the fuel. And if you look even deeper, this is facilitated by carbon, which is included in all fossil fuels. We figured out what type of minerals oil belongs to.
What other substances are included here? These are solid fuel compounds formed in nature: coal and brown coal, peat, anthracite, oil shale. Let's consider a brief description of them. Types of minerals (combustible):
- coal is the first fuel that man began to use. The main source of energy used on a large scale in manufacturing, it was thanks to this fossil that the industrial revolution took place. It is formed due to plant residues without air access. Depending on the specific gravity of carbon in coal, its varieties are distinguished: anthracites, lignite and hard coal, graphite;
- oil shale was formed on the seabed about 450 million years ago from the remains of vegetation and animals. Consists of mineral and organic parts. When dry distilled, forms a gum that is close to oil;
- peat is an accumulation of incompletely decomposed plant remains in bog conditions, more than half of its composition is carbon. It is used as a fuel, fertilizer, thermal insulation.
Combustible natural substances are the most important types of minerals. Thanks to them, mankind learned to generate and use energy, and also created many industries. Currently, the need for fossil fuels is very acute for most countries. It is a large segment of the global economy, on which the well-being of countries around the world depends.
Metallic minerals: types, characteristics
We know the types of minerals: fuel, ore, non-metallic. The first group has been successfully studied. Moving on - ore, or metal, fossils are what industry was born and developed for. Since ancient times, people have understood that metal provides much more opportunities in everyday life than its absence. In the modern world, it is already impossible to imagine life without any metal. In household appliances and electronics, in homes, in the bathroom, even in a small light bulb - it is everywhere.
How is it mined? Only noble metals, which, due to their chemical properties, do not react with other simple and complex substances, can be found in pure form. The rest are actively interacting with each other, turning into ore. The metal mixture is separated, if necessary, or left unchanged. Natural alloys have taken root due to their mixed properties. Iron, for example, can be hardened by adding carbon to the metal to create steel - a strong compound that can withstand heavy loads.
Depending on the individual characteristics, as well as the area of application, ore minerals are divided into groups: ferrous, non-ferrous, noble, rare and radioactive metals.
Black metals
Ferrous metals are iron and its various alloys: steel, cast iron and other ferroalloys. It is used in the production of various directions: military, shipbuilding, aircraft construction, mechanical engineering.
Many iron products are used in everyday life: kitchen utensils are made of steel, and many plumbing elements are covered with it.
Non-ferrous metals
The group of non-ferrous metals includes a large number of minerals. The name of the group comes from the fact that many metals have a specific color. For example, copper is red, aluminum is silver. The remaining 3 types of minerals (noble, rare, radioactive), in fact, are a subspecies of non-ferrous metals. Many of them are mixed into alloys, because in this form they have better properties.
Non-ferrous metals are classified into:
- heavy - highly toxic with high atomic weight: lead, tin, copper, zinc;
- lungs with low density and weight: magnesium, titanium, aluminum, calcium, lithium, sodium, rubidium, strontium, cesium, beryllium, barium, potassium;
- noble ones due to their high resistance practically do not enter into chemical reactions, are beautiful in appearance: platinum, silver, gold, rhodium, palladium, ruthenium, osmium;
- small (rare) - antimony, mercury, cobalt, cadmium, arsenic, bismuth;
- refractory have a high melting point and resistance to wear: molybdenum, tantalum, vanadium, tungsten, manganese, chromium, zirconium, niobium;
- rare earth - a group of 17 elements: samarium, neodymium, lanthanum, cerium, europium, terbium, gadolinium, dysprosium, erbium, holmium, ytterbium, lutetium, scandium, yttrium, thulium, promethium, terbium;
- scattered are found in nature only in the form of impurities: tellurium, thallium, indium, germanium, rennium, hafnium, selenium;
- radioactive ones independently emit a stream of radioactive particles: radium, plutonium, uranium, protactinium, californium, fermium, americium and others.
Aluminum, nickel and copper are of particular importance for humanity. Developed countries strive to increase their production, since the amount of these non-ferrous metals directly affects technical progress in aircraft construction, astronautics, atomic and microscopic devices, and electrical engineering.
Non-metallic natural elements
Let's summarize a little. The main categories from the table "Types of minerals" (fuel, ore, non-metallic) have been studied. What elements are classified as non-metallic, that is, non-metallic? It is a group of hard or soft minerals that occur as individual minerals or rocks. More than a hundred such chemical compounds are known to modern science, which are nothing more than a product of natural processes.
In terms of the scale of their extraction and use, nonmetallic minerals are ahead only of fuel types of minerals. The table below contains the main rocks and minerals that make up the non-metallic group of natural resources, and their brief description.
| Group of non-metallic minerals / rocks | Type of rock / mineral | Characteristic |
| Mining raw materials | Asbestos | Fireproof rock. They are used for the manufacture of fire-resistant materials, roofs, fire-resistant fabrics. |
| Limestone | Sedimentary rock, widely used in construction. When it is fired, quicklime is obtained. | |
| Mica | Rock-forming mineral. According to its chemical composition, it is subdivided into aluminum, magnesia-ferruginous lithium micas. It is used in modern technology. | |
| Chemical raw materials | Potassium salts | Sedimentary rocks containing potassium. It is used as a raw material for the chemical industry and in the manufacture of potash fertilizers. |
| Apatite | Minerals containing a large amount of phosphorus salts. They are used for the manufacture of fertilizers, as well as in the production of ceramics. | |
| Sulfur | It is found in the form of native sulfur ore and in compounds. It is mainly used for the production of sulfuric acid, in the vulcanization of rubber. | |
| Construction Materials | Gypsum | Sulfate mineral. It is used in various fields of human activity. |
| Marble | Calcite-based rock. Used in electrical engineering, for the manufacture of plaster and mosaics, monuments. | |
| Gemstones | Precious | They have a beautiful pattern or color, shine, and are easy to grind and cut. They are used for making jewelry and other decor. |
| Semi-precious | ||
| Ornamental |
Nonmetallic types of minerals are very important for various industries, construction, and are also necessary in everyday life.
Classification of resources by exhaustion
In addition to the gradation of minerals according to their physical state and characteristics, the indicators of their exhaustion and renewability are considered. The main types of minerals are subdivided into:
- exhaustible, which at a certain moment may end and will be unavailable for production;
- inexhaustible - relatively inexhaustible sources of natural resources, for example, solar and wind energy, oceans, seas;
- renewable - fossils that, at a certain level of exhaustion, can be partially or completely restored, for example, forests, soil, water;
- non-renewable - if the resources have been completely depleted, as a rule, it is not possible to renew them;
- replaceable - fossils that can be replaced if necessary, for example, fuels.
- irreplaceable - those without which life would be impossible (air).
Natural resources require careful treatment and rational use, since most of them have an exhaustible limit, and if they are renewable, it will be very long ago.
Minerals play an important role in human life. Without them, there would be no technical and scientific discoveries, and no ordinary life in general. The results of their extraction and processing surround us everywhere: buildings, transport, utilities, medicines.
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