2. INTRODUCTION:
The general definition of minerals encompases the following criteria:
● Naturally Occuring
● Stable at room temperature
● Represented by Chemical formulae
● Ordered atomic arrangement
‘The term mineral resources is used to refers to any class of a naturally
occurring solid inorganic substances with a characteristic crystalline form
and a homogeneous chemical composition.’
3. Types of Mining:
1. Underground Mining:
● Underground mining is a technique used to access ores and valuable
minerals in the ground by digging into the ground to extract them.
● The surface layers of ground are scooped away to access deposits, or
mountaintop removal, in which the top of a mountain is simply shaved off to
access the ore inside.
4. 2. Hydro Mining:
● Hydraulic mining is a form of mining that uses high-pressure jets of water to
dislodge rock material or move sediment.
● In the placer mining of gold or tin, the resulting water-sediment slurry is
directed through sluice boxes to remove the gold. It is also used in mining
kaolin and coal.
5. 3. Open Cut or Open Cast Mining:
● Open cast mining is a type of surface mining in which mineral resources are
removed from the earth through large holes or pits dug into the surface.
● Open-cast mines are dug on benches, which describe vertical levels of the
hole. These benches are usually on four to sixty meter intervals, depending
on the size of the machinery that is being used. Many quarries do not use
benches, as they are usually shallow.
6. Classification of Minerals:
1. Metallic Minerals:
● Metallic Ores are cut or blasted from surronding rocks. The Ore is crushed
and the worthless rock is removed.
● The pure metal is separated by heating.
● Metallic minerals are those that are made up of a metal compound or
resemble a metal.
● Examples are IRON ORE, COPPER, ANTIMONY, CHROMITE & etc.
7. 2. Non-Metallic Minerals:
● Non-metallic minerals are minerals that have no metallic luster and break
easily.
● These are also called industrial materials and are typically some form of
sediment. Non-metallic minerals are not malleable.
● Sand, limestone, marble, clay and salt are all examples of non-metallic
minerals.
8. Environmental Impacts:
● There is an increased risk of chemical contamination of ground water when
minerals in upturned earth seep into the water table, and watersheds are
destroyed when disfigured land loses the water it once held.
● It causes subsidence as mines collapse and the land above it starts to sink.
This causes serious damage to buildings.
● Coal mine methane, less prevalent in the atmosphere than CO2, but 20 times
as powerful as a greenhouse gas, forms during the geological formation of
coal, and is released during the coal mining process.
● Pneumoconiosis, aka black lung disease or CWP, is caused when miners
breathe in coal dust and carbon, which harden the lungs. Estimates show that
1,200 people in the US still die from black lung disease annually. The
situation in developing countries is even worse.
