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Certain metals do not exist naturally as they are highly reactive, and instead combine with other elements to form compounds. These are called ores that act as raw materials for deriving metal. On the other hand, minerals are composed of unit cells or basic unit layers in individual crystals.
Minerals
Minerals are crystalline compounders composed of unit cells or basic unit layers of two in individual crystals—quartz, calcite, sulphur, etc. are some examples.
Classification of minerals
There are two types of minerals: primary minerals and secondary minerals. Primary minerals are those formed by the igneous process, which involves the freezing of molten magma, whereas secondary minerals are those formed by other processes.
Properties of minerals
Minerals have a distinct chemical composition and an atomic structure that is highly organised.
Hardness, lustre, streak, and cleavage are all physical quantities used to identify minerals. For example, talc is a soft mineral that is easily scratched, but quartz is a hard mineral that is not easily scratched.
Ores
Ore mainly comprises silt or natural rock that is made up of one or more precious minerals, usually metals. These may be mined and processed as per their intended application. Ore is mined from the earth and then treated or refined, usually by smelting, to extract valuable metals or minerals. An ore’s grade relates to the concentration of the desired minerals. The value of the metals or minerals contained in the rock must be balanced against the cost of extraction to determine whether it is of high enough grade to be worth mining.
There isn’t a single ore mineral that makes up an entire ore deposit. The ore is almost always contaminated by gangue, a word for undesirable or non-valuable rocks and minerals. The ore and gangue are usually mined combined, which implies that a mass of ore and gangue is removed from the host rock using either mechanical or manual processes. Mineral processing, also known as ore dressing, is then used to remove the ore from the gangue. To extract the required metallic element from the ore, smelting, roasting, or leaching techniques are utilised.
With advancements in hydrometallurgy, tedious and cost intensive processes of drilling or blasting no longer need to be employed to recover metals such as copper, uranium, and gold from the host rock. In some cases, special microorganisms are used as part of the process. The metals so extracted may need to be further refined or are used to form alloys with other metals.
Major difference between minerals and ores
Minerals | Ores |
They are inorganic substances that exist in Earth’s crust. | They are minerals from which one can extract metals economically. |
Have definite crystalline structure | Don’t Have definite structure |
Not all minerals are ores | Not all ores are minerals |
Example: clay is mineral form of Aluminium | Example: Bauxite is ore of Aluminium |
- Extraction of metal from ore
A range of methods are used to extricate metals from their ores. Depending on the kind of ore, the metal’s reactivity, and also the presence of impurities within the ore section will vary. Metallurgy is a branch of science concerned with the extraction of metals from naturally occurring ores. Before metal can be mined, most metal ores must be delivered to Earth’s surface.
- Concentration of ore
Sand, abrasive minerals etc are some undesired impurities in ore after it has been mined from the earth. Earthy materials, rocks, sandy materials, limestone, and other unwanted impurities are referred to as gangue.
The first step of concentration of an ore is metallurgy to extricate these unwanted impurities from the ore in order to create a concentrated ore with a greater metal content. The physical or chemical properties of the gangue and ores decide the approach used to extract it from the ore.
Note: Let’s look at a couple of ores of iron. Iron is one of the most significant metals, with applications ranging from everyday activities to large businesses. Hematite (Fe2O3), Magnetite (Fe3O4), Limonite (HFeO2), and Siderite are three of the most common iron ores. Hematite and Magnetite are the most critical and high-quality ores among these four. Both these ores are widely used in the steel industry.
Conclusion
A mineral is a naturally occurring inorganic substance with definite chemical composition and ordered atomic structure. The field of science that deals with the extraction of metals from ores found in the environment is metallurgy. Many metals exist in combined form, meaning they combine with other elements.
Such sources are called ores. Minerals are of two types: main minerals and secondary minerals. Hardness, lustre, streak, and cleavage are all physical quantities used to identify minerals.
