Minerals and Energy Resources

Lesson

Part 1 — what minerals are, where they hide in the rocks, where India mines them, and why they will not last for ever.

In this lesson you will

Explain how minerals occur in igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks, placers and ocean waters
Classify minerals as ferrous, non-ferrous and non-metallic, with uses
Name the main iron-ore, manganese, copper, bauxite and mica areas and locate key mines
Explain why minerals must be conserved and suggest methods

Part 1 at a glance

Concept

Minerals, rocks and ores

A mineral is a naturally formed substance with a uniform make-up and a definite internal structure. Rocks are combinations of minerals; a few, such as limestone, are made of one. An ore is a mineral mixed with other elements, concentrated enough to be worth mining.

Diagram

Five ways minerals occur

Table of five modes of occurrence: veins and lodes such as copper; beds or layers such as coal and gypsum; residual deposits such as bauxite; placers such as gold; and ocean waters and beds such as salt and manganese nodules
Mode	How it forms	Examples
Veins and lodes	Molten or gaseous material cools in cracks of igneous and metamorphic rocks	Tin, copper, zinc, lead
Beds or layers	Deposition and concentration in sedimentary rocks; evaporation in dry areas	Coal, some iron ore; gypsum, potash, sodium salt
Residual deposits	Weathering removes soluble parts, leaving the ore	Bauxite
Placer deposits	Water-resistant minerals collect in sands of valleys and hill bases	Gold, silver, tin, platinum
Ocean waters and beds	Dissolved in sea water or as nodules on the floor	Common salt, magnesium, bromine; manganese nodules

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