O: You will be able to explain how minerals are formed and

mined.

Do Now: How do you think minerals are formed?

• Minerals form in a variety of environments in the Earth’s crust.

• Each of these environments has a different set of physical and chemical conditions.

• The environment in which a mineral forms determines the mineral’s properties.

• Geologists use the term ore to describe a mineral deposit large enough and pure enough to be mined for profit.

• Rocks and minerals are removed from the ground by one of two methods—surface mining or subsurface mining.

Open-Pit Mining

• Minerals are mined from the surface.• They go layer by layer in a stair like pattern.

• Subsurface mining methods are used when mineral deposits are located too deep within the Earth to be surface mined.

• Subsurface mining often requires that passageways be dug into the Earth to reach the ore.

Mining Problems

• Mining can cause pollution.

• It can also damage the land.

• It can disturb natural habitats of plants and animals native to the area.

Possible Solutions

• Reducing the amount of minerals we consume.

• Reclamation is returning the land to the state it was before they mined it.

• Mineral Uses• Copper electrical wire, plumbing, coins• Diamond jewelry, cutting tools• Galena batteries, ammunition• Gibbsite cans, foil, appliances, • Gold jewelry, computers, spacecraft• Gypsum wallboards, plaster, • Halite nutrition, highway de-icer• Quartz glass, computer chips• Silver photography, electronics products• Sphalerite jet aircraft, spacecraft

Homework

• 1. Where do minerals come from?

• 2. What are the two mining methods used to extract ore?

• 3. How does reclamation help the land?