Resource Use and Management: Minerals

Vocabulary flashcards defining key mineral concepts, extraction methods, environmental impacts, and chemical formulas based on the lecture transcript.

Mineral

A chemical compound which occurs in the earth's crust and which forms the basis of rocks.

Ore

A mineral or combination of minerals from which a useful substance, such as gold, can be extracted and marketed at a much more profitable price.

Compound

A substance formed when two or more elements are combined by chemical bonding.

Metallic Minerals

Minerals containing one or more forms of metals in a definite composition, typically occurring as mineral deposits and acting as good conductors of heat and electricity.

Precipitation

The process where an insoluble solid comes out of a solution after cooling down, such as when metals bond with non-metal minerals.

Infrared Radiation

A type of heat radiation that space crafts are coated with gold to protect inhabitants from.

Non-metallic Minerals

Minerals that do not contain metal elements and are non-conductors or poor conductors of electricity, such as diamond or mica.

Underground Mining

A method used to extract minerals using a vertical opening called a shaft and horizontal openings called drifts.

Open-pit Mining

A surface mining technique that extracts minerals from an open pit in the ground without the use of tunnels.

Placer Mining

The practice of separating heavy eroded minerals from sand or gravel, often involving surface deposits concentrated by wind or water.

Dredge

A huge floating machine which digs out alluvium containing minerals in placer mining operations.

Mine Waste (Tailings)

Also called mine dumps; these are the leftovers after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomical factions of minerals.

Back filling

The waste management method of disposing of tailings back into the excavated mining site.

Submarine Tailing Deposition (STD)

The process of depositing mine wastes in deep stratified waters so they flow as a dense slurry to a deposition site on the deep ocean floor.

Dieback

The process where a rainforest habitat floodplain turns into an aquatic habitat due to excessive sand deposition in river beds, as seen in the Ok Tedi and Fly Rivers.

Acid Rock Drainage (ARD)

A condition occurring when pyrite reacts with air and water to produce sulphuric acid ($H_2SO_4$).

Land Degradation

A process in which the value of the physical environment is affected by human activities, leading to a decline in productive capacity or biodiversity.

Mine Rehabilitation

Management practices aimed at minimizing and mitigating the environmental effects of mining, such as contouring waste dumps and covering sulfide ores with clay.

Royalties

Economic payments that bring wealth to land owners and help develop rural infrastructure like schools and health centers.

Nicolite

A mineral with the formula $NiAs$ used to obtain Nickel ($Ni$).

Linnaeite

A mineral with the formula $Co_3S_4$ used to obtain Cobalt ($Co$).

Pyrolusite

A mineral with the formula $MnO_2$ used to obtain Manganese ($Mn$).

Argentite

A mineral with the formula $Ag_2S$ used to obtain Silver ($Ag$).

Molybdenite

A mineral with the formula $MoS_2$ used to obtain Molybdenum ($Mo$).

Chalcopyrite

A mineral with the formula $CuFeS_2$ used to obtain Copper ($Cu$).

Gibbsite

A mineral with the formula $Al(OH)_3$ used to obtain Aluminium ($Al$).