Minerals and Mining – Key Vocabulary

These vocabulary flashcards summarize the essential terms and definitions from the lecture on Chapter 23: Minerals and Mining, covering rock and mineral basics, mining methods, environmental impacts, and relevant legislation.

Rock

A solid aggregate of minerals; examples include gravel.

Mineral

A naturally occurring compound with distinct chemical properties, such as iron, phosphate, gold, or tantalum.

Mining

The extraction of rock, soil, and other material for the purpose of obtaining minerals of economic value.

Ore

Rock that contains sufficient concentrations of minerals (metals) to be mined for profit.

Metal

A lustrous, malleable substance that conducts electricity and is extracted from ores through smelting.

Smelting

The process of using heat or chemicals to separate and extract metals from their ores.

Tailings

Leftover crushed ore mixed with toxic chemicals remaining after smelting; the most common type of mine pollution.

Surface Impoundment

A large reservoir that stores liquid tailings (slurries) from mining operations.

Strip Mining

A cheap method for removing shallow minerals by stripping away surface soil and replacing it with overburden.

Overburden

Rock or soil removed to expose mineral deposits and later used to refill strip-mined land.

Acid Mine Drainage

Sulfur in newly exposed rock reacts with water to create sulfuric acid that pollutes groundwater and streams.

Subsurface Mining

Tunneling underground to reach mineral pockets; used for zinc, lead, salt, diamonds, gold, and uranium.

Open-Pit Mining

Extraction method that creates large surface pits when tunneling is impractical; results in massive habitat loss and toxic groundwater lakes.

Mountaintop Removal Mining

Blasting the tops off mountains (mainly for coal) and dumping unstable overburden into valleys, causing extensive habitat destruction.

Placer Mining

Using running water to separate heavier minerals from lighter sediment, similar to techniques of the Gold Rush; sediment harms aquatic life.

Solution Mining

Injecting water or acid into deep holes to dissolve minerals such as lithium, salt, magnesium, copper, or uranium, then pumping the solution to the surface.

General Mining Act of 1872

U.S. law that lets citizens stake claims on public land and buy it for $5/acre, encouraging mineral prospecting with little environmental consideration.

Bauxite

The primary ore of aluminum; each American is estimated to use over 2,000 lbs in a lifetime.

Phosphate Rock

A mined mineral used mainly for fertilizer; lifetime U.S. per-capita use exceeds 27,000 lbs.

Copper

A conductive metal essential to electronics; per-capita U.S. lifetime need is about 828 lbs.