MInerals
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Description Of Minerals
Luster
Is the way Minerals reflect light. Minerals can be described as metallic, pearly, glassy, greasy, silky, brillant, or dull.
color
Color is not always a good clue to the identity of a mineral. Many minerals are found in several colors and many minerals have extra chemicals in them that give them an unexpected color. Also, weathering may change the color of the minerals.
Streak
This is the color of the streak made by rubbing a mineral across a hard, rough surface like a bathroom tile.
Cleavage
This is the color of the streak made by rubbing a mineral across a hard, rough surface like a bathroom tile.
Hardness
Hardness is measured by seeing how easy it is to scratch a mineral.
Specific gravity
Specific gravity of a mineral is its relative weight compared to the weight of an equal volume of water. It determines the density of the mineral.
Pyrite
Quarts
Wilensky
Why do we need minerals
Agriculture
Phosphate rock, potash, and lime are used in agriculture fertilizers, and a lot of other minerals are used to improve the soil for crops. And also the water we drink uses minerals to keep the water clean.
food
Salt is added to food during preparation, and other mineral products may also be included. Calcium carbonate, for example, is used in bread, cakes, soups and cereal, and some food additives are manufactured using natural minerals. Sand is used to filter water, as is diatomite, a silica mineral formed from fossilised algae. Diatomite and bentonite clay are both used to clarify drinks, such as beer, fruit juices and wine.
Utensils
Your plates may be ceramic and made from clay, glasses are made from silica sand, and cutlery from metals – usually aluminium or steel. Your cooker is partly made from metals and cooking pans are generally made from aluminium, steel or copper.
Packaging
Food and drink may be packaged in cans made from aluminium or steel, or in glass made from silica sand. Plastic packaging is made from chemicals obtained from oil, natural gas or coal.
Utensils
Your plates may be ceramic and made from clay, glasses are made from silica sand, and cutlery from metals – usually aluminium or steel. Your cooker is partly made from metals and cooking pans are generally made from aluminium, steel or copper.
Construction
About 60 tonnes of aggregate are used to build an average house in the UK. If we include the associated infrastructure, this can be as high as 400 tonnes.
Minerals are used in building houses, schools, libraries, hospitals, offices and shops. Buildings use a wide range of minerals:iron (as steel) in the framework of large building,clay in bricks and roofing tiles,slate for roofing tiles,limestone,clay,shale and gypsum in cement,gypsum in plaster,silica sand in window glass,sand and gravel and crushed rock as aggregates for fill and in concrete,copper for plumbing and wiring,clays for bathroom fixtures and fittings and tiles,paint may include pigments,extenders and fillers from mineral sources.
Energy
Energy is used at home and by all industries, services and transport, including hospitals, schools and workplaces. Energy minerals – coal, oil, gas, uranium – are used to give you heat, hot water and electricity. Cars, buses and trains all use fuel which mainly comes from oil.
Travel
Every journey you make depends on minerals, whether by car, train, plane, boat or foot. Aggregates (crushed rock and sand and gravel) are used for roads and footpaths, while railway tracks made from steel are laid on aggregate (known as ballast). Airports, railway stations and shipping ports all use large amounts of construction minerals to build them.Cars, trains, planes, boats and bicycles are all made using metals such as steel and aluminium. Aircraft engines depend on mixtures of metals called alloys which are made from metals including nickel, cobalt, chromium, aluminium and titanium. In every car there are over 15,000 components made from minerals.
Technology
Information technology is part of our daily lives. Many of us have access to a computer and mobile phone, and many services depend on computers and other forms of telecommunication. These technologies require a wide range of minerals and metals, including copper, gold, platinum, tantalum, tin, zinc and nickel
Mineral Process
In the mineral process valuable minerals are concentrated by removing unnecessary substances from the rock material. The first phase of the process involves reducing the size of the mineral. This is done with crushers and grinding mills where the ore is broken down into smaller pieces. When the fragments of the ore are small enough, the pieces containing the most valuable minerals are separated from those containing mostly unneeded minerals. The separation process involves leaching, emission, gravity methods and magnetic separation. Emission chambers and pipes, coils and magnetic separation equipment are used in the separation process. Water must also be extracted from the concentrated product. Coils, filters, thickeners, sedimentation basins and dryers are used to do this.
Impacts to environment
Unregulated mining has the potential to release harmful substances into the soil, air, and water. Mission 2016 proposes that governments enforce regulations on companies and use cutting-edge technology to reduce the damage from mining-related sources. As more mines open in countries with varying levels of environmental protection, it is increasingly vital that safeguards established by the Strategic Minerals Association are in place before operations proceed.Term, all species are either destroyed or displaced from the area of theming itself. Mining also may have adverse, long-term impacts on wildlife, including impairment of its habitat or native environment. Many animal species cannot adjust to the changes brought on by the land disturbance involved in coal mining