LESSON 1: MINERALS IN THE SOCIETY: HOW MINERAL ORES ARE FOUND,

MINED AND PROCESSED

What did you have for breakfast this morning? Chances are, you have already encountered a
mineral and even ingested it without even noticing. Can you guess what mineral that is?

Salt, a mineral from halite, is one of the essential minerals that we always use at home. It makes
food tastier and brings out the flavor of what you are eating. Can you imagine life without salt? Picture
this. You are like watching television in black and white. It shows you different landscapes, sceneries,
and objects but the colors are the same -- black and white. Dull isn't it? Just like in food, if there is no
salt added, even if the presentation is beautiful, the food will still taste bland. That is how important salt
is.

One may not realize it, but minerals are important in our lives. From morning until one sleep,
people interact with minerals. Minerals are components of materials we use, buildings we build, and
assets we keep. That is how important minerals are in our everyday life.

Home and Personal Use

Aside from salt, other minerals compose some of the items and equipment found in our houses.
Feldspar is a component for ceramics, glassware, and pottery. It is also an ingredient in making soaps.
Fluorite is also used in ceramics and pottery. It is commonly known as a component of toothpaste in
the form of fluoride. Gold, silver, and platinum are made into pieces of jewelry and other important
articles at home. Quartz is used to produce glass and fiberglass usually used at home

Electronics, Infrastructure, and Manufacturing

Numerous minerals are important to infrastructure and manufacturing. A very good example of
this is copper. Copper serves as an important material in electronics and wiring because of its
conductive properties. Silver is utilized in electronics for the same reason. Silica is a mineral that
contains silicon, a metalloid that has some properties of metals such as the ability to conduct electricity.
Tungsten and molybdenum are used widely for the filament in incandescent bulbs because of their
high melting points. Iron ores are used for stainless steel production. Barium, chromite, cobalt,
copper, molybdenum, and nickel serve as alloys in the production of other metals. Bauxite is an ore
where aluminum is derived. It is important to produce cement for construction. Copper and lead are
also utilized widely in the construction field. Quartz, in the form of sand, is also valuable in construction
and manufacturing. Graphite, known in your pencil "lead”, can also be used in manufacturing.

Economics

Mining of minerals contribute to the gross domestic product (GDP) of a country. Gold is used as
a reserve and serves as a backup for currencies. The amount of reserves of gold correlates to inflation.
If the central bank of a country buys gold, the country’s currency is affected because of the fluctuations
in the supply and demand of the currency.

Precious Minerals and Other Uses

Some minerals are used as gemstones. Rubies and sapphires contain aluminum oxide.
Emeralds are from the mineral beryl. Quartz is also considered as a semi-precious mineral. Diamond,
a form of carbon, is considered as the most precious mineral. It is also the hardest mineral (10 on the
Mohs Scale). Though commonly used for jewelry, some uncut diamonds are placed as additive for
metal cutters because of its hardness.
In some cases, minerals are used in the medical field. Examples of these minerals are barium
that is a helpful additive to medicine in X-rays of the digestive system, and iron which is used to treat
anemia.

Minerals are naturally occurring, inorganic solids with a definite chemical composition and a
crystal lattice structure. Although thousands of minerals on earth have been identified, just ten minerals
make up most of the volume of the earth’s crust– plagioclase, quartz, orthoclase, amphibole, pyroxene,
olivine, calcite, biotite, garnet, and clay.

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How are these mineral ores processed for human use?

Step 1: Finding Minerals

Geologists study geological formations and then test the physical and chemical properties of
soil and rocks to locate possible ores and determine their size and concentration.

*A mineral deposit will only be mined if it is profitable.

Step 2: Mining

Surface Mining. It allows extraction of ores that are close to the earth’s surface.
Overlying rock is blasted, and the rock that contains the valuable minerals is placed in a truck
and taken to a refinery.

Surface mining includes open-pit mining and mountain top removal. Other methods
of surface mining include strip mining, placer mining, and dredging.

Underground Mining. It is used to recover ores that are deeper into the earth’s
surface. Miners blast and tunnel into rock to gain access to the ores. How underground mining
is approached – from above, below, or sideways – depends on the placement of the ore body,
its depth, concentration of ore, and the strength of the surrounding rock. Underground mining
is very expensive and dangerous. Fresh air and lights must also be brought into the tunnels for
the miners, and accidents are far too common.

Step 3: Processing

Mineral processing is the process of extracting minerals from the ores, refining them and
preparing these minerals for use. The primary steps involved in processing minerals include sampling
and analysis, comminution, concentration, and dewatering.

1. Sampling is a removal of a portion which represents a whole needed for the analysis of this
material.

2. Analysis is important to evaluate the valuable components in an ore. This includes chemical,
mineralogical, and particle size analysis.

• Chemical analysis uses electric discharge which excites the elements in the sample to emit a certain
spectra which will reveal the identity of the elements as well as its concentration.

• Mineralogical analysis uses heavy liquid testing that aims to separate the less dense, same density,
and denser materials.

• Coarsely grounded minerals are classified according to particle size through sieving.

3. Comminution is the process where the valuable components of the ore are separated through
crushing and grinding. This process begins by crushing the ores to a particular size and finishes it by
grinding the ores into a powder form.

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4. Concentration involves the separation of the valuable minerals from the raw materials.

• Optical separation is a process used in the concentration of minerals with distinct contrasting colors
(black and white) seen with the naked eye.

• Gravity separation is a process that uses the density of minerals as the concentrating agent and
performs a sink and float separation of water and the grounded minerals.

• Flotation separation is the most widely used method that makes use of the mineral’s wettability to
water or chemicals.

• Magnetic separation is a process that involves different degrees of attraction of minerals to

• Electrostatic separation is a process that separates the mineral particles based on their electric
charges.

5. Dewatering uses the concentrates to convert it to usable minerals. This involves filtration and
sedimentation of the suspension and drying of the solid material harvested from this suspension.

Extracting metal from rock is so energy intensive that if you recycle just 40 aluminum cans, you will
save the energy equivalent of one gallon of gasoline.

Step 4: Distribution of Valuable Minerals

Some minerals are valuable because they are beautiful. Minerals like jade, turquoise, diamonds, and
emeralds are gemstones which are cut and polished for jewelry. Other minerals like coppers, nickel,
cobalt, and iron are produced in large masses for industrial purposes.

After processing, only the mineral is used, and the remaining of the ore is disposed as waste. This
waste, if not handled and managed properly, can cause serious environmental problems.

Mining generates a lot of wastes. For example, a mine obtains 1lb of copper. In the process of
obtaining the 1lb,99 lbs. of wastes are removed. Simply put, ore will be one percent (1%) useful
mineral and ninety-nine percent (99%) waste. Can you imagine how much waste is produced in
mining?

Mining Waste Products and Their Management

Heavy metal wastes can seep through soil making it poisonous for plants to grow. Water sources
can be contaminated by the acid used in the mining process. Tailings, a by-product of milling ores,
can travel from the dump ponds into the water source of nearby communities. In the Philippines,
some of these wastes damaged mangroves, reefs, and impaired agriculture.

It is then crucial that waste products be controlled to prevent them from making a more pronounced
impact in our environment. There are ways to lessen the wastes and effects on the environment.

1. Recent improvements in technology enable mining companies to extract more minerals

2. The mining companies must be able to plan out their sites from exploration to
rehabilitation.

3. The mining company must also ensure that they are able to restore the community that was
displaced because of their activities.

4. Tailings from mines can be zoned in and surrounded by lands so that plants can avoid
erosion of the ponds thus minimizing the possibility of seepage of the tailings.

5. Mine structures should be designed at par or even surpassing current rules and
regulations set by the government and international standards.

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 6. Other mining practices include reforestation, slope stabilization, maintenance for dump
facilities, managing and monitoring air and water quality, erosion control, and water
conservation.

There are existing laws and regulations for mining in the Philippines. These laws aim primarily to
establish rules and regulations of mining practices in the country and to attract foreign investors to
explore the potential of minerals in the country. At the same time, the law also intends to balance the
mining industry, the culture, and the protection of the environment and waste management of
different mining companies.

The key to making mining sustainable is to implement and to practice responsible mining. This
entails determination from the mining companies to do their part in abiding the law. Companies
practicing responsible mining assure that from step one, they are looking forward to the rehabilitation
steps that they will take after their exploitation. Responsible miners also consider the health,
livelihood, and homes of the communities that will be affected by their ventures. However, it does not
end with the mining companies. The government and residents must also do their part in ensuring
that responsible mining is implemented.

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