Minerals and Ores
ICSE Class 6 · Geography · Chapter 7
What this chapter covers
- Minerals and ores: what they are
- Metallic minerals
- Non-metallic minerals and mineral fuels
- Where minerals are found
- Types of mining
- Conservation of minerals
Key definitions
Coal is a black, hard rock that burns well.
Petroleum is a thick, dark oil found deep inside rocks.
Natural gas is a gas often found together with petroleum, trapped in rocks under the ground or under the sea.
Key points
- A mineral is a natural substance in the Earth's crust with a fixed make-up; an ore is a rock or mineral from which a metal can be taken out profitably.
- Metallic minerals such as iron ore, bauxite, manganese, copper, gold, silver and uranium contain metal.
- Non-metallic minerals such as limestone and mica contain no metal; coal, petroleum and natural gas are mineral fuels.
- Iron becomes steel; bauxite gives aluminium; copper makes electric wires; uranium fuels nuclear power stations; limestone makes cement.
- Australia and Brazil lead in iron ore, Chile in copper, Kazakhstan in uranium, Mexico in silver and China in coal.
- In India, many minerals lie on the plateau of Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh; oil and gas come from Mumbai High, Gujarat and Assam.
- The four main types of mining are open-cast mining, shaft mining, drilling and quarrying.
- Minerals are non-renewable, so they must be conserved by recycling, saving fuel, using other energy sources and mining carefully.
Questions answered
What is a mineral? Give two examples.
A mineral is a natural substance found in the Earth's crust with a fixed make-up and its own features. Examples are mica and limestone.
What is the difference between a mineral and an ore?
An ore is a rock or mineral from which a metal can be taken out at a cost worth paying. Every ore has minerals in it, but not every mineral is an ore.
Sort these into metallic and non-metallic minerals: bauxite, mica, copper, limestone, manganese.
Metallic: bauxite, copper, manganese. Non-metallic: mica, limestone.
Name the ore of aluminium and two uses of aluminium.
Bauxite. Aluminium is used for aeroplanes and cooking vessels.
Why is mica used in electric irons?
Mica does not let electricity or heat pass through it easily, so it keeps parts apart safely.
Name the three mineral fuels. Why are they called fossil fuels?
Coal, petroleum and natural gas. They formed from the remains of plants and animals that lived millions of years ago.
Name the leading producer in the world of (a) uranium (b) silver.
(a) Kazakhstan (b) Mexico.
Which type of mining is used for minerals lying deep under the ground, and why is it risky?
Shaft mining. Miners face poisonous gases, fires, floods and falling roofs.