Nonrenewable Resources: Metals and Nonmetals

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Nonrenewable Resources Metals and Nonmetals

• Minerals and Ores

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Minerals and Ores

• All metallic elements and many important
  nonmetallic elements can be obtained from
  minerals
• Some of the elements are attached to other
  elements, but are easily separated
• Usually, the metal or nonmetal is combined with
  another substance and needs to be chemically
  separated
• If the rock has enough of the element to make the
  separation profitable, the rock is called an ore
  Eg. Iron ore, copper ore
• The valuable mineral is the ore mineral, the rest
  of the rock is the gangue

Iron ore
Copper Ore
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Mineral Availability

• It is difficult to make reliable estimates of the
  availability of a particular resource
• Reserves are resources that have been found and
  can be extracted at a profit with current
  technology

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Important Nonmetals

• Most nonmetallic minerals resources are used in
  the form in which they come out of the ground
• Examples are sand, gravel, building stone, rock
  salt, talc, and graphite
• A quarry is a small open-pit mine where sand,
  gravel, and crushed stone come from
• Soil fertilizers are also nonmetals that are
  mined phosphate rock, potash, and nitrates
• Salt, gypsum, sulfur, and graphite are other
  important nonmetals that are mined

Sulfur
Graphite
Gypsum