Mineral fact sheet

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Douglas College *

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Geology

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Oct 30, 2023

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docx

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1. ASBESTOS General Asbestos is the name for several minerals that form long, thin threads or fibres. The names of of the asbestos minerals are chrysotile, crocidolite, tremolite and actinolite. Hj asbestos include earth flax and mountain flax. Asbestos fibres are found in veins in bedrock. The veins formed when rock filled with fluid containing asbestos minerals. The asbestos minerals crystallized on the walls of the cracks and grew out into the crack in long fibres. Uses Although asbestos fibres look like cloth threads, they are threads of rock that don't burn. But because they are long fibres, they can be woven just like cloth. Therefore, gloves and other clothes can be made of asbestos to protect people from fire. Asbestos fibres have been used in walls and ceilings for the same reason. If you tested an asbestos stronger in certain ways. bestos fibres are added to Another useful property of asbestos fibres is that they are very strong. fibre and a steel wire of the same size, you would find that the asbestos is This strength is useful in making building materials like cement. When as cement, it makes the cement much harder to break. A concern with asbestos is that is can cause diseases in the lungs of people who breathe the short fibres from asbestos dust over a long period of time. Though asbestos is not poisonous when swallowed, it irritates people's lungs and they can develop a disease. People are most likely to get lung disease if they breathe the asbestos dust and smoke cigarettes too. Some people who worked with asbestos in their job have developed lung diseases many years later. Years ago, people did not know the dust could cause lung diseases. Workers now wear special protective dust masks to prevent the fibres from entering their lungs. In B.C., asbestos was mined at the Cassiar Mine in Northern BC from 1952 to 1990. 2. COAL Types There are different types (ranks) of coal: lignite, sub—bituminous, bituminous, and anthracite. The different types (ranks) of coal burn at varying intensities. When lignite burns, it does not give off as much heat as sub—bituminous. Sub—bituminous does not give off as much heat as bituminous and anthracite gives off the most heat of all. Formation Millions of years ago, there were many more swamps than there are today. These swamps were full of trees, plants and animals. The swamps were eventually covered with sediment. As the dead plants and animals were buried deeper and deeper under the sediment, coal was formed. The dead plant and animal materials were changed into coal by pressure and heat.

As vegetation is buried over time, it first becomes lignite. Lignite is brown and often has chunks of wood in it. As itis buried deeper and over longer period of time, it becomes sub—bituminous coal, and then bituminous coal. If more pressure and heat is added, the vegetation finally becomes anthracite, which is black and shiny. Many people do not call coal a mineral because their definition of a mineral does not include anything that is formed from plants and animals. Whether you call coal a mineral or not, it is like other minerals in many ways. It is often found deep in the earth and must be mined in the same way as other minerals. Uses The simplest use of coal is to burn it in a stove for heat. Most houses in North America were heated with coal furnaces until the 1940's and 1950's. Coal burns hotter and longer than wood. Usually anthracite is used for heating houses. In some parts of the world anthracite is still used to heat homes. Very little coal is used for domestic heating in B.C. It has been replaced by oil, natural gas and electricity.One of the main uses of coal today is to generate electricity. In Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario, locally available coal is often used. The coal is burned in furnaces that heat water into steam. Furnaces that make steam are called boilers. The steam from the boilers is then used to spin turbines to generate electricity. 3. COPPER General Copper is found in many minerals. The important copper minerals are chalcopyrite, bornite, chalcocite, tetrahedrite, and malachite. Sometimes copper is found in its native state like gold. Copper is the most important metal mined in B.C. Copper is found in all types of rocks. It is found in and mined from igneous rocks as well as metamorphic rocks. It is also found in quartz veins with other valuable minerals like gold. Copper is alloyed with tin to form bronze, and with zinc to form brass. Uses After iron and aluminum, copper is the third most widely used metal. In your house, the pipes that carry water and the wires that carry electricity are probably copper. "Pennies are copper" - or zinc coated with copper. Early man learned to use copper because it was soft enough to be shaped by hand, but hard enough to be useful for knives and other tools. In the past, Britannia Mine on Howe Sound operated from 1904 to 1974. Island Copper, near Port Hardy, and Afton Mine, near Kamloops, closed permanently in 1996 and 1997, respectively. Presently, a number of mines in B.C. are producing copper: Highland Valley Copper (located near Kamloops, B.C.), Myra Falls Mine (near Campbell River), and Gibraltar Mine (near Williams Lake, B.C.). 3-12 4. GOLD General Gold, usually found in its native state, is often found in quartz veins where it can often be seen with the naked eye. A quartz vein is formed when a large crack or fracture in bedrock is filled with fluids containing quartz. The fractures happen deep within the Earth where there is much heat and pressure. Fractures can be caused by extreme folding or faulting, earthquakes or volcanic action. The fluids entering the cracks or fractures solidify as cooling occurs. This gold is called "Lode" gold, hence the term "Motherlode". Gold is also found in other kinds of mineral deposits. Gold can sometimes be found in volcanic

rocks in concentrations so small that it cannot be seen with the naked eye. Uses Gold has been used for money and jewellery since ancient times. Gold is attractive because it has a bright yellow colour, and is soft and easily workable, and because it does not easily tarnish or react with chemicals like other metals. Gold is very valuable but it is rare and hard to find. The following mines listed are gold mines, but the bulk of known gold reserves occur not in gold only deposits, but copper—gold deposits. B.C. "lode" gold mines, include the following: Golden Bear Mine, Snip Mine and Eskay Creek Mine. Another kind of gold deposit was mined at Nickel Plate Mine (closed in 1996). You can see how much more valuable gold is than other metals by comparing the price of gold with the price of other minerals and metals. For example, 1 kg. of zinc is worth about $1.34 1 kg. of gold is worth over $17,000 1 tonne of metallurgical coal is worth about $62 1 tonne of gold is worth over $17,000,000 (prices in Canadian dollars)(PRICES FLUCTUATE) 5. LEAD General Lead is most commonly found combined with sulphur in the mineral galena. Galena is a shiny grey colour and is very heavy. Silver is often associated with the mineral galena and, as a result, galena is often a byproduct from some of the richest silver mines. As well, galena is often found in veins with sphalerite, a zinc mineral. Some of the largest deposits of lead being mined today were formed when heavy, lead—rich fluids gushed from underwater vents. Uses The primary use of lead today is in electric batteries. That is wh once used to make pipes and paints, however, because lead is h been reduced. batteries are so heavy. Lead was harmful when swallowed its use has Another modern use for lead is in gasoline. Addition of lead makes older cars run better but also puts lead into the air we breathe. New cars are designed to run on gasoline that does not contain lead. In Canada lead is no In B.C. lead producing mines are Myra Falls and Sulliv mine in B.C. — a continuous producer since 1900. an Mine, which is the longest operating 6. PLATINUM

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General: Platinum is considered by many to be a beautiful silver native state. Because it does not weather or break down, like gold. Platinum is as valuable as gold. There have of platinum has been much higher than gold white metal. It is usually found in its platinum is often mined in placer deposits been many times in history when the price Uses: Platinum is used in jewellery just like gold. People in some Asian countries like Japan pre platinum jewellery to gold jewellery. Platinum is also used to make special wires and parts electronic instruments. The nose cones of missiles are coated with platinum because it wil] melt in high heat. Platinum is used in cars in the catalytic converters to keep the cars from polluting the air. In the late 1800 placer platinum was recovered from stream sediments in the Tulameen area. 7. Silver General Teacher Information Lesson 3 - Metals from Stone Silver is sometimes found in its native state like gold. But most often it is found combined with other metals. Gold nuggets usually contain silver. When gold has silver in it, it is a lighter yellow colour than pure gold. Silver is also found in small amounts with deposits of lead, zinc and copper. Some of the richest silver deposits are veins of galena that contain much silver. Usually, crystals of galena form in cubes. But when galena is rich in silver, the silver keeps the cubes from forming; therefore, it is often very easy to tell just by looking if the galena is rich in silver. Uses Silver is used in coins, jewellery and in silverware utensils. The biggest use of silver, however, is in photography. Crystals of silver halide are used in photographic film. When you take a picture, light is let into the camera. The light shines on a layer of silver halide crystals on the film. The crystals change depending on how much light hits them. When the film is developed, changes in In B.C., silver is mined at Sullivan Mine. the crystals show up as light and dark areas which make up the picture. Silver is also easily recycled. 8. TIN General The most important mineral of tin is cassiterite. Cassiterite is mined from veins and also from some granites. Cassiterite does not weather or break up easily when exposed to rain and air. It appears loose in gravel and sand and can be mined using placer methods. The largest tin mines are in Malaysia and Thailand where enormous dredges placer mine cassiterite from rivers and bays. Uses Tin is used like zinc to coat other metals to prevent rusting. Tin cans are actually steel cans coated with tin. Tin is also mixed with other metals to form pewter, bronze and solder. One interesting use of tin is in making window glass. Molten glass is poured onto a bed of molten tin. The molten tin, like any other liquid, forms a very flat and smooth surface. When the molten glass floating on top of it cools, it is also very flat and smooth. Tin is not produced in B.C. 9. ZINC

General The most common and important zinc mineral is sphalerite. Sphalerite is made of zinc and sulphur. Sphalerite can be different colors and doesn't shine like a metal as does galena or chalcopyrite. Zinc is most often mined from deposits comprised of lead, zinc and silver which were formed from discharge of zinc rich liquids from underwater vents. The Sullivan Mine is a world class example of this deposit type. Zinc is also found in quartz vein deposits with gold. Zinc is one of the principal minerals at the Myra Falls Mine on Vancouver Island. Uses Zinc is the fourth most used metal in the world. The largest use of zinc is in galvanizing (steel products are dipped in hot liquid zinc). The zinc coats the steel and prevents it from rusting. You have probably seen many galvanized steel products. Metal buckets, garbage cans, and steel pipes used for drinking water are usually galvanized. If your school has wire fencing around it — that, too, is galvanized. Zinc is used for many other things. Pennies are now being made from zinc and then are coated with copper. Zinc is mixed with copper to make brass. In small amounts, zinc is necessary in our diet. You can buy zinc pills at the drug store. 10. MOLYBDENUM General Molybdenum is found in the mineral molybdenite which is made of sulphur and molybdenum. Molybdenite is sometimes found in veins, but today most molybdenum is mined from granites or rocks like granites, called monzonites. Uses Molybdenite is very slippery and is therefore used as a lubricant. One of the old wagon trails that crossed America passed a spot where molybdenite was found in the mud. The pioneers used this mud to grease their wagon wheels. Today molybdenite is used to oil machinery that gets so hot that regular oils cannot be used. The largest use of molybdenum is in making special steels. When molybdenum is added to steel it makes the steel harder and tougher. These steels are used in cars, trains, airplanes, buildings, and even your bicycle. It also gives the steel a higher heat resistance. This heat resistance is important. Jet airplanes depend upon molybdenum and tungsten which are used with other metals to make the jet engines. Molybdenum is also a necessary element in soil for plant growth. In most soil there is a very small amount of molybdenum which is used by the plants. But there are some lands with no plants at all... because there is no molybdenum in the soil. Molybdenum is a catalyst which allows the plants to break down the nitrogen in the soil so that photosynthesis can occur. When farmers need to add molybdenum to their crops, they make a sodium-molybdate solution and dip the seeds into it. To fertilize an acre of ground, it only takes

one and one-half ounces of molybdenum. : Molybdenum is also used to make plastics, synthetic fabrics, paints, vitamin pills .... and it is what puts the red in your colour television picture. Most molybdenum in B.C. occurs in large low grade mineral deposits where molybdenite is formed in networks of veinlets and as disseminated "specks" 1n igneous rocks. B.C. Molybdenum mines are the Endako Mine near Endako, B.C.. Copper mines such as Island Copper, Highland Valley Copper and Gibraltar Mine produce molybdenum as a byproduct. 11. ALUMINUM FOLL General Aluminum is the most abundant metal found in the Earth's crust. The crust is made up of 8% aluminum, but unlike gold or silver it is never found in a native state. Most minerals rocks and soils contain aluminum compounds, but aluminum can be made inexpensively only from bauxite ore that is made from a combination of the three minerals: boehmite, diaspore and gibbsite. Aluminum is produced at a smelter in Kitimat, B.C., which imports its bauxite mainly from Australia because there are no bauxite deposits in Canada. Aluminum is usually produced in an alloy form with copper, magnesium, manganese, silicon, fin and zinc. It has many valuable properties such as its light weight, strength, corrosion resistance, electrical conductivity and heat conduction, as well as light and heat reflection. Uses Manufactured products include doors, windows, house siding, beverage cans, foil, cooking utensils, automobile, truck and airplanes parts, bottom of irons, tubing in air-conditioning units, bolts and Screws. Today, supplies of iron ore for steel making are being exhausted. Aluminum is now being substituted for steel in many cases. 12. IRON OREGON General HAH Iron, found in combination with other elements, is a common metal making up about 4% of the earth's crust. Two common iron minerals are hematite and magnetite. Iron is the main element in steel, which is a widely used metal in our industrial society. Uses Steel is used for the construction of bridges and buildings, automobiles, machines, appliances and many other products; steel is the most widely used metal today. With British Columbia mining a small amount, most iron ore is mined in Newfoundland, Quebec and Ontario. 3-18

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