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Colorado Mining Research Paper

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Colorado Mining Humankind has been fascinated with minerals and rocks as far back as we have existed. Minerals, which are referred to as the building blocks of rocks, are the foundation of almost every rock known to humans. Minerals are a naturally occurring, homogeneous inorganic solid substance having a definite chemical composition and characteristic crystalline structure, color, and hardness. In contrast to minerals, rocks are any solid mass of mineral, or mineral like matter, that occurs naturally as part of our planet (Lutgens & Tarbuck, 2014). Humans have used minerals and rocks for both decorative and practical purposes for thousands of years. Through the process of mining, humans extract these valuable minerals from within the …show more content…

The minerals that are mined have different characteristics that make them unique. Colorado precious metallic minerals such as Gold, Silver, and Copper have a distinctive, shiny, metallic luster. Colorado has been the leading producer of these minerals throughout history and continues to be a huge producer of these minerals today. The Colorado Geological Survey (CGS) states that Colorado is the fourth leading producer of Gold in the U.S. behind Nevada, Alaska, and Utah (p.1). Gemstones are another major industry for Colorado mining and include stones such as diamonds and aquamarines. In all, Colorado has over thirty different gemstones that are mined for their prized color, rarity, and endurance. The diamond for instance is the hardest substance on earth and ranks a ten on the Mohs scale of hardness. This means that a diamond can scratch all other minerals with a hardness of nine or less, but cannot be scratched itself. Colorado is also a leading producer of Coal, ranking eighth in the nation. Coal is an organic sedimentary rock consisting of decomposed plants. Colorado Coal is shipped all over the country to supply energy in an inexpensive …show more content…

On average, Gold, Molybdenum, and Silver produced over $1.5 Billion in sales annually and Colorado continues to add to the millions of ounces already extracted from our mines. Coal is the leading single resource mined in Colorado and generates an annual $850+ million in sales. Gypsum, sand, gravel, and other minerals that are mined in Colorado produce an additional $650+ million annually in sales. The estimated economic value of the minerals and rocks mined in Colorado is over $8 billion annually. Mining continues to be a huge industry for the state of Colorado and currently employs over 20,000 workers consisting of 6,000 miners and 14,000 mining support associates. Colorado Mining (2016) stated that miners are among the highest paid industrial workers in Colorado with an average of $88,000 annual

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