Minerals are found in many areas of the world and some are more easily available than others. The Earth provides natural resources as necessary minerals that can be used for construction, decoration, gemstones, and many other important physical uses that improve the quality of life. There are minerals that can be found and mined in natural solid form in small or large quantities and some that are found in a mixed environment and must be refined. Much time and research has shown that some minerals may be hazardous and many minerals are crucial to a greater life on earth. Chalcopyrite, copper, and malachite are the three main minerals used to make copper. Copper is one of the most important natural resources and an important …show more content…
Copper, Cu, is the natural solid form of copper with an Isometric crystal system. It is found as copper red on a fresh surface, dull brown or green on a tarnished surface with metallic luster and metallic copper red streak. The natural copper is soft and malleable at 2.3-3 on moh’s mineral scale. Copper nuggets in pure state have been found in Arizona, abundant in Keweenaw Peninsula in northern Michigan, and also found in Canada, Australia, China, Namibia, Bolivia, and Russia. Copper is mined or extracted as copper sulfide in an open pit mine. Taken in large equipment to be cleaned in steam and melted dried and cooled in molds to solidify and then sent off to be used as copper products. (Understanding Minerals and Mining through Education). Malachite, (Cu2(CO3)(OH)2, is a carbonate (minor ore of copper) with a monoclinic crystal system that can be found in Democratic Republic of Congo, Australia, France, Russia, and Arizona. It is found in different shades of green color with green streak and vitreous to adamantine in luster. Larger specimens are found to be dull and earthy and smaller specimens are silky. The hardness mineral moh’s level is 3.5 to 4. Malachite is mined by digging for veins in either open pit or underground mining. Malachite is a minor ore of copper and can be reduced and refined for the use of copper but malachite is a beautiful gem that is used as a decorative stone. The stone is cut and polished and used as a semi-precious gem
The copper (II) carbonate (CuCO3) was in a powder form and turned black when heated directly over the flame. When it was mixed with cold water it dissolved in the liquid creating a milky green liquid. When that same liquid was heated to a boil, the CuCO3 separated back away from the water back into a powder form.
The purpose of performing the variety of tests that we did was to give more accurate results of what the unknown mineral was. By roasting the copper mineral, we obtained copper(II) oxide. This new sample came out of the crucible grayish-black. It was very brittle and full of cracks. This provided the percent composition that was necessary in finding the unknown mineral. When performing
To extract copper from the ores, which is a group of minerals, from which a valuable material can be pulled out for economic benefits, workers in the Chuquicamata mine mainly use two metallurgy processes: Smelting and Electrolysis. First and foremost, the ores are heated with carbon as the matter of fact that copper is a reactive element. For the smelting process, smelters use blast furnaces in the mine. Copper matte, which is a mixture of copper, iron and sulfur that is enriched in copper, is the product of this process. Subsequently, the impure copper is purified by electrolysis in which the cathode is pure copper, the anode is impure copper, and the electrolyte is a copper sulfate solution. To be more specific, pure copper, which is purified
This widespread mineral can be found in human bones, comets, and all over the Earth in sedimentary, igneous, metamorphic, and hydrothermal rocks. It is the most abundant source of phosphorus and is involved in numerous industrial and scientific advancements.
The experiment was performed to show the many chemical reactions and states of copper, a very common yet important element that can is found in many useful compounds throughout the world. Copper was combined with many different compounds and elements to cause chemical changes in the state of copper. These reactions were conducted to display the several different states of copper throughout the cycle, ultimately restoring the copper after the metal seemingly disappeared.
The fourth rock I chose is Psilomelane. Psilomelane’s chemical formula is (Ba1H2O) 2Mn5O10. Psilomelane is an important ore of manganese which
This copper was then worked cold. Until the development of smelters which could get the copper to a truly molten state.
Copper deposits usually found along with other elements such as lead, silver, gold and zinc in Earth’s crust. Porphyry copper deposit is a large body of rock which a large amount of copper can be found. This deposit began when a large amount of molten rock slowly cooled and crystallizing inside the Erath’s crust. A large crystals was developed during the cooling process, along with the smaller size forming around them. This smaller rocks are porphyries. Initially, the molten rock contained small amount of copper, as the molten rocks cools and other minerals solidify, the copper in the fluids increase in concentration. As the process of crystallization made the rock shrink and formed cracks, the fluid containing copper run along those cracks
Most jewelry I make from the royal family comes from minerals including gemstones like Lapis Lazuli,Turquoise,and Amethyst.
The sample received was in a chunky form and was crushed to powder to be used in this study. However, further purification was not performed. It contained 95~100 % montmorillonite and 1~2 % quartz with a chemical composition of 60.4 % SiO2, 17.6 % Al2O3, 0.24 % TiO2, 1.42 % Fe2O3, 0.10 % FeO, 0.08 % MnO, 6.46 % MgO, 2.82 % CaO, 0.06 % Na2O, 0.19 % K2O, 0.02 % P2O5, and 0.29 % F in weight. Its reported CEC and SSA values were 1.2 meq/g and 97 m2/g, respectively, with Ca as the major exchangeable cation (Clay mineral
Conflict Mineral is the denomination for the mineral that came from conflict zones. Eastern Congo is one of the principal origins of conflict mineral. The humanitarian crisis in Eastern Congo is caused by arms groups that control the production of different minerals. The most important of them are Gold ore, and the 3 T’s ( Cassiterite for Tin, Wolframite for Tungsten, Coltan for Tantalite).These minerals
The necessity of minerals is important to consider. The minerals found can be used all the time. They are used to create advanced electronics, such as more efficient phones, tablets and computers. Hospitals also benefit from these minerals. They advance medical tools and techniques. Copper is also used in hospitals reducing the spread of infection.
The malachite basic copper carbonate formed as CuCO3 ⋅ Cu(OH)2 shows bright green, whereas that of azurite formed as 2CuCO3 ⋅ Cu(OH)2 shows strong blue. In this study, most of the manufactured copper carbonate was converted to malachite basic copper carbonate of bright green at the reaction mole ratio of >1.20. In the case of low reaction ratio of sodium carbonate, m, the stoichiometric coefficients of CuCO3, is higher than n, the stoichiometric coefficient of Cu(OH)2, so that the amount of CuCO3 is generated is more than that of Cu(OH)2. With increasing reaction mole ratio of sodium carbonate, m is lower than n so that the generation rate of CuCO_3 is lower than that of Cu〖(OH)〗_2. Therefore, copper content increased with increasing sodium carbonate. With assumption of same value of m and n, theoretical copper content becomes 57.5
Iron disulfide (FeS2) is the chemical formula for the mineral pyrite. This mineral has long been described and prevalent in modern and ancient history. Pyrite’s name originates from the Greek for fire, which is “pyr”. The Roman author Pliny the Elder described a stone which is thought to be pyrite. He described a stone used for grindstone, which would readily fire sparks or sulfur. He also commented on the heft, its resemblance to brass or copper, and its porosity. A Greek physician called pyrite an ore of copper, due to the brassy look, but also commented on the sparks the mineral gave. Many of the early descriptions of pyrite included similar easily confused minerals such as chalcopyrite, marcasite, and pyrrhotite. (Dana, 1982)