Minerals

Why Study Minerals? Minerals are the building blocks of our planet! Minerals make up most of the rocks and sediments comprising the Earth and its landscapes!

Industrial minerals serve as the raw materials for manufacturing chemicals, concrete, and wallboard! Ore minerals are the source of valuable metals like copper and gold and provide energy resources like uranium!

A mineral is a naturally occurring solid, formed by geologic processes, that has a crystalline structure and a definable chemical composition. ALMOST all inorganic Definable chemical composition: it is possible to write a chemical formula for a mineral Inorganic: there are only about 30 organic substances – ex: except for crystals that grow in ancient deposits of bat guano

Glass Mineral

MINERAL OR NOT?!?! Motor Oil NOT! – organic liquid Table Salt YES! Solid crystalline compound Oyster Shell YES! Biogenic mineral (calcite) Rock Candy NO! sugar (organic)

Mineral Identification: Physical Properties 1. Colour – how the mineral interacts with light 2. Streak – the colour of a powder produced by scraping the mineral against a plate

3. Luster – metallic, silky, glassy, satiny, pearly, earthly, etc 4. Crystal habit – the shape of a single crystal

5. Hardness – a measure of the relative ability of a mineral to resist scratching Mohs hardness scale – developed in the 1800s lists some minerals in sequence of relative hardness

6. Special Properties – reaction with acids (HCl), magnetic, salty taste, etc. 7. Fracture and Cleavage – the tendency of a mineral to break along preferred planes

The 4,000 known minerals can be organized into a relatively small number of classes based on chemical makeup. Most minerals are silicates, which contain SiO4

Saskatchewan Mineral Deposits Uranium Deposits: - formed by compaction and/or cementation - Also can occur through metaphorism - Formed in sedimentary rocks

Gold Deposits: - formed by high temperature and/or pressure

Sand/Gravel Deposits: - formed by sedimentation - formed by weathering/erosion

Clay: - formed by sedimentation

Diamonds: - formed in igneous rocks/magma

Copper-Zinc: - formed in igneous rocks/magma - formed by crystallization

Graphite: - Formed through metaphorism

Coal: - Formed in sedimentary rocks

Potash: - Formed in sedimentary rocks - formed by crystallization