ppm

Minerals Natural, inorganic, solid compounds with definite chemical composition and structure Each mineral species = a unique pairing of a composition and a structure Physical properties: color, hardness, crystal shape, cleavage (breaking along flat surfaces), density Resource-important physical properties: hardness, strength, ductility, melting point, density, electrical conductivity, heat conductivity/insulation Chemical properties: reactivity (including solubility), ability to combine with other materials, elemental composition Resource-important chemical properties: weather- and chemical-resistance, which elements retrievable from the mineral, how much energy required to retrieve elements (how difficult to recover those elements), what undesired residues left after element recovery, what chemicals used in the recovery.

“environment”