What determines whether or not a mineral deposit will be mined?

What determines whether or not a mineral deposit will be mined?

Geologists study geological formations and then test the physical and chemical properties of soil and rocks to locate possible ores and determine their size and concentration. A mineral deposit will only be mined if it is profitable. A concentration of minerals is only called an ore deposit if it is profitable to mine.

What makes a mineral deposit?

A mineral deposit is a natural concentration of minerals in the earth’s crust. The degree of concentration is called the “grade” of a mineral deposit. An “ore deposit” is a mineral deposit which has high enough grades of metal that makes it economic to mine. Rock worth mining is called ore.

Where are ore deposits found?

Ore can accumulate through geologic activity, such as when volcanoes bring ore from deep in the planet to the surface. This is called an internal process. Ore can also accumulate when seawater circulates through cracks in Earth’s crust and deposits minerals in the areas around hydrothermal vents.

What factors determine whether a mineral deposit is profitable to mine?

Geologists can search for years before finding an economic mineral deposit. Deposit size, its mineral content, extracting efficiency, processing costs and market value of the processed minerals are all factors that determine if a mineral deposit can be profitably developed.

What makes an ore deposit different from a mineral deposit?

A mineral deposit is a place in Earth’s crust where geologic processes have concentrated one or more minerals at greater abundance than in the average crust. An ore deposit is a mineral deposit that can be produced to make a profit. Thus, all ore deposits are mineral deposits, but the reverse is not true.

What are ore mineral deposits?

Ore deposits are naturally occurring geologic bodies that may be worked for one or more metals. The metals may be present as native elements, or, more commonly, as oxides, sulfides, sulfates, silicates, or other compounds. The term ore is often used loosely to include such nonmetallic minerals as fluorite and gypsum.

Why is the Philippines abundant in mineral and ore deposits?

The Philippines is situated along a well-defined belt of volcanoes called the Circum-Pacific Rim of Fire where the process of volcanism and plate convergence resulted in the formation of abundant and important metallic mineral deposits of gold, copper, iron, chromite, nickel, cobalt and platinum.

Where are the mineral deposits in the Philippines?

Most of the country’s metallic minerals, including gold, iron ore, lead, zinc, chromite, and copper, are drawn from major deposits on the islands of Luzon and Mindanao. Smaller deposits of silver, nickel, mercury, molybdenum, cadmium, and manganese occur in several other locations.

What are the 5 criteria that define a mineral?

A mineral has 5 characteristics, naturally occurring, solid, inorganic, crystalline structure, and the same chemical composition throughout So repeat after me A mineral is Naturally occurring-naturally occurring Inorganic solid-inorganic solid Crystalline structure The same chemical composition throughout.

What is the difference between ore deposit and mineral deposit?

A mineral deposit is a natural concentration of minerals in the earth’s crust. The degree of concentration is called the “grade” of a mineral deposit. An “ore deposit” is a mineral deposit which has high enough grades of metal that makes it economic to mine.

How to calculate the cut off grade of a mineral deposit?

Calculate the Tonnage of the Mineral Deposit 2. Multiply the Tonnage by the Grade 3. Convert Copper to Pounds and Gold to Ounces To find out how I come up with the numbers 2,204.62262 and 34.2857 I recommend you to read the break even analysis page, on which I explained How to Calculate the Cut Off Grade. 4.

How are mineral deposits found?

In the past, mineral deposits were found by geologists mapping the surface of the Earth looking for clues of valuable mineralization. However, because we have been searching for these deposits for hundreds of years, traditional prospecting methods are rarely used, except in some remote locations such as Alaska and Russia.

How is the economic potential of a mineral deposit classified?

One way we classify the economic potential of a mineral deposit is by determining its grade. Grade is the concentration of the metal in a body of rock and is normally expressed as a percent. It can be understood as the amount of metal per unit rock.