Question

How minerals are extracted

Answer 1

minerals, which are inorganic compounds, such as ores (like copper) and precious stones (like diamonds). The word mining sounds a lot like mineral, and that's no accident because mining is how minerals are removed from the ground. There are several different ways minerals can be extracted from the earth, but the two main methods are called surface mining and subsurface mining. Extracting Surface Minerals Surface mining is just what it sounds like - removing minerals that are near the earth's surface because this is where the ore deposits are located. When the ore deposits are very large, open-pit mining is utilized. A large, open pit is created as machines scrape off any earth that is not ore and set it to the side. This material is called overburden, and as the overburden is scraped off, it's piled into spoil banks. After the overburden is cleared from the ore, explosives are used to break up the ore material that is being removed from the ground, which is then taken away to be refined. The size of the ore bed increases as mining continues, and eventually, the pit becomes a very large bowl-shaped hole in the earth's surface. When the ore is found in a wide area but it's not very deep in the ground, strip mining is used. In strip mining, instead of creating one large pit in the ground, long narrow strips are dug out. The overburden is removed and piled up along the strip. Once the ore is removed, the overburden is dumped back into the strip. While this may sound like a good method because the holes are re-filled instead of left open, the land actually looks more like a washboard after strip mining because of all of the re-piled soil. Extracting Minerals Deep Underground Some minerals are found very deep below Earth's surface - sometimes hundreds or thousands of feet deep! To remove these minerals from the ground, subsurface mining is used. In subsurface mining, a long tunnel is created either horizontally or vertically. The tunnel walls are reinforced with wood and ventilation shafts are created to provide air to the miners underground. The minerals themselves are removed a number of different ways. One way is to blast apart the material and then send the ore pieces up to the surface in carts. Another method is longwall mining, which is when coal is sheared from the wall and collected on a conveyor belt, much like a potato peeler shears away layers of a potato. This is a very efficient way of extracting coal from an underground mine. Another method is solution mining, which is when hot water is injected into the ore to dissolve it. Once the ore is dissolved, air is pumped into it, and it's bubbled up to the surface.

Answer 2

Answer:

Minerals are extracted by mining, drilling and quarrying. The extraction of minerals should not be done at the cost of environment and forest.