Chemistry Task sheet
Metal from their Ores
What is an ore?
An ore is a rock that has minerals and essential elements such as metals. It occurs naturally and is obtained through mining. Valuable elements are then extracted from it through different methods. In simpler words, it is a naturally occurring solid material from which a metal or valuable mineral can be extracted profitably.
Iron
How iron is naturally found in environment?
Iron is very reactive and is found in nature in form of its oxides, carbonates and sulphates.
Iron, by mass is the most common element on Earth, forming much and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust.
How is iron formed in the earth’s crust?
Iron's very common presence in rocky planets like Earth is due to its abundant production as a result of fusion in high-mass stars.
Iron ore
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, deep purple, to rusty red. The iron itself is usually found in the form of magnetite (Fe3O4), hematite (Fe2O3), goethite (FeO (OH)), limonite (FeO (OH).n (H2O)), siderite (FeCO3) and iron pyrites (FeS2). The main iron ore is Haematite. The iron ore contains impurities, mainly silica (silicon dioxide). Since iron is below carbon in the reactivity series, so it can push out or displace the iron from iron oxide.
Ores carrying very high quantities of hematite or magnetite (greater than ~60% iron) are known as "natural ore" or "direct shipping ore", meaning they can be fed directly into iron by putting them into blast furnaces. Most reserves of such ore have now be...
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...and community development projects are important.
Mining can negatively affect people by:
• forcing them from their homes and land
• preventing them from accessing clean land and water
• impacting on their health
• changing the social dynamics of a community
Restoring the balance
Scientists and environmental groups have become increasingly concerned in recent decades about the damage caused by mining projects. Their continuous campaigning has led to the introduction of new government legislation for mining and mineral exploration. They have also worked with mining companies and government departments to create ecologically viable solutions for the use of the land. These include the provision of sufficient funding for mine site rehabilitation, limits on the types of chemicals that can be used and tougher laws for the disposal of mining waste products.
Aluminum is the most abundant metallic constituent in the crust of the earth; only the nonmetals oxygen and silicon are more abundant. Aluminum is never found as a free metal; commonly as aluminum silicate or as a silicate of aluminum mixed with other metals such as sodium, potassium, iron, calcium, and magnesium. These silicates are not useful ores, for it is chemically difficult, and therefore an expensive process, to extract aluminum from them. bauxite an impure h...
Elements are the basic building blocks of matter due to the fact that they are chemically the simplest substances. Whether we can find them in the air or in our gold/silver necklaces, elements are everywhere! One essential element is hydrogen, the first element on the period table (located under Group 1 as an alkaline metal) is composed of a single proton and electron; therefore having an atomic number and atomic mass of 1 and electron configuration of 1s1. In fact, hydrogen is the lightest, simplest and most commonly found chemical element in the universe (it makes up about 90% of the universe by weight). Interestingly enough, the heavier elements on the periodic table were either made from hydrogen or other elements that were made from hydrogen. The most common isotope formed of hydrogen is protium, with 1 proton and no neutrons. Hydrogen can also exist as both positively or negatively charged. The physical form of hydrogen at room temperature is a colorless and odorless gas. Hydrogen gas is extremely flammable and because of this chemical property, it is used as fuel for the main engine of space shuttles. Hydrogen is an important element and has received a lot of recognition throughout history for its usefulness.
The interior structure of Earth is chemically divided into an outer solid crust, the mantle, a liquid outer core, and a solid inner core. The core is largely composed of iron, along with nickel and silicon. Other lighter elements are usually in the crust.
Iron is called a trace mineral, but its effects are mighty. We need it to produce hemoglobin, the oxygen carrier in red blood cells that brings oxygen to the rest of the body. Iron is also needed to produce myoglobin, the oxygen reservoir in the muscle cells.
The Gogebic Range could potentially become the largest open-pit iron-ore mine in the world. In the United States taconite was starting to be thought of as a waste rock. But, as the supply of taconite was slowly decreasing, the mining industry suddenly began viewing taconite as a significant and valuable resource. A lot of people don’t exactly know what taconite is or what it’s used for. Taconite is a low-grade magnetic iron ore that is used to make steel (Iron Mining in the Lake Superior Basin.). Geologists say about 20% of the nation’s remaining iron is all buried in the Gogebic Range (Ron.). There will be a lot of “phases” or steps just to mine all of the taconite located in the Northland. Phase one of the site will be a functional mine of a 4 to 4.5 mile long open pit that will be around .3 to 1.5 miles wide. The mine will trail along the linear alignment of the iron formation. The first phase of this mining project will last around 35 years (Wagner). There are also many steps used in taconite mining;
The earth is made up of roughly 111 elements and combinations thereof, but only around 90 of the elements occur naturally. In 1789 Martin Klaproth discovered a new element and decided to name it after the newly discovered planet Uranus (Zoellner, 2009). This element called uranium is lithophilic and is the last natural element on the periodic table. It is the 92nd elements, containing 92 protons and an atomic mass of 238.0 grams (Cox, 1995). Uranium comes from the ores of uranite, canotite, and is present in only low concentrations of igneous rocks, such as granite. Uranium can also be seen in some glazes of pottery, as well as in the metals of armor-piercing weapons. This element also contains an extremely long half-life of over four billion years. This means that a majority of the uranium on earth today, is the exact same uranium that was present in the makings of the Earth (Cox, 1995; Thomson, 1963).
the iron ore to iron. In the other cases of metals the most common way
Pure iron has a hardness that ranges from 4 to 5. It is soft and ductile. Iron can be easily magnetized at ordinary temperatures and at 790°C the magnetic property disappears. Pure iron melts at about 1535°C, boils at 2750°C, and has a specific gravity of 7.86. Chemically, iron is an active metal. When exposed to humid air, iron forms a reddish-brown, flaky, decay known as rust.
Feldspar and Olivine are two silicate minerals commonly found on the Earth’s surface, their chemical formulas are KAlSi3O8 – NaAlSi3O8 –CaAl2Si2O8 for feldspars and (Mg, Fe)2SiO4 for olivine. Olivine is a nesosilicate, whereas feldspars are a group of tectosilicates, both minerals are anhydrous, since they contain no water in their chemical structure. Feldspars hold differing quantities of different elements, such as potassium, calcium, and sodium; making them classifiable in terms of composition, for instance, NaAlSi3O8 is Albite, while CaAl2Si2O8 is referred to as Anorthite.
Iron is a mineral that is found the in hemoglobin of the Red Blood Cells. It facilitates in the transport of oxygen all over the body. Without this mineral, oxygen cannot be carried to its full capacity. 1 out of 10 women and small children have iron deficiencies. Lacking iron causes lethargy and a weakened immune system. Children who do not have an adequate intake of iron put themselves at risk for intellectual developmental problems. However, an iron deficient person is not necessarily anemic. 7.8 million women are iron deficient, while only 3.3 million women are anemic (http://www.mayohealth.org/mayo/9704/iron_def.htm). When the deficiency becomes so severe that the circulating Red Blood Count and the minerals Ht, Hg, and Hem drop below normal, anemia occurs (See Figure 1). The hormone androgen causes men and women to have different normal values of the hemogram (http://www.medstudents.com.br/hemat/hemat4.htm). Low ferritin (iron storage molecule) and high TIBC (tota...
It is recognized that in a time when the Internet and technology have taken over; mining still employees and provides livelihood to a vase number of people. However, the process of mining affects our health and our environment. According to Wikipedia, “The environmental impact of mining include erosion , formation of sinkholes, loss of biodiversity, and contamination of soil, groundwater and surface water by chemicals from mining proces...
Previous page, Chalcopyrite ore (sulfide ore) that is made up of copper iron and sulfur (CuFeS2). Source:
Earth's crust is phosphorus), it is an essential nutrient for all life forms on our planet.
In chemistry, metals compose a great number of the periodic table elements. Each metal has its own characteristic mass,
In our days, mining for resources is inevitable. The resources we need are valuable in everyday life. Such resources mined up are coal, copper, gold, silver, and sand. However, mining poses environmental risks that can degrade the quality of soil and water, which can end up effecting us humans if not taken care of and many of the damages are irreversible once they have occurred.