Building minerals. Mining methods

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Organic and mineral formations of the earth's crust are minerals. In most cases, the chemical composition, as well as physical properties, allow them to be used in production. It is worth noting that the accumulation of minerals can have a different form: vein, runoff, reservoir, etc.

A significant concentration of materials in one place is called a deposit (basin). Let's take a closer look at what building minerals are, how they are mined and where, in fact, they are used.

General information and concepts

Construction minerals (or non-metallic, non-metallic) are used in industry. Interestingly, they can be used both in their natural form and as raw materials. These are minerals and rocks, which we will talk about a little later.

Ground water, oil, gas, coal and other combustible materials should be excluded from the list of non-metallic minerals. At the same time, sand, crushed stone, gravel, etc. can be classified as non-ferrous. Statistics show that over the past 7-10 years, fossils used in construction haveovertook ore materials in terms of production.

The non-metal group differs from the metal group in that the composition of the product can vary greatly depending on the deposit and other parameters. Therefore, before mining, an assessment of the possibilities of using a particular material in a particular area is always required.

Rock formation

A substance of a given origin may be in a solid, soft or loose state, depending on the material. In fact, rocks are loose or dense materials from which the earth's crust is formed. They may consist of homogeneous or several types of minerals, fragments of other rocks, etc. The composition of a fossil depends on the processes taking place in the earth's crust. If we give the most striking examples of rocks used in construction, then these are sand, clay, granite, bas alt, s alt, coal and more. It is difficult to say which of the three groups of rocks is used most often in industry. If we consider sedimentary rocks, then these are sand and limestone. Metamorphic rocks are rich in shale and clay.

Learn more about minerals

A mineral is a homogeneous body, usually a solid. In fact, this component can be considered the main component of rocks. Of course, it should be understood that today there are a huge amount of minerals. For example, a quartz group consists of many elements: amethyst, crystal, citrine, etc. It is noteworthy that water is not a mineral. This is due to the fact that it is classified asthe liquid state of a mineral called ice.

We all know that building minerals must meet a number of requirements, the main ones are: hardness, ductility, brittleness, etc. In most cases, they have optical properties. Such, for example, as gloss and color, are neglected, but only if they do not significantly affect the crystalline structure of the fossil. Now consider where rocks are most often used.

Application

Non-metallic minerals can be used anywhere. If we talk about the economy, they most often play the role of building materials. Granite, marble, limestone are best suited for this. Various mineral fertilizers such as phosphorite, apatite and potassium s alts are used as raw materials.

For chemical production, non-metallic minerals are also of great importance, since sulfur, apatite, etc. are used there. Rocks are widely used in metallurgy. Limestones and quartzites are attracted as fluxes, and dolomite, magnesite, and refractory clay can be used to create refractory structures. It is noteworthy that the variety of properties allows the use of the same component in various industries. For example, graphite has found its application in metallurgy, electrical engineering, nuclear energy and the chemical industry.

Methods of mining

Mankind has been inventing more and more newmining methods. During this time, several ways have been formed:

• open;
• closed;
• combined.

But only solid minerals can be mined this way. According to statistics, approximately 90% of brown coal and 70% of ores are obtained by open pit mining. At the same time, liquid and gaseous minerals are mined in a completely different way. To do this, wells are drilled through which gas, oil, etc. are pumped into special storage facilities.

Methods of extracting minerals used in construction are limited to quarries. In fact, this is completely mechanized labor, which involves the use of bulldozers and other heavy equipment. In any case, before mining, the depth of occurrence is first determined, as well as the conditions, and only then are determined with the method. For example, it is impractical to start mining in some open pits just because transportation costs are too high.

Classification of non-metallic materials

The heterogeneity of non-metallic natural resources makes it extremely difficult to classify them. As noted above, one component can be used anywhere. However, the above fossils are divided into two main groups:

• by area of use: mining, chemical raw materials and mining and metallurgical raw materials, building materials, as well as crystals (technical);
• by geological origin: rocks (belong to the most common type of non-metallicminerals have a relatively simple structure).

In addition, there are minerals - rarer minerals with small deposits. They have a high cost.

We will not list all the names of minerals. This is due to the fact that there are a huge number of them. Therefore, we have divided the minerals used in construction and not only, according to the field of application and origin.

A few important points

We have reviewed all currently existing classes of minerals. As you can see, this is a very large group. It is worth paying attention to the fact that there are minerals on almost the entire globe. Differences can only be in their composition, depth of occurrence, as well as in chemical properties. The world is constantly developing minerals, opening new quarries, building wells and mines.

Conclusion

We got acquainted with what construction minerals are. Of course, it is hardly possible to call them that way, because they find their application in other industries. Nevertheless, it is hardly possible to imagine modern construction without global mining of non-metallic minerals. Take at least such an astringent element as sand. No house can be built without it. But it should be understood that the minerals of the earth are formed for quite a long time under low and high temperatures, high and low pressure. For this simple reason it hasmeaning to use natural resources more rationally.

Now you know the main names of minerals and their classification.