Ore

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

An ore is a volume of rock containing components or minerals in a mode of occurrence

that renders it valuable for mining. An ore must contain materials that are

• valuable
• in concentrations that can be profitably mined, transported, milled, and processed.
• able to be extracted from waste rock by mineral processing techniques.

Ore deposits are mineral deposits defined as being economically recoverable. Mineral
deposits may include those bodies of mineralisation which are uneconomic resources, of
too low a grade or tonnage or technically impossible for extraction of the contained
metal.

What is valuable to mine is generally considered in terms of purely economic

considerations. However, cultural, strategic or social goals of nations, tribes, and
individuals may render economically unfeasible bodies of rock valuable for extraction,
for instance ochre, some clays, and ornamental stones that are of religious, cultural or
sentimental value to a population. Here, value is placed on the rock in non-economic
terms.

Rare samples of ore in the form of exceptionally beautiful crystals, exotic layering (when
sectioned or polished) or metallic presentations such as large nuggets or crystalline
formations of metals such as gold or copper may command a value far beyond their value
as mere ore or raw metal for subsequent reduction to utilitarian purposes.

Ore is thus an economic entity, not a physical entity. Fluctuations in commodity prices
will determine what rock is considered valuable and hence ore, and what rock is not
valuable and is considered waste. Similarly, the costs of extraction may fluctuate, for
example with fuel costs, rendering mining unprofitable and turning ore into waste.

The grade or contained concentration of an ore mineral, or metal, as well as its form of
occurrence, will directly affect the costs associated with mining the ore. The cost of
extraction must thus be weighted against the contained metal value of the rock and a 'cut-
off grade' used to define what is ore and what is waste.

Ore minerals are generally oxides, sulfides, silicates, or "native" metals (such as copper)
that are not commonly concentrated in the Earth's crust or "noble" metals (not usually
forming compounds) such as gold. The ores must be processed to extract the metals of
interest from the waste rock and from the ore minerals.

Ore bodies are formed by a variety of geological processes. The process of ore formation
is called ore genesis.
Important ore minerals
• Argentite: Ag2S for production of silver
• Barite: BaSO4
• Bauxite Al2O3 for production of aluminum
• Beryl: Be3Al2(SiO3)6
• Bornite: Cu5FeS4
• Cassiterite: SnO2
• Chalcocite: Cu2S for production of copper
• Chalcopyrite: CuFeS2
• Chromite: (Fe, Mg)Cr2O4 for production of chromium
• Cinnabar: HgS for production of mercury
• Cobaltite: (Co, Fe)AsS
• Columbite-Tantalite or Coltan: (Fe, Mn)(Nb, Ta)2O6
• Galena: PbS
• Gold: Au, typically associated with quartz or as placer deposits
• Hematite: Fe2O3
• Ilmenite: FeTiO3
• Magnetite: Fe3O4
• Molybdenite: MoS2
• Pentlandite:(Fe, Ni)9S8
• Pyrolusite:MnO2
• Scheelite: CaWO4
• Sphalerite: ZnS
• Uraninite (pitchblende): UO2 for production of metallic uranium
• Wolframite: (Fe, Mn)WO4