1. ORE MINERALS
Describe how ore minerals are found, mined,
and processed for human use.

2. Rock Seam or Ore 2
▪ It is a natural rock or sediment
containing one or more valuable
mineral.
▪ It is a metalliferous mineral, or
an aggregate of metalliferous
minerals and gangue (associated
rock of no economic value), that can
be mined at a profit.
Chrysotile Asbestos Mineral Seam in Rock

3. Mineral Ores 3
▪ These are rock deposits that contain minerals.

4. Mineral Ores 4
▪ These are rock deposits that contain minerals.

5. Mineral and Ore Deposit 5
▪ Mineral deposit designates a natural
occurrence of a useful mineral. It is
a “geologic term”.
▪ Ore deposit denotes a mineral
deposit of sufficient extent and
concentration to invite exploitation.
It is an “economic term”.
Map of Mineral Deposits in the Philippines

6. 6
Typical development
workings of an
underground mine.
Encyclopædia
Britannica, Inc.

7. 7
How Minerals
are Found?
“Mineral Exploration”

8. Mineral Exploration 8
▪ It is a complete sequence
of activities which aims to
discover deposits of
minerals and rocks that
can be used to meet the
resource needs of society

9. 1) Project Design 9
▪ This is the initial stage in formulating a project.
▪ This involves review of all
available data (geologic reports,
mining history, maps, etc.),
government requirements in
acquiring the project, review of
social, environmental, political,
and economic acceptability of
the project, and budget and
organization proposals. alaskajournal.com

10. 2) Field Exploration 10
▪ This stage involves physical activities in the selected project
area. This can be subdivided into three (3) phases:
A. Regional Reconnaissance - The main objective is to identify targets or
interesting mineralized zones covering a relatively large area (regional).
B. Detailed Exploration - This involves more detailed surface and subsurface
activities with the objective of finding and delineating targets or mineralized zones.
C. Prospect Evaluation - The main objective is to assess market profitability by
(1) extensive resource, geotechnical and engineering drilling (2) metallurgical testing and
(3) environmental and societal cost assessment.

11. 2) Field Exploration 11
Regional Reconnaissance Detailed Exploration Prospect Evaluation
▪ This stage involves physical activities in the selected project
area. This can be subdivided into three (3) phases:

12. 3) Pre-production Feasibility Study 12
▪ The feasibility study determines and
validates the accuracy of all data and
information collected from the different
stages.
▪ The purpose is for independent assessors
to satisfy interested investors to raise
funds and bring the project into
production.

13. 13
How Minerals
are Mined?
“Different Types of Mining”

14. History of Mining 14
▪ Flint – the first mineral used.
It is because of its conchoidal
fracturing pattern, could be broken
into sharp-edged pieces that were
useful as scrapers, knives, and
arrowheads.
Archaeological discoveries indicate that mining
was conducted in prehistoric times.

15. Mining 15
▪ It is the process of mineral extraction from a
rock seam or ore.
▪ It is the process of
extracting useful
minerals from the
surface of the Earth,
including the seas.

16. Types of Mining 16
Two (2) Main Methods of Mining
1) Surface Mining
2) Underground Mining
a) Open-Pit Mining
b) Dredging
c) Strip Mining
d) Quarrying
e) Placer Mining

17. 17

18. 18Types of Mining
1) Surface Mining - Utilized to extract ore minerals that are close to Earth’s
surface. There are different types which includes:
▪ Open-pit mining – It is
the most common. It means a
big hole (or pit) in the ground.
The pit in mine is created by
blasting with explosives and
drilling. It is used to mine gravel
and sand and even rock.

19. 19Types of Mining
1) Surface Mining
▪ Dredging – It is the process
of mining materials from the
bottom of a body of water,
including rivers, lakes, and
oceans.

20. 20Types of Mining
1) Surface Mining
▪ Strip mining – It involves the
removal of a thin strip of overburden
(earth or soil) above a desired deposit,
dumping the removed overburden
behind the deposit, extracting the
desired deposit, creating a second,
parallel strip in the same manner, and
depositing the waste materials from that
second (new) strip onto the first strip.
This mining method is used for coal,
phosphates, clays, and tar mining.

21. 21Types of Mining
▪ Placer Mining –
It is mining of stream
bed (alluvial) deposits
for minerals. This may
be done by open-pit
or by various surface
excavating tunneling
equipment.
1) Surface Mining

22. Types of Mining 22
2) Underground Mining - Utilized to extract ore
minerals from the orebody is that is deep under the Earth’s
surface.

23. 23
How Minerals are
processed for
human use?
“Milling or Mineral Processing”

24. 24

25. Milling or Mineral Processing 25
▪ It is the process of extracting minerals from
the ore, refining them, and preparing these
minerals for use.
▪ It is an art of treating crude ores and mineral
products in order to separate the valuable
minerals from the waste rock, or gangue.

26. Milling or Mineral Processing 26
Primary Steps in Processing Minerals
1. Sampling - is the removal of a portion which represents a whole needed for the
analysis of this material.
2. Analysis - is important to evaluate the valuable component in an ore. This includes
chemical, mineral and particle size analysis.
3. Comminution - is the process where the valuable components of the ore are
separated through crushing and grinding.
4. Concentration - involves the separation of the valuable minerals from the raw
materials
5. Dewatering - This involve filtration and sedimentation of the suspension and
drying of the solid materials harvested from this suspension.

27. Milling or Mineral Processing 27
Examples of Milling or Recovery Methods or Processes:
1. Heavy Media Separation - The crushed rocks are submerged in liquid where
the heavier/denser minerals sink thus are separated from the lighter minerals.
2. Magnetic Separation - If the metal or mineral is magnetic, the crushed ore is
separated from the waste materials using a powerful magnet.
3. Flotation - The powdered ore is placed into an agitated and frothy slurry where
some minerals and metals based on physical and chemical properties may either sink to
the bottom or may stick to the bubbles and rise to the top thus separating the minerals
and metals from the waste.
4. Cyanide Heap Leaching - This method used for low-grade gold ore where
the crushed rock is placed on a “leach pile” where cyanide solution is sprayed or dripped
on top of the pile.

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32. Ore Minerals 32
▪ How Ore Minerals are Found?
▪ How Ore Minerals are Mined?
▪ How Ore Minerals are
Processed for human use?

33. REFERENCES 33
▪ Bayo-ang, R., Coronacion, M., Jorda, A., & Restubog, A.
(2016). Earth and Life Science for Senior High School. (M.
Moncada, Ed.) Quezon City, Philippines: Educational
Resources Corporation.
▪ Pascual, C. B., & Cadiz, A. P. (2017). Fundamentals of Earth
& Life Science. Manila, Philippines: Mindshapers Co., Inc.
▪ Slideshare: https://www.slideshare.net/AbbieMahinay/
▪ Various internet sources