Task: To Each Its Industry Coming up at the end of this section.

1.1 Categories of Mineral Resources

		Petroleum, gold, asbestos and sand are all mineral resources. But none of these resources belong to the same category. Do you know why?
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1.1.1 Rocks and Minerals

Granite, salt and copper are well-known mineral resources. They are easily recognized in the environment. However, if you take a closer look, you will see that they are all different.

• Granite is a rock.
• Salt is a mineral.
• Copper is a chemical element.

		Granite, salt and copper.
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What do rocks, minerals and chemical elements have in common? Let’s go back to the beginning.

Mineral resources are extracted from the Earth’s crust, which is made of rock.

You can tell at a glance that rocks, such as granite, are composed of different minerals such as quartz and feldspar.

If you were to take a closer look at minerals, you would see that each mineral has a definite chemical composition and a regular arrangement. For example, quartz is made up of silica and oxygen.

In short, rocks are made of minerals which are in turn made of chemical elements.

		Minerals elements.
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It gets more complex: some earth materials are not made of minerals but of plant matter. Some of these materials are good fuels, such as coal. Others, such as peat, are poor fuels.

These distinctions make it possible to clearly differentiate types of mineral resources. So…

1) Metallic chemical elements and minerals composed of valuable metals are called metallic minerals. Copper belongs to this category.

2) Other minerals and materials composed of plant matter which are poor fuels are called industrial minerals. Salt belongs to this category.

3) Rocks formed from minerals and which do not contain any plant matter are called construction materials. Granite belongs to this category.

4) Materials composed solely of plant matter which are good fuels are called fossil fuels. Coal belongs to this category.