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Because copper could be found as malleable pure copper nuggets, people could shape it with available stone tools – a property that no other common minerals possessed. One of the largest collections of chalcolithic artifacts was discovered in a cave in Israel’s Judean Desert in 1961 (Figure 9.3). During the Chalcolithic Age, humans began using copper (the name chalcolithic is derived from the Greek word khalkos for copper) for both decorative and utilitarian purposes. The late Stone Age, also called the Neolithic Age, was followed by the Chalcolithic Age from 4,500 to 3,500 BCE (Before Common Era). 9.3 Chalcolithic Age artifacts from a cave at Nahal Mishmar, near the Dead Sea, Israel There is a great deal of overlap and different regions moved from one period to another at different times. Archaeologists and anthropologists define major periods of human civilization based on resources used. Early peoples mined other things, such as ochre, for use as pigment in art and religious ceremonies. The first mineral known to be mined was flint, a fine-grained variety of quartz used to make weapons. People have practiced mining and quarrying since ancient times. That is what we will focus on in most of the rest of this chapter. However, when mineralogists think about mining, they are generally thinking of ore minerals that are the sources of important metals, or of minerals that have specific, highly valued properties ( e.g., asbestos, micas, potash, and gems of all sorts). Many different mineral commodities are important to modern society. Limestone, phosphate, potash, salt, nitrate, fluorite Industrial materials: fertilizer and chemicals Sand, clay, building stone, diatomite, talc, mica, zeolites Industrial materials: construction and manufacturing Gold, silver, copper, iron, manganese, aluminum Of the metals, only iron is removed from Earth at rates comparable to these components. We also mine large amounts of salt and fertilizer components. We take energy resources and construction materials from Earth in the greatest quantities. Ore deposits and ore minerals fall into several main commodity groups: metallic and semimetallic elements, nonmetallic elements, gems, construction and manufacturing materials, fertilizer and chemical minerals, and energy resources (table below). Thus, diamonds and many other mineral commodities are used in many different ways. But they are also incorporated into grinding wheels, saw blades, and drill bits used to manufacture products from very hard materials.
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Most commonly they are used as an abrasive or polishing agent. Because of diamond’s great hardness, industrial diamonds have many important uses.
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Most natural diamonds, called industrial diamonds, have little gem quality. When we think of diamonds, we generally think of gems, but gem diamonds are rare. This mine has produced about 10 million carats of rough diamond since it began operations in 2003. The photo in Figure 9.2 shows the Diavik Diamond Mine in remote Canada. We mine diamond and other potential gem minerals for jewelry and also for use in industry. 9.2 The Diavik Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories, Canada We also quarry large quantities of limestone (to make cement) and building stone, and energy companies produce large amounts of coal, oil, gas, uranium and other energy resources. We mine industrial minerals such as halite, gypsum, clays, calcite, asbestos, micas, and zeolites to make salt, plaster, ceramics, construction materials, electronic components, chemical filters, and many other things. We mine some ores because they contain elements that have the metallic properties of conductivity, strength, or shiny appearance. Other elements and minerals that exist only in small amounts and have uneven distributions, are equally vital. Fewer than a dozen minerals and eight or nine elements dominate the crust – we use most of them in our daily lives.
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The best metal ore minerals are those that contain large amounts of metals of value.The best ore deposits are those containing large amounts of ore minerals.Some ores are valued for their mineral properties, some for the elements they contain, and others because they contain valuable gems.9.1 Golden pyrite with silvery hematite from Elba Island, Italy.