What are metallic deposits?

What are metallic deposits?

A metal deposit is a body of rock in which one or more metals have been concentrated to the point of being economically viable for recovery.

How are metal deposits formed?

Deposits of minerals form when a medium that contains and transports mineral-making ore releases and deposits the ore. When magma or lava cools, the magma and ore carried within it crystallize to form tiny minerals in the newly-created igneous rock.

What are the common metallic minerals?

Metallic Minerals

• Iron and steel minerals: Magnetite, hematite, goethite, limonite, siderite.
• Aluminum minerals: gibbsite, boehmite, diaspore.
• Copper minerals: native copper, chalcopyrite, chalcocite.
• Zinc minerals: sphalerite.
• Chromium minerals: chromite.
• Tungsten minerals: wolframite, scheelite.

How are mineral deposits related to plate tectonics?

The relationship of plate tectonics and mineral deposits is significant on three counts: Geological processes operating due to energy released at plate boundaries control the process of mineral deposition. Mineral deposits form in particular tectonic settings which are governed by plate tectonics.

What is the meaning of mineral deposits?

Mineral deposits are naturally occurring accumulations or concentrations of metals or minerals of sufficient size and concentration that might, under favourable circumstances, have economic value. Mineral resources are naturally occurring concentrations of minerals that are potentially economic to extract.

What is metallic ore?

These are purely conventional expressions, used to describe those metalliferous minerals or bodies of mineral having economic value, from which useful metals can be advantageously extracted. …

What is metallic resource?

Metallic resources are things like Gold, Silver, Tin, Copper, Lead, Zinc, Iron, Nickel, Chromium, and Aluminum. A mineral resource is a volume of rock enriched in one or more useful materials.

Why would you expect to rich mineral resources on land associated with divergent plate boundaries?

1. Why would you expect to find rich mineral resources on land associated with divergent plate boundaries? Divergent boundaries are not associated with volcanic activity and rarely form minerals. Divergent boundaries move apart and then closer together to squeeze minerals out of rocks.

How are metallic ores formed in intrusive rocks?

The development of metallic ores in intrusive rocks, such as porphyry copper deposits, is related to the partial melting and rising of crustal material along subduction zones. Metal in these systems may also be contributed from sea‐floor deposits that were subducted and became part of the new magma.

What type of plate tectonic plate boundary causes metallic ore deposits?

Most metallic ore deposits are a result of plate tectonic activity. High heat flows and convection currents at divergent plate boundaries, such as midoceanic ridges, create submarine hot springs called black smokers that deposit solid masses of metallic minerals.

What is a disseminated deposit of copper?

Disseminated deposits are those in which the metal is evenly distributed in generally low concentrations throughout large masses of rock. An important type of disseminated deposit is the porphyry copper deposit, in which copper and molybdenum are found in porphyritic intrusive rocks.

How do weathering and erosion affect the formation of mineral deposits?

The weathering, erosion, downstream transport, and deposition result in concentrations of the minerals that can be profitably mined. Lateritic weathering results in residual deposits that became enriched through the chemical breakdown and removal of most of the elements of the rock.