Construction minerals. Methods of mining

Organic and mineral formations of the earth's crust are minerals. In most cases, the chemical composition, as well as physical properties, allow them to be used in production. It should be noted that the accumulation of minerals can have different forms: vein, runoff, stratum, etc.

A significant concentration of materials in one place is called a deposit (pool). Let's take a closer look at what is the construction of minerals, how they are mined and where, in fact, they are used.

General information and concepts

Construction minerals (or non-metallic, non-metallic) are used in industry. Interestingly, they can be used both in their natural form and as raw material. These are minerals and rocks, which we will talk about a little later.

From the list of nonmetallic minerals, it is necessary to exclude underground waters, oil, gas, coal and other combustible materials. At the same time, sand, gravel, gravel, etc. Can be classified as non-metallic. Statistics show that over the past 7-10 years, fossils used in construction have outstripped ore minerals in terms of production volumes.

The non-metallic group differs from the metallic one in that the composition of the product can vary greatly depending on the deposit and other parameters. Therefore, before extraction, it is always necessary to evaluate the feasibility of using a particular material in a particular field.

Rock

The substance of this origin may be in a solid, soft or loose state, depending on the material. In fact, rocks are loose or dense materials, from which the earth's crust is formed . They can consist of homogeneous or several types of minerals, fragments of other rocks, and the like. The composition of the fossil depends on the processes occurring in the earth's crust. If you give the most striking examples of rocks used in construction, it is sand, clay, granite, basalt, salt, coal and other. It is difficult to say which of the three groups of rocks is used most often in industry. If we consider sedimentary rocks, then it is sand and limestone. Metamorphic rocks are rich in shale and clay.

More about minerals

The mineral is a homogeneous body, usually solid. In fact, this component can be considered the main constituent of rocks. Of course, it is worthwhile to understand that there are a lot of minerals today. For example, a quartz group consists of many elements: amethyst, crystal, citrine, and the like. It is noteworthy that water does not belong to minerals. This is due to the fact that it is classified as the liquid state of a mineral called ice.

We all know that construction minerals must meet a number of requirements, the main ones are: hardness, ductility, brittleness, etc. In most cases, they have optical properties. Such, for example, as shine and color, are neglected, but only if they do not have a significant effect on the crystalline structure of the fossil. And now consider where the most commonly used rocks.

Application

Nonmetallic fossils can be used anywhere. If we talk about the farm, they often play the role of building materials. For this, granite, marble, and limestone are best suited. Various mineral fertilizers such as phosphorite, apatite and potassium salts are used as raw materials .

For non-metallic minerals, nonmetallic minerals are also of great importance, since sulfur, apatite, etc. are used there. Rock is widely used in metallurgy. As fluxes, limestone and quartzite are attracted, and for the construction of refractory structures, dolomite, magnesite, and also refractory clay can be used. It is remarkable that a variety of properties allows using the same component in various industries. For example, graphite has found its application in metallurgy, electrical engineering, nuclear power engineering and chemical industry.

Methods of mining

Humanity for many hundreds of years invented more and more new methods of mining. During this time, several ways were formed:

• open;
• closed;
• combined.

But in this way it is possible to extract only solid minerals. According to statistics, approximately 90% of brown coal and 70% of ores are produced by an open method. At the same time, liquid and gaseous minerals are extracted by a completely different method. For this, wells are drilled, through which gas, oil, etc. are pumped out to special stores.

The methods of extracting minerals used in construction are limited to quarries. In fact, this is a fully mechanized work, which involves the use of bulldozers and other heavy equipment. In any case, before mining first determine the depth of occurrence, as well as the conditions and only then determined with the method. For example, it is not advisable to start production in some quarries simply because the transportation costs are too high.

Classification of non-metallic materials

The heterogeneity of non-metallic minerals leads to the fact that it is extremely difficult to classify them. As noted above, one component can be used anywhere. Nevertheless, the above fossils are divided into two main groups:

• On the field of use: mining, chemical raw materials and mining and metallurgical raw materials, building materials, as well as crystals (technical);
• By geological origin: rocks (refer to the most common form of nonmetallic minerals, have a relatively simple structure).

In addition, there are minerals - more rare fossils with small deposits. They have a high cost.

We will not list all the names of mineral resources. The reason is that there are a lot of them. Therefore, we divided the minerals used in construction and not only in terms of application and origin.

A few important points

We examined all the existing classes of minerals. As you can see, this is a very large group. It is worth paying attention to the fact that practically on all the globe there are minerals. Differences can only consist in their composition, depth of occurrence, and also in chemical properties. The world constantly develops minerals, opens new quarries, builds wells and mines.

Conclusion

We have become acquainted with what is the construction of useful minerals. Of course, they can hardly be called that way, because they find their application in other spheres of industry. Nevertheless, it is hardly possible to imagine modern construction without world production of nonmetallic minerals. Take at least such an astringent element as sand. No house can be built without it. But it is worthwhile to understand that the minerals of the earth form for a long time under low and high temperatures, high and low pressure. For this simple reason, it makes sense to use natural resources more rationally.

Now you know the main names of minerals and their classification.