Year 9

Geology Topic

Native Elements, Minerals

Rocks & Ores
 Native Elements
Only a few minerals occur as pure
elements in the earths crust.

Gold Graphite Silver Sulfur Diamond Copper Platinum

Au C Ag S C Cu Pt
Most are found as chemical
compounds called minerals

Beryl
Be Al Silicate

Quartz SiO2 Calcite CaCO3

 Rocks are mixtures of minerals and
elements.

Lapis lazuli Unakite

Lazulite Boulder Opal quartz,feldspar
Calcite opal in cracks epidote
Pyrites of boulder
CHEMISTRY GEOLOGY
An element contains A Native Element
only one type of atom contains only one
type of atom and is
A compound found naturally on
contains two or more earth in its pure form.
elements chemically
combined A mineral contains
two or more elements
A mixture contains chemically combined
elements and or
compounds that are A rock contains a
not chemically mixture of elements
combined and compounds
 ORES are rocks containing
valuable minerals

Hematite Malachite Galena

Iron Ore Copper Lead

Gold in
Quartz
 ORES
Gold in W.A. is mined
from tellurides, chlorites,
quartz veins and in Copper is found in cuprite,
copper ores at Telfer malachite and azurite
Gold nuggets are native Native copper is rare
elements.

Diamond in W.A. is mined

Iron ores consist of haemetite, from volcanic plugs called
magnetite, pyrite and limonite Kimberlite pipes.

Crystalline
Haemetite is
used to make
jewellery
ORES
 Only a few minerals are rock forming and most rock is made
from a combination of the commonest of these such as
feldspars, quartz, mica, olivine, calcite, pyroxene and
amphiboles
Physical Properties of
Minerals COLOUR
HARDNESS
CLEAVAGE
SPECIFIC
GRAVITY
STREAK
CRYSTAL FACES
 Colour......................
Minerals tend to
occur in a range
of colours, and
Most minerals are
coloured by a limited
colour patterns number of metals
which help to present as impurities.
identify them
The most common
elements affecting
colour are:
chromium, iron,
manganese, titanium
It is chromium which produces and copper.
the intense red of ruby and the
brilliant green of emerald.
Quartz displays a profusion of colours, patterns
and optical effects unsurpassed by any other gem
colourless is rock crystal

purple quartz is amethyst

yellow is citrine

brown is smoky quartz

pink is rose quartz.

black is morion
 Hardness................... -
Hardness depends upon the
forces holding the atoms of the
mineral together.
In 1812, a scientist, F. Moh
devised a scale of hardness into
which all minerals can be placed.
He selected ten minerals and
arranged them in order so that
any one mineral could be used to
scratch only minerals which are
less.
Diamond is the- hardest natural
material, 140 times harder than
corundum.
 Distinct
cleavage
planes
Cleavage................ can be
illustrated
in this box
mica
specimen

The manner in which a mineral splits is an aid to

identification.
These planes are related to the lattice work of the
mineral's atomic structure.
 Streak
When minerals are scratched, the powder
that is made by the scratch is called the
streak.
Sometimes the colour of the streak can be
used to identify the mineral.
Eg. Haemetite a black mineral has a red
streak. No other black mineral has a red
streak.
 Specific Gravity...................

It was Archimedes who first worked out the

principal of specific gravity or relative density.
Specific gravity is defined as the ratio of the
weight of a substance compared to that of an
equal volume of water.
For example, a piece of galena (lead ore), with a
specific gravity of 7.4 will feel much heavier than
a piece of quartz of a similar size but with
specific gravity of 2.65, reflecting the way the
atoms are packed together.
 Crystals
Crystals are minerals or
elements that have been
cooled slowly enough for
crystals to have formed.
Such conditions occur
most often in pegmatites
or pipes.
Crystals can be classified
by their shapes into seven
groups.
Next slides are advanced or
extension only .
 Optical effects.
In diamond the 'fire' and The brilliant colours
sparkle is caused by displayed by opal are
dispersion as the gemstone caused by the light being
acts like a prism. scattered as it passes
through planes of regularly
spaced voids between the
transparent silica spheres.
 Double Refraction .
Double refraction can be seen in a piece of
Calcite.
Light separates into two rays which makes
images seen through the crystal appear to
be doubled.
 Refraction....................
This is a measure of the mineral's ability to
bend a beam of light. This ability is called
refractive index.
Some
gemstones
can be
identified by Ruby coloured by chromium
the spectral
colours they
produce.
Almandine garnet coloured by iron

-Measuring refraction using an optical instrument called a Refractometer.

 What makes a mineral a
Gemstone?
There are over two hundred
recognised gemstones. Most
are minerals and are cut from
naturally occurring crystals.
To qualify as a gem, the
specimen should be hard and
tough to resist scratching and
have beautiful clarity, colour or
'fire'. Value is based on rarity
and rare quality.