How Ore Minerals

are Found,Mined
and Process for
Human use
What is an Ore?
 - Ores are natural rocks or sediments that hold one or more
variable minerals, mostly metals, that can be mined, processed
and sold at a great price.
 - They are contained inside the Earth in a limited quantity
because its creation and deposition would take million of years.
Ore Genesis
 The process by which a deposit of ore is created has three major
types ; Internal processes , Hydrothermal processes and Surficial
processes .
 Internal processes– include geologic activity such as when
volcanoes bring ore from deep in the planet to the surface.

 Hydrothermal processes – happens when seawater circulates

through cracks in Earth’s crust and deposits minerals in the areas
around hydrothermal vents.

 Surficial processes – acting on the surface of the solid earth in

contact with the atmosphere and hydrosphere. Includes:
Weathering, erosion, mass wasting, rivers and streams, glaciers, work
of the wind, coastal processes, and groundwater.
 Ore minerals can also be deposited to
the Earth because of the rocky fragments
or debris from the solar system that fall .
These pieces of fragments that enter the
Earth’s atmosphere are called meteorites
or what we known as “ shooting star “ .
 Furthermore , ore minerals can be found in the Earth’s surface or its
crust and at the ocean floor.
 Quarts , mica and olivine are some of the “ silicate rocks “

Quarts Mica Olivine

 Likewise (granite, gabbro and basalt) are some of the “igneous
rocks”

Granite Gabbro Basalt

 (sandstone, shale and limestone) are some of the “sedimentary
rocks“.

Sandstone Shale Limestone

 In the ocean floor or the “seabed“, the presence of various minerals
can also be found since the ocean floor itself is made up of
crystallized matter from silicate magma known as mafic rocks.
 Moreover , numerous Volcanic
Massive Sulfide ( VMS ) deposits
can be observed in the ocean floor
which are rich in ore that can be
mined for its resources .
 Ore is a “nonrenewable resource” and since modern societies rely
so much on its use in infrastructure and industry, miners need to
find new ore deposits to withstand its increasing demand. With
this, mining enthusiasts have trekked every part of the world and
even explore the ocean’s depth, in search for these ores.
What is Mining?
 Mining is the process of extracting the valuable materials from the
Earth. In the Philippines, mining is a growing and promising industry.
 According to the Mines and
Geosciences Bureau’s (MGB)
Mining Facts and Figures, our country
is acknowledged as the largest
copper-gold deposits of the world
and the fifth mineral-rich country of
the world for gold, copper, nickel and
chromite. In 2018, our country was the
world’s second-largest producer of
nickel ore and sold most of its output
to its top buyer China. The Northern
Central and Southern part of
Mindanao were identified as rich in
chromium, copper and gold deposits.
 Two Major Categories of
Modern Mining
 Surface Mining – Minerals are extracted near the Earth’s surface . This
includes six (6) processes; strip mining, placer mining, mountain top,
hydraulic mining, dredging and open pit.
 Underground Mining - Ores are taken out from the ground by digging.
This includes five (5) processes; slope mining, hard – rock, drift mining,
shaft and bore - hole process .
 These mining techniques have unearthed a lot of mineral deposits from
the Earth and have given man countless benefits. A fact that an ore is
always mixed with unwanted rocks and minerals known as gangue, these
two can still be separated by mechanical or manua processes .
Metallurgy
 Is a process used to extract metals in their pure form. A substance called
flux is added to remove the gangue (impurities).

 There are classifications under the metallurgical process:

 Crushing and grinding of ores – first process; a fine powder (pulverization) in
a crusher or ball mill.
 Ore dressing – second process; the process of removing impurities from ore.
 Hydrolytic – third process ; ores are poured over a sloping , vibrating
corrugated table with grooves of which a jet water flowed over the
surface . This allows the denser particles to settle in the grooves and
washed away the impurities
 Magnetic separation – fourth process ; crushed ore is placed on a conveyor belt
with two wheels. One of the wheels is magnetic and therefore attracts magnetic
particles and those non – magnetic particles just fall apart.
 Froth Floatation – fifth process ; crushed ore are placed in a large tank that
contains oil and water , then a current of compressed air will passed through to
wet the ore and separates the impurities in the form of froth. Because the ore is
lighter , it floats and left the impurities behind.
 Roasting and calcination – last process ; is the last method in which a
concentrated ore is heated in the presence of oxygen (roasting) and is usually
applied to sulfide ores. For ores containing carbonate or hydrated oxides, heating
is done in the absence of air to melt the ores, and this process is known as
calcination. Chalcocite, galena and sphalerite and other metals combined with
sulfur were exposed to this process to yield copper, zinc and iron.
 After all these processes , “utilization” follows. Man, further
purified or mixed these metals with other metals like what
happened in a copper refinery or steel mill. Others are utilized
by people in jewellery business using the gold ores. Majority of
these gold ores were converted into jewelry and only small
percentages were processed into electronic equipment,
coins and dental fillings. Likewise, since these ore minerals
generate valuable metals, they were considered a big help
in infrastructure, trade and industry that in turn have boosted
the country’s economic health status in the world.
Process for Human Use
 There are five (5) existing mining sites in Region X as published by
Mindanao Journal of Science and Technology . These mining places
are situated at Gango, Libona, in Bukidnon, Barangay Tumpagon
and Barangay Pigsag-an in Cagayan de Oro City, Nangcaon, Opol,
in Misamis Oriental, and Rogongon, Iligan City. The miners in these
sites have use various methods in mining.
 Tunneling, panning /gold washing, flushing, panning and flushing
were used.
 Tunneling – tunneling method, underground excavations are made
to get the mineral ore.
 Panning / Gold washing – Panning, in mining, is a simple method of
separating gold from soil or gravels by washing in a pan with water.
 Flushing – crushed rocks are exposed to a high velocity water to
removed impurities and obtained the valuable element.
 Miners from Gango, Libona in
Bukidnon have practiced the
tunneling method since the
mining location is not near the
river system and the area’s
geography ranges from flat to
very steep hills. Mining site that
are located along the river
system have practiced gold
panning methods like Barangay
Nangcaon, Pigsag-an,
Tumpagon, and Rogongon
Veteran gold miners and the
local folks generally used gold
panning method as a manual
technique of separating gold
from other materials.
 With this technique, the ground materials continue to
pollute the river system specially the Iponan River
ecosystem with depositions of high loads of sediments that
have shallow the river beds and poses threat to other
aquatic life since siltation lessen sunlight dispersion, water
temperature and water habitat productivity.
 Moreover, other mining
companies in Mindanao are
using extensively the leaching
process because they
believed that it is more
convenient to do, needs less
energy and less harmful
because there are no
gaseous emissions involved in
the process.
 What is Leaching Process?
 Leaching is a process by which ores are treated with chemicals;
cyanide leaching (gold ore), ammonia leaching (crushed ore)
alkali leaching (bauxite ore) and acid leaching (sulfide ore).
 In addition , a method called “electrolysis” uses electricity and acid
to separate metal from the ore. A metal like aluminum is extracted
from bauxite by electrolysis. In this manner, bauxite is placed in a
pool of acid and run through it an electrical current leaving
aluminum in the process.
 Since mining industry is a promising business in the Philippines, the government
has imposed laws and stipulated in the Republic Act (R.A.) No. 7942, generally
acknowledged as the “Philippine Mining Act of 1995. This act has given
benefit to both the government and the contractor. Health and safety
measures for everyone have been given priorities for the success of the
mining industry relies to this protocol. Moreover, mining knowhow and safety
habits have been advanced by innovative companies and were
encouraged by governmental legislation.
 In connection with this, “ biomining “ was introduced in the mining
business wherein special bacteria, prokaryotes and fungi are used to
mine valuable metals from ore minerals without drilling and blasting of
rocks .
GROUP 5
 MAYOR, DELMARK
 SAREN, KRIZZIA NICOLE
 ESTRADA, NICO
 PAGALAN, GWENN
 MONGADO, JOAN
 LINTAPAN, JEMBOY