What is an Ore? (geology)
An Ore is a Rock with Important Minerals
An ore is a type of rock that contains minerals from which valuable elements, usually metals, can be extracted. Whether a rock is considered an ore depends on economic factors, including the concentration of the element and the cost of extraction.
Metals are usually extracted through a process of heating and reduction, also known as smelting. Not all metals can be extracted in this way.
Another process used to separate the element from the rock is electrolysis. This process uses electricity to separate an element from a compound.
Not all rocks and minerals are ores. A material is only called an ore if it contains extractable elements in sufficient quantity to be useful.
For thousands of years malachite was an important ore of copper. Today, the mineral chalcopyrite is used instead. Hematite and goethite are ores of iron, while galena is an ore of lead.
Article Photos
The rock in our photo is an ore of gold. The image is clickable and redirects to the original image. Courtesy of James St.John.
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Malachite, goethite, galena, galena with chalcopyrite: Courtesy of Stan Celestian.
