Sources of Metals
2 guided lessons · 18 checks · 2. Inorganic Chemistry → Extraction & Uses of Metals
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Sources of Metals: Ores of the Crust
Most metals are locked away in the Earth's crust as compounds, mixed into rocks called ores. An ore is a rock that holds enough of the metal to make extraction worthwhile. Because many ores are oxides, winning the metal means removing its oxygen, which makes extraction a reduction process.
What you know already
From Reactivity Series you know that metals differ hugely in how readily they react. That difference decides where each metal is found and how it is won back from its compounds. This note covers the ores of the Earth's crust, why some metals sit in the ground as elements, and the routes used to extract the rest.
Key points of understanding
- The crust holds both native metals and metal compounds, gold and copper among them.
- Many useful metals sit chemically joined to other elements inside rocks called ores.
- An ore is a rock that contains enough metal to make extraction worthwhile.
- Metals are extracted from their ores by electrolysis, in a blast furnace, or by reaction with a more reactive material.
- Oxide ores such as haematite and bauxite give up their oxygen during extraction, so the process is reduction.
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1.Sources of Metals: Ores of the Crust
Most metals are locked away in the Earth's crust as compounds, mixed into rocks called ores. An ore is a rock that holds enough of the metal to make extraction worthwhile. Because many ores are oxides, winning the metal means removing its oxygen, which makes extraction a reduction process.
Key points
- The crust holds both native metals and metal compounds, gold and copper among them.
- Many useful metals sit chemically joined to other elements inside rocks called ores.
- An ore is a rock that contains enough metal to make extraction worthwhile.
- Metals are extracted from their ores by electrolysis, in a blast furnace, or by reaction with a more reactive material.
- Oxide ores such as haematite and bauxite give up their oxygen during extraction, so the process is reduction.
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