Topic 8: Metals Flashcards

1
Q

What is a metal? its characteristics

A
  • element, compound, or alloy
  • good conductors of heat and electricity
  • malleable, ductile, shiny
  • form cations through electron loss
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2
Q

What are native metals?

A
  • metals occurring in the crust in its metallic “pure” form
  • copper, silver, gold are the main elements that are found as native metals
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3
Q

What are available metals?

A
  • any kind of metal found in the crust, usually found with other metallic elements, available thru mining and smelting
  • found as abundant or scarce metals
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4
Q

what are alloys?

A
  • chemical mixtures of 2 or more metals
  • superior strength, durability, corrosion resistance
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5
Q

What are ores?

A
  • metals found in crust with low concentrations
  • mixed with other stuff
    -can be concentrated under certain geological or geodynamic processes
  • to be considered an ore deposit, concentrations must be legally, technically, and economically extractable
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6
Q

what are some abundant metals?

A
  • iron
  • manganese
  • aluminum
  • titanium
  • magnesium
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7
Q

What metals do we use the most? Why?

A
  • iron
  • very strong and durable, ease of smelting and processing
  • very common to find, abundant and available and has a low cost
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8
Q

What do we use iron form?

A
  • construction, transportation, machinery
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9
Q

What ores are economically extractable for the purpose of iron?

A
  • oxides: hematite, magnetite, goethite
  • sulphides: pyrite
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10
Q

where is iron found in contact metamorphic deposits?

A
  • in skarn-like deposits
  • iron-rich hydrothermal fluids excluded from cooling igneous intrusions, react with adjacent rocks
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11
Q

where is iron found in ignenous sources underwater?

A
  • in seafloor volcanism, submarine hydrothermal activity
  • black smokers! solutions of iron and silica
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12
Q

What are some sedimentary sources of iron?

A
  • bog iron
  • ironstones
  • banded iron formations
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13
Q

What are banded iron formations?

A

-BIFS supply majority of our global iron production, contain 20-40% iron
- present in Precambrian rocks
- rocks that literally have bands of alternating iron oxide and silica
- iron sources come from weathering in the absence of oxygen

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14
Q

How can iron be mined?

A
  • small scale, local extraction of iron stone
  • commercial scale, open pit mining of iron deposits close to surface
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15
Q

What is benefication?

A

the enrichment of an ore prior to smelting

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16
Q

What are the different kind of steels made with iron?

A
  • carbon steels (iron+carbon)
  • alloy steels (iron+other elements like silicon, nickel..)
  • stainless steels (iron+ chromium)
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17
Q

What is manganese used for?

A
  • added to iron smelting to scavenge sulphur and oxygen
  • using in water treatment, and dry cell batteries
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18
Q

Manganese is precipitated as ore minerals such as…

A
  • pyrolusite
  • psilomelane
  • romanechite
  • rhofochrosite
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19
Q

What is the second most abundant metallic element in the crust?

A

Aluminum

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20
Q

the main ore for aluminum is..

A

bauxite, which contains gibbsite and boehmite and diaspore

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21
Q

how is bauxite formed?

A
  • by advanced chemical weathering of aluminum rich rocks, in wet tropical conditions
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22
Q

Where is aluminium NOT found on earth? why?

A
  • arctic areas
  • due to cold and glacial erosion
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23
Q

titanium is the ___ common abundant metal

A

LEAST

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24
Q

What are the main ores of titanium

A

ilmenite and rutile

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25
Q

What is magnesium used for

A
  • as refractories
  • as alloys (mixed with aluminum)
  • used in cement fertilizers, paper, ect
26
Q

What are scarce metals?

A
  • metals of low crustal abundance, <0.1% crustal abundance
  • ferro-alloy metals, base metals, precious metals, special metals, etc
27
Q

what are ferro-alloy metals?

A
  • type of scare metals
  • used in additives in specialty steels to change physial/chem/electrical properties
  • eg chromium, vanadium, nickel, molybdenum
28
Q

What is chromium?

A
  • a ferro-alloy scarce metal
  • used in tanning and pigments
  • also used in stainless steel
29
Q

What is vanadium?

A
  • a ferro-alloy scarce metal
  • used in leather tanning, pigments
  • used in the oil and gas industry
30
Q

What is nickel?

A
  • a ferro-alloy scarce metal
  • used in household utensils, electroplating, coins, corrosion resistence, vehicles
31
Q

what us molybdenum?

A
  • a ferro-alloy scarce metal
  • used in armour plating, tool steel, lubricants, pigments, catalysts
32
Q

What is cobalt?

A
  • a ferro-alloy scarce metal
  • used in blue pigments, as an alloy, in jet engines, rockets, gas turbines
  • occurs as a by-product of mining and processing copper, nickel, and silver ores
33
Q

What is tungsten?

A
  • a ferro-alloy scarce metal
  • used as a steel alloy, in drill bits, cutting edges, weapons, bulbs and heating elements
34
Q

What are base metals?

A
  • scarce metals that are cheaper and typically more abundant than ferro-alloys
  • not as resistant to corrosion
  • but used in alloys, coinage, manufacturing, etc
  • copper, tin, lead, zinc, cadmium, etc
35
Q

what are some base metal alloys?

A
  • bronze (copper and tin), pewter (tin and lead), brass (copper and zinc)
36
Q

What is copper

A
  • a base metal
  • used lots in prehistoric times, very malleable and easily smelted
  • used in alloys, for weapons, tools, pipes, etc.
  • greatest used is in electrical distribution
37
Q

What ores is copper present in?

A
  • chalcopyrite
  • digenite
  • chalcocite
  • bornite
  • enargite
  • azurite
  • malachite
38
Q

How are copper oxide ores processed?

A
  • solvent extraction electrowinning
  • essentially heap leaching
  • crushed copper ores leached with acid, acid dissolved copper then treated with electrolysis to release pure copper
39
Q

What kind of deposits are copper ores found in?

A
  • magmatic segregation deposits
  • hydrothermal deposits
  • porphyry copper deposits
  • skarn type contact metamorphic deposits
  • volcanogenic massive sulpide deposits
40
Q

What are lead and zinc?

A
  • base scarce metals
  • commonly occur together and rarely in their native state
  • lead used in weights, sheet metal, ceramics
  • zinc used in galvanizing, coinage, sunblock and pigments
41
Q

what kind of deposits are lead and zinc found in?

A
  • hydrothermal vein deposits
  • volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits
  • mississippi valley type deposit
  • sediment-hosts stratiform deposits
42
Q

What is tin?

A
  • scarce base metal
  • used since prehistory
  • typically was used as an alloy with copper to make bronze
  • cassiterite is a main tin ore
43
Q

Where are tin ores found?

A
  • granitic pegmatites
  • volcanic hydrothermal deposits (porphyrys)
  • also stanniferous placer deposits
44
Q

What is Mercury?

A
  • scarce base metal
  • liquid at room temperature
  • easily forms alloys and amalgams
  • main ore in cinnabar
  • found in hydrothermal vein deposits
  • toxic, is now a controlled substance
45
Q

What is mercury used in? Currently and formerly

A
  • currently used in fluorescent lights, chemical production and measuring instruments
  • formerly used in thermometers, thermostats, batteries
46
Q

What is cadmium?

A
  • scarce base metal
  • soft, malleable, silver-white
  • pure cadmium minerals are rare, so we used atomic substitution in sphalerite to make cadmium
  • all cadmium now is a byproduct of zinc production
  • cadmium was used previously for corrosion resistance, similar to zinc, and also used in rechargeable batteries, pigments, etc.
  • cadmium is very toxic, and is not a regulated substance
47
Q

What are precious metals? name them

A
  • gold, silver, platinum group elements
  • scarce metals that have high values due to their rarity
  • have been used since antiquity for decoration, investments, etc
  • all are resistant to corrosion and chemical reaction
48
Q

What is gold?

A
  • scarce precious metal
  • known since antiquity, very rare and commonly used for ornamental purposes and as currency.
  • currently used in jewelry, electronics, dentistry, special alloys
  • we produce very little gold globally every year.
49
Q

Where is gold found?

A
  • commonly found as a native metal, from hydrothermal solutions originating from granite intrusions
  • typically occurs within quartz veins
  • also found in lots of placer deposits (ends up in these is gold is eroded from hydrothermal deposits accumulating in stream beds due to its high density
50
Q

For gold, most modern mines exploit either…

A
  • low grade hydrothermal deposits, often associated with hot springs or low grade copper porphyry deposits
51
Q

What are some of the ways that gold is/was extracted?

A
  • density separation via gold panning
  • liquid mercury added to ores or placer sediments, forms amalgam with gold, amalgam removed and then heated to vaporize mercury
  • cyanide heap leaching to dissolve gold
52
Q

What is silver?

A
  • scarce precious metal
  • used lots in antiquity
  • modern uses are jewelry, industrial uses, photography, dentistry, etc
  • typically co-occurs with copper or lead , most silver we produce is found as a by product of copper or lead mining
53
Q

What are some major silver minerals?

A
  • argentite
  • tetrahedrite
54
Q

What are the platinum group metals?

A
  • scarce precious metals
  • platinum, palladium, rhodium, iridium, ruthenium, osmium
  • silver, white malleable metals
  • all occur as native metals
  • highly corrosion resistant, high melting temperatures
  • can be used as catalysts to speed chemical reactions
55
Q

What are the two major platinum group metal sources?

A
  • mafic and ultramafic igneous sources; concentrated in chromite and nickel sulfides
  • placer deposits; accumulate in stream deposits much like gold due to density
56
Q

What are special metals?

A
  • scarce metal group
  • metals with unique properties and special roles
  • Niobium, and tantalum
  • arsenic, antimony, bismuth
  • germanium, gallium, indium
57
Q

What are niobium and tantalum?

A
  • special metals
  • occur together
  • Tantalum used in capacitors, rectifiers, electronics
  • niobium used in high temp steel and electrical capacitors
  • found in columbite and tantalite
58
Q

What are arsenic, antimony, and bismuth?

A
  • special metals
    -occur in lead, zinc, and copper ores, typically mined as byproducts
59
Q

What is arsenic?

A
  • scarce special metal
  • considered a semi-metal due to brittleness
  • used in wood preservation, fungicides, insecticides, pesticides
  • highly toxic
60
Q

What is germanium?

A
  • scarce special metal
  • used as a semi-conductor
  • alloyed with silver to prevent tarnishing
61
Q

What is beryllium?

A
  • scarce special metal
  • known as gemstone beryl
  • very light, but stiff.
  • used for x-ray equipment, nuclear weapons and reactors, semi-conductor
  • highly toxic
62
Q

What are rare earth elements?

A
  • scarce special metals
  • lanthanide series and related elements