The Elements of economic geology

Bibliographic data

Monograph

Identifikator:: 1773832379

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-172798

Document type:: Monograph

Author:: Gregory, John W. http://d-nb.info/gnd/11683014X

Title:: The Elements of economic geology

Place of publication:: London

Publisher:: Methuen

Year of publication:: 1928

Scope:: XIV, 312 S.; graph. Darst.

Digitisation:: 2021

Collection:: Economics Books

Usage license:: Get license information via the feedback formular.

Chapter

Document type:: Monograph

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Part I. Introduction

Collection:: Economics Books

THE SCOPE OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGY 3 of geology known as petrology. Leading British mineralo- gical authorities define minerals as inorganic materials. The British Museum (Introduction to Study of Minerals, PP. 1-2) adopts as mineral ‘the unorganized products of our own Earth ” and of outer space, including soil and rock. Sir Henry Miers (Mineralogy, 1902, p. I) defines as mineral “ the materials which constitute the solid crust of the earth, and refers to granite and coal as minerals, Coal, petroleum, slate, and ironstone are not ** mineral species; but they are minerals according to legal and commercial usage, and to leading mineralogists, The definition which asserts that most branches of the mining industry and of economic mineralogy are not concerned with minerals is more para- doxical than sagacious.! ORE-GRADE—The student of economic geology has to consider the commercial value of minerals, which depends on many factors, including accessibility to a market, the cost of working, the price of the usefyl constituent, and its chemical condition, and the grade of the ore. Deposits containing large supplies of useful mineral in positions re- mote from markets may be useless owing to the cost of trans- port. A material containing less than 1 per cent. of copper may be valuable if the copper be native, but not if it be a sulphide that would require smelting. An iron ore may be worthless if it contain less than 50 per cent. of iron ; whereas an ore may be valuable with 1 part of platinum in 100,000 parts, and alluvial beds have paid to work that yielded 1 part of gold to 15 million parts of dross. Price has therefore to be considered in connection with all economic minerals. Hence in the chapters dealing with ores, facts are stated as to the range of price of the metals, MeTaL—The term metal is not used in economic geology in its chemical sense, but with the general meaning of opaque substances which have a bright lustre, can be melted, and are usually heavy. Calcium, sodium, and potassium, which are metals according to chemical terminology, are regarded by the economic geologist as non-metallic, He regards most ores as consisting of metallic and earthv constituents. L For further definitions see “What is a Mineral? * 7%. IME, 1909, vol. xxxvii, pp. 13-42.

Access restriction

Copyright

fullscreen: The Elements of economic geology

Monograph

Chapter

Table of contents

Download

Monograph

Chapter

This page

Image fragment

Citation links

Citation recommendation