Mineral wealth has an important place among natural resources. The rocks on the earth are mainly made of minerals. These minerals can be obtained by mining. Minerals that contain a high proportion of metals are ores, (i) Minerals are formed from the magma in the earth’s crust and the lava from the eruption of volcanoes when they cool and get transformed into crystals e.g. magnetite, mica, (ii) Minerals get transformed from one form into another due to large changes in temperature and pressure e.g. Diamond, Graphite, (iii) There are 3 types of minerals according to their properties Non-metal minerals: e.g. mica, sulphur, potash, diamond.
- Metals minerals: e.g. Iron, gold, silver, tin, bauxite, platinum.
- Energy minerals: e.g. Coal, mineral oil, natural gas, diamond, ruby, sapphire, jade are used as gems.
Some important minerals and ores are Iron ore, manganese, bauxite, copper and mica.