ESL Lesson 2

The History of Mining

Lesson Objective: To have students understand the process of getting metals from the ground to a factory and finally to a store by following the manufacturing chain. Additional discussion about common metals in our lives, and what can be mined. See list below.

Open Discussion Topic:
What is mined today? Brainstorm with your students, first about the metals that are mined then about things that are considered valuable. Everything from the gemstones; Diamonds, Rubies, Emeralds, Sapphires to minerals used in factories; Uranium, Coal, Tin, Molybdenum, Magnesium, Cobalt, Zinc, Copper, Nickel, Aluminum, Iron, Cadmium and the precious metals; Gold, Silver, Platinum and Palladium. What other things can be mined? Brainstorm with your students and talk about metals that are mined. Secondly, really focus on what end products are made from each metal. If Aluminum is mentioned start with cans and see where it leads, if Lead comes up batteries will follow, see if they can connect to batteries somehow with another product. Steel-cars, Copper-pipes and electrical wires etc…

Discussion activity 1:
Anticipated problems: This discussion topic seems to be vocabulary, so think of a list yourself before class to help the students along. Especially obscure metals like Rhodium, Uranium, Chromium, Titanium, Tungsten etc…
Read this statement and try to get a reaction and a list of items the students cannot live without. Without manganese, chromium, platinum and cobalt, there can be no automobiles, no airplanes, no jet engines, no satellites and no sophisticated weapons, not even home appliances. Modern appliances also use Copper, Silver, Nickel and Tin.

Unit 2 Focus:
Mining goes back to the appearance of the first flint tools around 2.5 million years ago when a person dug up what they could carry on their backs. Today it has evolved (turned into) into massive (very large) mines above and below ground with 160,000 kilogram Dump Trucks that use large amounts of diesel fuel and gasoline.
Trace the evolution of mining from a couple of men panning for gold in a river to today's mega mines and mining corporations. Try a time line first, 50,000 B.C- present, have students talk about what was mined long ago and compare to what is mined now for profit. What was valuable in the past when the earth was plentiful?

Extension Topic: Fast forward and compare the idea of “valuable”, Then vs. Now. In the 1880's aluminum was extremely valuable, Palladium and Platinum were unheard of, now it's the opposite. Gold and Silver were used thousands of years ago as currency and still are today. What metals, fossils, gemstones, and other things from the Earth are valuable today?
Mining requires large inputs of energy in digging, separating, transporting, and crushing. Below is Iron Ore (dirt from the ground with metal mixed in) to refined Pellets (Taconite). These pellets then go to a factory to be manufactured (made) into something we use everyday.

1. Blasting
Taconite is a very hard rock. Using explosives, the taconite is blasted into small pieces.

2. Transportation
Taconite pieces are scooped up by electric shovels. Each shovel can hold up to 85 tons of rock! The shovels place Taconite into giant dump trucks, these trucks are as big as a house and hold up to 240 tons of Taconite. Trucks then take the Taconite directly to a processing plant if it is nearby, or it is transported by train and ship if it is further away.

3. Crushing
In the processing plant, Taconite is crushed into very small pieces by rock crushing machines which keep crushing the rock until it is the size of a marble. This rock is then mixed with water and ground in rotating mills until it is as fine as powder.

4. Separation
The iron ore is separated from the Taconite using magnetism (magnets). The remaining rock is waste material and is dumped into tailings basins (holding areas). Taconite powder with iron in it is called concentrate.

5. Pellets
Concentrate (the wet taconite powder) is rolled with clay inside large round cylinders. These cylinders cause the powder to roll into marble-sized balls. (This is like rolling wet, sticky snow into balls to make a snowman). The balls are then heated until they are white hot and become hard as they cool. The finished product is Taconite pellets.

6. Steel
Taconite pellets are loaded into ore ships. These ships sail the Great Lakes of America to Gary, Indiana, Cleveland, Ohio and other steel-making towns. Taconite pellets are brought to the steel mills to be melted down into steel. China and India also have large (making) steel producing industries..

Extension Topic: Now have your students trace each and every step in the mining process from the ground to a store shelf, car dealership or bicycle shop. How many times is energy used along the way? I will leave out the addition of a consumer using a gasoline driven automobile to go to the store to buy the product. Each of the industrial metals has a similar production chain.

Steps 1-6 courtesy of http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/education/geology/digging/taconite.html

Metals in our Lives

Every segment of society uses minerals and mineral resources everyday. The roads we ride or drive on and the buildings we live learn and work in all contain minerals. Below is a selected list of commonly used minerals and mineral by-products that are used to make products we use in our daily lives.

Aluminium is the most abundant metal in the Earth's crust. Bauxite ore is the main source of aluminium. Aluminium is used in automobiles and airplanes (36%), bottling and canning industries (25%), building and electrical (14%) other uses (25%).

**Barium is an element from the mineral barite. It is used in oil-well-drilling mud, paints, rubber, plastic, paper and glass manufacturing. Essential for oil well drilling, as many smaller wells will be drilled to make up for large depleting oil fields this could go up in price.

Beryllium is an element used in nuclear defence equipment. It is used for light, very strong alloys in the aircraft industry. (An alloy is the mixing together of two metals).

**Cadmium is used in plating (covering one metal with another), pigments (coloring), plastics, and batteries for electric cars. Cadmium is obtained from the ore minerals Sphalerite and Greenockite.

**Chromium is used in the production of stainless and heat-resistant steel, alloy steel and super alloy steel for saltwater usage in oil drilling rigs and cooling pipes. Chromium is obtained from the ore mineral Chromite.

**Cobalt, Half (50%) of the consumption of cobalt is used in corrosion and abrasion resistant alloys with steel, nickel, and other metals for the production of industrial engines. Other uses of cobalt metal include magnets and cutting tools. Cobalt is obtained from the ore minerals Linneaite and Cobaltite.

Copper is used in electric cables and wires, switches, pipes, electrical, and electronic components; industrial machinery and equipment; transportation; and consumer products.

Germanium, Most germanium is produced as a by-product of zinc smelting. It is also found in some copper ores. Used in fiber-optic cables, which are replacing copper in long-distance telecommunication lines, as well as in camera lenses and other glass lenses.

Gold is used in dentistry, jewelry and art objects, medallions and coins, and ingots. It is also used for scientific and electronic instruments, computer circuts, and in many uses for the aerospace industry. Investment metal against inflation. People will buy more Gold as the price of oil increases, industry will also continue to use Gold which will stretch limited supplies.

Iron Ore is used to manufacture steels of various types and other metal products, such as magnets and auto parts. The Earth's crust contains about 5% iron, the 4th most abundant element in the Earth's crust.

Lead is used in batteries, construction materials, ammunition, television tubes and nuclear shielding.

**Magnesium is used in cement, rubber, paper, insulation, chemicals, fertilizers, animal feed, and pharmaceuticals. Magnesium is obtained from the ore minerals Olivine, Magnesite, and Dolomite.

Manganese is essential to iron and steel production. Manganese is obtained from the ore minerals Braunite, Pyrolusite, and Psilomelane.

**Molybdenum is used in stainless steels (21%), tool steels (9%), cast irons (7%), and chemical lubricants (8%), and in other applications (55%). It is commonly used to make automobile parts, construction equipment, natural gas transmission pipes, oil well pipes and well casings in the ground (average well uses 14,000 feet) and as pure metal molybdenum is used as filament in light bulbs, and furnace parts because of its high melting temperature (2,623 degrees C).

Nickel is vital as an alloy to stainless steel, chemical and aerospace industries. Leading producers are Canada, Norway, and Russia.

Platinum Group Metals (PGMs), PGM's include Platinum, Palladium, **Rhodium, Iridium, Osmium, and Ruthenium. These elements commonly occur together in nature and are among the scarcest (rarest) of the metallic elements. Platinum is used in catalytic converters for the control of automobile and industrial plant emissions (pollution); in jewelery and in dental alloys for the teeth.

Silver is used in photography, electrical and electronic products (because of its very high electrical conductivity), fine silverware, electroplated wire, jewellery, coins. Investment metal against inflation.

Tin is used in the manufacture of cans and containers, electrical equipment, and chemicals.

**Titanium is a metal used mostly in jet engines, airplane frames, and missiles. The transportation industry will look to lighter materials to save fuel costs on transportation as energy prices rise.

**Tungsten is used in steel production, metalworking, construction electrical machinery and equipment, transportation equipment, light bulbs, oil drilling equipment, heat and radiation shielding.

**Uranium is a radioactive material used in nuclear defence systems and for nuclear generation of electricity. It also used in x-ray machines, atomic dating, and electronic instruments.

Zinc is used as protective coating on steel, as an alloy metal with copper it makes brass, and as a compound in rubber and paint. Additional uses include automobile parts, dry-cell batteries, and in pennies in the U.S.

www.basemetals.com www.nymex.com www.lme.co.uk

Continue to: Trouble in the World's Largest Oil Field

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ESL Lesson 2

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History of Mining
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Trouble in the World's Largest Oil Field
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Saudi Aramco boosts drilling efforts to offset declining fields
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How is Saudi Arabia getting on, or more evidence of a deteriorating situation
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