General Awareness · Geography

Minerals and Ores

1,167 Questions

Minerals and ores encompass the extraction, identification, and economic significance of naturally occurring crystalline substances. Topics cover specific ores like cinnabar and bauxite, alongside global mineral resource distribution. Candidates preparing for general awareness and geography sections should review these questions to master regional and global mineral reserves.

Ore identificationMineral extractionGlobal mineral reservesIndustrial minerals

Minerals and Ores Questions

Multiple choice chemistry non-metals introduction to non-metals occurence of metals occurrence of metals and non metals

Which of the following are sulphate ores?

  1. Cinnabar

  2. Gypsum

  3. Galena

  4. Iron pyrite
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Sulphate ores are  Gypsum $(CaSO _4.2H _2O)$, Epsom Salt $(MgSO _4.7H _2O)$, Barytes $(BaSO _4)$ and Anglesite $(PbSO _4)$.

Cinnabar is a mercury sulfide mineral with a chemical composition of $HgS$.
Galena is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide $(PbS)$.
Iron pyrite,  is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula $(FeS _2)$. 

Multiple choice chemistry non-metals introduction to non-metals occurence of metals occurrence of metals and non metals

Which of the following combination are correct?

  1. Fluorspar, $FeCO _3$
  2. Zinc blende, $ZnO$

  3. Magnesite, Oxide ore

  4. Cryolite, Halide ore
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation
Fluorite (also called fluorspar) is the mineral form of calcium fluoride, $CaF _2$. 
Zinc sulfide $(ZnS)$ is a unique compound that forms two types of crystalline structures. These two polymorphs are wurtzite and zincblende.
 
Magnesite is a mineral with the chemical formula $MgCO _3$ (magnesium carbonate).
Cryolite $(Na _3AlF _6)$, sodium hexafluoroaluminate is a halide ore.

Hence, option $D$ is correct.
Multiple choice chemistry non-metals introduction to non-metals occurence of metals occurrence of metals and non metals

Which of the following are found as sulphide ores?

  1. $Al,\ Hg,\ Pb,\ F$
  2. $Fe,\ Zn,\ Pb$
  3. $Hg,\ Pb,\ Na$
  4. $F,\ Ca,\ Cu,\ Mg$
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation
The sulfide minerals are a class of minerals containing sulfide $(S^{2−})$ as the major anion. Some sulfide minerals are economically important as metal ores. So the metal ion with this anion should have oxidation state $+2$. 
$Fe, Zn, Pb$ all three are found as  sulfide ores. Ores of these metals are known as:  Pyrite $(FeS _2)$, Sphalerite $(ZnS)$ and Galena $(PbS)$ .
Multiple choice chemistry non-metals introduction to non-metals occurence of metals occurrence of metals and non metals

Iron is mainly extracted from its oxide ores such as___________.

  1. Haemetite

  2. Magnetite

  3. Both a and b

  4. Ironide
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Iron is mainly extracted from its oxide ores such as haematite and magnetite. The iron extracted from these ores is mostly used in the manufacture of steel an alloy of iron. Iron is also an essential element found in biological systems.

Multiple choice chemistry non-metals introduction to non-metals occurence of metals occurrence of metals and non metals

Minerals that have a relatively high concentration of metal and can be extracted in an easy and cost-effective process are called:

  1. Metalloids

  2. Gold crust

  3. Ores

  4. None of above
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Minerals that have a relatively high concentration of metal and can be extracted in an easy and cost-effective process are called ores.

Multiple choice chemistry non-metals introduction to non-metals occurence of metals occurrence of metals and non metals

Statement: Valuable gemstones such as rubies and sapphire contain aluminium oxides along with traces of transition metals as impurities.


State whether the given statement is true or false.

  1. True

  2. False
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Sapphire is a gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, an aluminium oxide. It is typically blue, but natural "fancy" sapphires also occur in yellow, purple, orange, and green colours.


The only colour which sapphire cannot be is red – as red-coloured corundum is called ruby. Rubies are crystalline forms of aluminium oxide, which are red due to the presence of chromium as an impurity.

A rare variety of natural sapphire, known as colour-change sapphire, exhibits different colours in a different light.

The colour-change effect is caused by the interaction of the sapphire, which absorbs specific wavelengths of light, and the light source, whose spectral output varies depending upon the illuminant.
Transition-metal impurities in the sapphire, such as chromium and vanadium, are responsible for the colour change.

Hence, the given statement is $\text{true}$