1. Rocks and minerals and their exploitation

Question 1

rock

Answer 1

a combination of one or more minerals

Question 2

mineral

Answer 2

a naturally occurring inorganic substance with a a specific chemical composition

Question 3

igneous rock

Answer 3

rocks formed through the cooling and solidification of molten rock

Question 4

sedimentary rock

Answer 4

a rock formed from material derived from the weathering of other rocks or the accumulation of dead plants and animals

Question 5

metamorphic rock

Answer 5

a rock formed from existing rocks by a combination of heat and pressure

Question 6

rock cycle

Answer 6

a representation of the change between the three rock types and the processes causing them

Question 7

ore

Answer 7

a rock with enough of an important element to make it worth mining

Question 8

prospecting

Answer 8

a process of searching for minerals

Question 9

remote sensing

Answer 9

a process in which information is gathered about the earth’s surface from above

Question 10

surface mining

Answer 10

a type of mining used when the mineral is exposed on the surface or overlain by only small amounts of overburden

Question 11

overburden

Answer 11

the rock and soil overlying an economically viable mineral deposit

Question 12

open pit / cut/ cast mining

Answer 12

a type of surface mining

Question 13

strip mining

Answer 13

type of surface mining

Question 14

sub surface mining

Answer 14

a type of mining used when the deposit is covered by deep layers of unwanted rock

Question 15

deep mining

Answer 15

type of sub surface mining

Question 16

shaft mining

Answer 16

type of sub surface mining

Question 17

open cast mining

Answer 17

type of surface mining

Question 18

adit

Answer 18

the entrance to a horizontal (drift) mine

Question 19

strike rate

Answer 19

the frequency with which attempts to find a desired mineral are successful

Question 20

supply and demand

Answer 20

the relationship between how much of a commodity is available and how much is needed or wanted by consumers of the product

Question 21

environmental impact assessment

Answer 21

a process by which the probable effects on the environment of a development are assessed and measured

Question 22

biomagnification

Answer 22

the process in which the concentration of a substance in living things becomes higher at progressively higher levels in a food chain or web

Question 23

bioremediation

Answer 23

a process in which living things are used to remove toxic chemicals from a natural site