Minerals and Ores

Majority of metals are present in earth’s crust in the combined form as oxides, sulphides, carbonates, phosphates etc. The Combined State of the metals is called Minerals. Thus a mineral may be defined as the Combined State in which a metal occurs naturally in the crust of earth. Minerals are generally associated with many earthy and rocky impurities which are called Gangue or Matrix. All the minerals of a particular metal cannot be treated for its isolation, because the process may be very tedious in certain cases and may not be profitable in some other cases. The minerals from which a metal can be profitably and conveniently extracted is called Ore.