Minerals are natural resources found underground and of great value for industrial production as they serve as raw material for manufacture of consumer goods, such as household utensils, electrical wires, jewelry, construction materials, in addition to serving as a source of energy.
The cities are made up of built constructions, to design them it is necessary to extract a series of minerals from the nature, in addition to by-products such as bricks (clay), cement (limestone), hydraulic material (oil), sand and many others.
In the industrial sector, from the machines used in production to the built product, they are extracted from mineral resources that are not equal in terms of physical and chemical composition, thus they are classified into two groups: metallic minerals and non-metallic minerals, including resources fossil energy sources.
• Metallic minerals: which contain physical and chemical elements of metal in its composition, which enable a reasonable conduction of heat and electricity. Examples: Iron, aluminum and copper.
• Non-metallic minerals: ores that do not contain metal properties in their composition. Examples: diamond, limestone and sand, among others.
• Fossil energy resources: ores that contain elements of organic origin in their composition. Examples: oil, natural gas and coal.
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By Eduardo de Freitas
Graduated in Geography
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
FREITAS, Eduardo de. "The classification of minerals"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/geografia/a-classificacao-dos-minerais.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
