RLNI+4.3

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Vocabulary

 * Gemstone**: hard, colorful mineral that has a brilliant or glassy luster
 * Ore**: rock that contains a metal or economically useful mineral
 * Smelting**: process where an ore is melted to separate the useful metal from other elements the ore contains
 * Alloy**: solid mixture of two or more metals

Outline

 * The uses of minerals
 * source of:
 * metals
 * gemstones
 * many more materials
 * gemstones
 * rubies
 * sapphires
 * valued for color, luster, durability, and because they're rare
 * after cut and polished, called gem
 * used for jewelry and decoration
 * metals
 * source of aluminum, iron, copper, or silver
 * other useful minerals
 * talc
 * fluorite
 * calcite
 * quartz
 * kaolin
 * gypsum
 * corundum
 * ores
 * rock that contains metal or economically useful mineral
 * a lot of world's copper comes from ores containing chalcopyrite
 * prospecting
 * people who prospect for ore deposits are called prospectors
 * mining
 * strip mines
 * earthmoving equipment scrape away soil to expose ore
 * open pit mines
 * giant earthmoving equipment dig a huge pit
 * miners dig open pit mine to remove ore deposits that may start near the surface
 * shaft mines
 * network of tunnels that extend deep into ground
 * follows veins of ore
 * mining damages environment
 * mine operators grade surface and replace soil after they strip mine
 * smelting
 * smelting is necessary to remove the metal from ore
 * ore is melted to separate metal from other elements the ore contains