Page 7 - Curriculum Visions Dynamic Book

 A piece of native copper.
magma: the molten rock that forms a balloon-shaped chamber in the rock below a volcano. It is fed by rock moving upwards from below the crust.
native metal: a pure form of a metal, not combined
as a compound. Native metal is more common in poorly reactive elements than in those that are very reactive.
ore: a rock containing enough of a useful substance to make mining it worthwhile.
refining: separating a mixture into the simpler substances of which it is made. In the case of a rock, it means the extraction of the metal that is mixed up in the rock.
silicate: a compound containing silicon and oxygen (known as silica).
sulphide: a sulphur compound that contains no oxygen.
vein: a mineral deposit different from, and usually cutting across, the surrounding rocks. Most mineral and metal-bearing veins are deposits filling fractures.
Native copper
Copper is not a very reactive element.
Thus, like silver and gold, which are also slow to react chemically, it is sometimes found in pure form. A natural occurrence of pure copper is called native copper. The shape reflects
the deep underground fissures in which it was originally deposited and is known as a
dendritic pattern.
The largest piece of native
copper ever found was in Minesota Mine,
Michigan, USA.
It weighed over
500 tonnes.
 This is banded malachite, a copper
carbonate and a useful ore.
7
7