Question

How many of the following given below are oxides ores?
Calamine, cuprite, zincite, chalcocite, haematite, bauxite, magnetite, cassiterite.

Answer 1

Hint: First learn what oxide ore is. Then differentiate above compounds based on properties of oxide ores. An ore is a naturally occurring solid material from which a metal or valuable mineral can be extracted commercially. In simple words. Ores are minerals that have a high concentration of a certain element, typically a metal.

Complete step by step answer:
Now let us discuss what oxide ore is.
Oxide ore is an ore which contains metals in oxidized forms. In other terms, oxide ore is a mineral (from which a metal can be extracted) in which the elements combine with oxygen to form oxides.
From the above list let us see which belong to oxide ore categories
Calamine is an ore of zinc with formula \[ZnC{O_3}\] . This shows that the metal is in carbonate form and not in oxide. So, this doesn’t belong to oxide ore.
Cuprite Is an important ore of copper with formula $C{u_2}O$ . Here the metal is in the form of oxide that is in the copper (I) oxide. Therefore, this ore belongs to oxide ore.
Zincite is the mineral form of zinc oxide with the formula ZnO. Hence this belongs to the class of oxide ore.
Chalcocite is an important copper ore mineral with formula $C{u_2}S$ . The metal here is a sulphide form that is copper (I) sulphide. Hence, this doesn’t belong to oxide ore.
Haematite is iron ore with formula $F{e_2}{O_3}$ . It has high iron content. Here the iron is in oxide form. So, this belongs to oxide ore class.
Bauxite is the most important ore of aluminum which contains only 30-40% of alumina in oxide form. Rest is a mixture of various iron oxides and titanium dioxide. Hence this belongs to oxide ore.
Magnetite is an important ore of iron with formula $F{e_3}{O_4}$ . The iron here is in oxide form. Therefore, it belongs to oxide ore.
Cassiterite is a tin oxide mineral with formula $Sn{O_2}_{}$ . Hence this also belongs to oxide ore.

Therefore, the oxide ores are cuprite, zincite, haematite, bauxite, magnetite, and cassiterite.

Note: We know that the Minerals is naturally occurring inorganic solids which have a crystalline structure and have a limiting range of chemical formula. Whereas Ores are concentrations of minerals in rock that are high enough to be economically extracted for useThis ore needs much more energy to attain melting. For this reason, the hydrometallurgical process is generally used to refine these ores..